Fun learning Activities for Your Toddler

It is true that learning starts at home and you as parents are already doing that job however, you must have noticed that whenever you use the word learning, your child starts avoiding you or the topic so how do you ensure that your child learns things and is not even burdened by the learning. Well, you can introduce the fun factor in the learning activities so that he or she can start associating the learning with fun and starts participating with more enthusiasm.

How To Introduce Fun Factor In The Learning Sessions?

1. Pre-writing / fine motor skill: Before your child is able to form letters, he or she needs lots of practice at gross motor (body movement) and fine motor skills. If your child can hold his or her marking tool, then your child has developed his or her gross motor and fine motor skills and is ready to write. This is fine motor control. Here are few fun learning activities, which can really help at home.
   1. Letter formation on different materials: Get your hands on anything easily available near your home or at home – materials like sand, salt, floor, shaving foam and paint provide a different texture for writing using finger, paint brush, straw and so on. Put any of the above item on a tray or plate, and have your child trace or copy the letter with a finger. You can also try, if your child dislikes the tactile sensation, then put the paint or shaving foam in a ziploc baggie to get the sensation without the messy feeling! Fill the bag about a quarter full, and squeeze out all the air
   2. Pincer grip: Pegging and threading to develop pincer grip (this is the grip used when holding a pencil) you could use tweezer – which you must be having at home – to pick up objects and transfer them from one place to another. You could also use pegs to hang cloths onto a washing line or attach to tin/baskets. Threading and pegging is superb for promoting fine motor development in toddlers. Cut out card in different shapes and then using hole puncher, punch them along the edge and then thread ribbon in and out in all the holes of card. You can also thread beads/pasta through straws or on a string
   3. Play dough disco and scissors: Dough disco is fun activity that combines the use of play dough with a series of hand and fingers. Encourage your child to make sculpture using fingers and words like pull, twist, stretch, poke, squeeze, pat, and pinch. These movements help in developing your child’s fine and gross motor dexterity, hand-eye coordination and self-esteem by strengthening your child’s fine motor skill. Simultaneously, cutting with scissors is considered to be fantastic pre–writing skill. Cutting with proper scissor grasp will give his or her fingers lots of practice in working together and strengthen your child’s hand muscle. Use scissors to cut pictures in old magazine, catalogue and play dough. Your child will definitely enjoy doing these activities
2. Storytelling and reciting rhyme: Storytelling is a good way to keep your child engrossed in the learning activities and to teach important life skills as well to your child. This is how you can introduce your child to storytelling and rhymes reciting
   1. Expose them to good story telling by visiting local library, they often bring in storyteller
   2. Being expressive will help your child in using the entire body into storytelling
   3. Let them choose their story. Expose your child to a great number of story books and let them choose to learn one story he or she loves the most
   4. Go for books that are more pictures and less words as you know that pictures are always worth thousand words. This will help foster a lifelong love of reading and learning
   5. Encourage your child to read and write his or her own stories so thus developing a lifelong love for reading and writing
   6. Encourage your child to ask question, listen to him or her and when he or she does ask questions, ensure to give positive feedback
   7. Read and tell stories and cuddle up and sing rhymes together whenever you can; being close helps your child feel safe and loved. Share an enjoyable time before going bed every day. “Great rhymers make great readers”
3. Go fun with maths and see the difference: Maths at home is often best when it is part of a normal routine
   1. Getting ready: Reminding them about time like can you brush your teeth for 2 minutes? How long does it take you to put on your coat?
   2. Checking the bags: Talking about number, dates, months and days like how many books do you have in your bag today? What’s the date today? What day is it? What’s the month?
   3. Walking to school: Discuss about duration and counting like can you count the number of stairs in your house? How long we will it take to reach school? How many steps to the end of the road?
   4. Vehicle spotting on road: Talk about size, number and colours like who can see the biggest car? How many red bus can you point on road? How many planes can u spot? And so on, so forth
   5. Shopping time: Discuss about recognising and reading like can you recognise the coin and read the number? Can you read the price of this item? Go to shop and let your child pay so that he notice few things and teach some of them every visit
   6. Bath time: Talk about counting numbers along addition & subtraction and capacity and sing some lovely water rhymes like count the bubbles, what if I pop 5 and you pop 2, how many did we pop altogether? Measuring and pouring using shampoo bottles- is it full, Half, half full or empty?
   7. Dinner time: Talk again about counting numbers, size and shapes like count peas on your plate, who can find longest chip and can you break it to make half? Can you make some shape with spaghetti in your plate? You can ask such questions . Always remember, short activities are better than longer focused session. Children get more from active, real life experience. Maths is easy to incorporate into everyday conversation. Keep it simple and keep it fun
4. Junk Modelling: This is important for helping children understand shapes, texture and different materials. It will also help the child to exercise their creativity, inventiveness and problem solving.
   1. You will need Empty egg boxes, shoe boxes, cereal boxes, cardboard rolls, anything not too big for your little one. It’s easy to decorate cardboard than plastic, but there’s no reason you can’t have washed plastic bottles and yogurt pots too. Then some glue, lots of sticky tape, old magazine, foil, paint, scrapes of material…. Anything as long as it goes safe

   What to do: The key here is to let your child take the initiative. Clear a space so that nothing you want to keep is going to get incorporated into the design. Put apron or any old t-shirt on and tie the hair back. Then sit back and be amazed by what they are creating. Lastly, with junk modelling, there are no rules as long as it’s safe. Follow these amazing fun learning tips with your little one. You and your child are going to love them and learn them with fun and in quite a small span of time.

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