toddler & twos
threes & fours
Make your own shakers - if you’ve realized you have expired food items in your cupboard (like I just did!), no matter what the age, these ideas can be an entertaining use for that old rice, beans, and pasta.
Create a float & sink station - By doing this during the day, before bath time, especially with our resistant bathers, this may entice them later in the day to take that much needed bath. But know, they are going to want to bring items, into the bath, to test out this newly discovered hypothesis! 😊
Fine Motor Skills: Build those fine motor muscles with a spoon, expired food and ice cube tray:
Rain Cloud in a Jar: is a weather science experiment that gives young children a chance to explore clouds and rain in a hands-on and engaging way!
What you need:
A large jar, Shaving cream (not a gel version), food coloring or washable watercolors, Pipettes or droppers (or have a turkey baster?)
With your Preschoolers, you can use the process of Scientific Inquiry as you do this experiment! The scientific method has five basic steps, plus one feedback step: Make an observation, Ask a question, Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation, Make a prediction based on the hypothesis, Test the prediction.
Bath Time - Spend some time washing baby dolls. Not only does this clean those pesky germs away but it promotes empathy and caring relationships (which we all want and need at this time!)
Q-Tip push game - try an egg carton and Q-tip game. This does need supervision to prevent injury to ear drums (if they decide to try that idea out).
Lego Bath - if you do venture out, the recommendation is that, upon your return home, to remove all clothes for washing and shower off. To entice our young friends to do this…keep those “germs at bay” with a Lego or Duplo bath.
Pipe cleaner and Colander - Fine Motor Fun: Find a colander in your house, and a handful of colorful pipe cleaners. Show your toddler how to feed one pipe clearer through a hole of the colander, and watch it come out the other end. Try this with another color. Soon you will have a colander full of colorful pipe cleaners and a very satisfied and proud toddler!
Colorful Ice Activity: For this activity, you will need spray bottles, water, food coloring, and snow (or crushed ice) Extra materials that are fun to use:-Ice cream scooper, melon baller, bowls, muffin tin, spoons.
Fill your spray bottle with water and add some food coloring. Take your spray bottle outside, spray the snow, and scoop it up to make pretend ice cream cones, muffins, and other imaginative items. This is a fun activity for fine motor skills and will get your kiddos playing outside! Older siblings will be delighted to help :)
This maze, which you could make out of paper or felt, calms the central nervous system, utilizes the rolling schema, and develops fine motor skills. Try it!
All you need are felt (or paper), scissors and a small object to roll or scoot through the maze.
Stick People - have some old yarn, string, cloth or twine lying around? Find some sticks, branches or popsicle sticks and make some magic happen!
Story Stones - Story stones are pictures painted onto smooth pebbles, used as an aid in storytelling - they can either represent a known story to be placed in order, or they can be a varied selection of images that prompt children to create their own stories.
Practice counting: cut paper towel rolls in half and create a number and corresponding apple game!
Paint or draw like Michelangelo! Get a different perspective. This is great for children to develop fine motor skills. It builds strength in pincer grasp.
Create an Obstacle Course - Take a roll of crepe paper or masking tape and tape lines across a hallway wall. Zig the lines high and low. Encourage kids to walk through without breaking the paper or tape!
Foods You Can Regrow: Now that everyone is home cooking great--or not so great--meals, it is likely you have some scrap parts and pieces of fruits and vegetables. Why not start an indoor experiment with your leftover scraps? Save the bottom heart of your celery stalk and lettuce heads or those little root ends of green onions in a little bit of water and watch them start to regrow!
Homemade Household Object Puzzle - Your 3 and 4-year old’s could make one for you! Use objects you want your child handling.
Make Healthy Fruit and Veggie Bug Snacks - Need some healthy snack advice or ideas? Make some veggie bug snacks and go out to the park or back yard and enjoy! Between the shopping, prep, creation and eating…this is hours of fun!
Using our Senses - Mystery Box Magic: Take an old shoe box, an old sock and decorate a mystery box. Place random items inside and have your child guess what they are by sliding their hand through the sock and using only the sense of touch. Hours of fun!
Frozen Yogurt Bark: Healthy snacks are important when stressed. Make some frozen yogurt fruit bark to up your vitamin C levels and other nutrients.
Paper Towel Roll Art- Have your child draw a picture, cut slices of a paper towel roll and lightly glue them in a pattern over the picture and then paint or marker away! This uses fine motors skills, patterns, and repurposing a recyclable!
DIY connecting experience- Hope you are saving all the toilet paper and paper towel rolls! Children love making their own toys. How many can you connect and how high can you build?
Consider creating a family game night with your preschoolers. When young children play board games, they learn social skills like verbal communication, negotiation and taking turns. Game play can motivate them to increase their focus, build self-regulation and to practice patience while they wait their turn. Board games are also a good way to teach a preschooler about teamwork. Playing bingo, charades and board games two or three times a week helps also establish additional structure and routine in your home.