|
You’ll need – Food colouring, Ice tray, Water Jug, Freezer and Paper. First take a jug of water and pour some water into an ice tray. Next put one or two drops of food colouring into each cube. You can use different coloured food dye to make different coloured blocks of ice. Put the ice tray into the freezer until the cubes are frozen. When the cubes are frozen, empty the cubes onto a plastic plate. Slide and glide the ice cubes over a piece of paper to make a colourful ice cube painting then hang it out to dry. Want another icy idea? – Again freeze a tray of coloured ice cubes. Introduce primary colours here with a tray of blue, a tray of red, etc. Put the coloured and frozen ice cubes into some re-sealable bags. Let the little ones play with the bags as the ice slowly melts into a bag of water!
Start by getting on the move through the house in a parade of two, one following the other, as you crawl under the table, climb over a pillow, and even spin around in circles. Get creative about new places to crawl and climb through and even “become” a favourite animal. Are you an elephant swishing through the vines now? Your little one may even learn a few new concepts such as over, under, and around…
Treasure basket play is what is known as open ended play, which means that the item being played with has more than one possible use. For example, a wooden block can be used for stacking, rolling, putting into something else or used as an imaginary person. A treasure basket works in the same way by being a large collection of open ended objects that can be used, manipulated and played with in any way the baby or toddler wishes to. The role of the adult is to be attentive but not to intervene, it is suggested that the adult does not participate not even to start the play (opportunity to relax with a cup of tea). The object is for the child to explore the basket on their own . The Basket should be put away after the session, this way the basket is a special activity. To begin your own treasure basket at home, set aside a couple of days, where your main purpose is to build the foundations of a treasure basket for your child. Aim to establish a collection of 20-30 objects, which comprise a variety of textures and materials. There are different theme baskets depending on age and ability. Suggested object groups are listed on the reverse.
It is never too early to introduce active play to babies. Spending some time every day on play that strengthens and builds tiny muscles, is time well spent, and contributes to growing a healthy and strong little person! Try these ideas below whenever you can: Reach for it: next time baby wants the soother, bottle, teddy bear or book, try to hold back from putting it into their hands. Hold the item a little way out of reach so that baby needs to stretch out their arms to grab it. Tummy time: Every day should include at least 5 minutes on babies tummy. Mix up the props and surface baby lays on. Try unusual props to look at like a large feather, a pair of bright earrings or a crackly piece of rolled up wrapping paper to maintain babys interest. Consider using rolled up towels, soft sheepskin rugs and even your own fit ball as surfaces to lay on. And remember, dont give in straight away when baby complains and try to extend the time spent on stomachs every day. Roll me over: Practice rolling baby from side to side in a rocking motion, and vary the speed from fast rolls to slow. Even a crawling, active baby benefits from roll over play as it encourages balance and coordination. Music: Use music every day to dance with your baby. Helping them clap, swing thier arms, shake thier head and stamp thier little feet to the music. Balls are best: Regardless of age, balls are hands down the best exercise for babies. Spend time with baby kicking, rolling, pushing or even simply banging the ball.
Start by giving your toddler paintbrushes, a plastic bowl of water and old magazines or newspaper. Encourage your toddler to paint onto the pictures and words, and soon they will discover what happens when water hits ink (It bleeds!). Another fun task is filling a plastic spray bottle (available from most gardening stores) with water and taking this play outside. Have your toddler first decorate the wall or ground with chalk pictures, then spray the chalk with the water in the bottle!
Set up a space in the kitchen (so you can vacuum up the inevitable mess later!) and give your little one an assortment of bowls, mixing jugs, funnels, scoops and different sized plastic cups. Grab a small bag of lentils, rice, pasta etc, and encourage your little one to get playing. Children are fascinated by the sound and the texture of the lentils as they play with them, and will adore the added bonus of being given free opportunity to make a mess as they pour and scoop. Want another idea? How about trying out some other fun food items instead? Uncooked rice makes a great sound when poured into a cardboard tube. Dry pasta comes in many unique and interesting shapes and sizes and is just perfect for stringing together or painting and gluing. And a small box of couscous becomes an indoor sand pit for small trucks and cars, or those plastic zoo animals when the weather outside is not co-operating!
You need an apple, pear, orange or any other seeded fruit you like. Cut the fruit in quarters and together, count the number of seeds you can see, and then enjoy the fruit as a healthy treat. Extend the learning by adding in a different type of fruit for chats about the colour as well as the number of seeds!
Your little one gets a real kick out of trying to put shoes on and off, and in trying to do so they are building their extra important fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Even better still, the shoes are just brilliant for putting teddies inside, playing with the fun zips, buckles and shoe laces. Grab a basket and hand them over today! Just remember to keep the high heels out of the mix.! This game can be easily adapted to suit even the smallest children. Games at this age should be are simple, fast and use words from the world around them that they are fast beginning to recognize. Start by saying you are going to play a game, and that they need to do as you say. Use simple tasks and language at first like “Hands on head”. Little ones love the repetition in this game and get very excited waiting for you to say it again. Don’t be surprised if you never move past the first instruction as they enjoy practicing a new skill over and over again!
Keep a bottle of baby hand-wash by your kitchen and bathroom sink and prop your child up helping him wash his hands. You can even fill up a small bucket with water and bubbles and let him go. Don’t forget to sing “this is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands, this is the way we wash our hands, so early in the morning!” |
|
|
Copyright © 2010 ClapHandies PlayLab At Home - All Rights Reserved |
|
Using ice in play for little ones is not just for hot days! Some of the most important play time little ones can have is tactile and sensory, where how things feel teaches them a lot about the world around them (and its loads of fun as well!).
Your little one is pretty active right now, climbing on top of the couch, climbing over his sister, trying to escape out the front door! Encourage this new found sense of adventure by getting down on his level and playing this game.
Treasure basket play (also known as Heuristic Play) has been around for 60 years, it’s probably something you do without knowing, and the general idea is to provide Wobblers or toddler with a collection of items made from natural materials (as in not bright plastic items) to explore on their own.
Tips and tricks to help baby become more active!
Wobblers and Toddlers will enjoy painting with water as much as they will with bright coloured paint. Using water as an art medium introduces a new dimension to creative play and also reduces the amount of mess possible!
The simple fun of scooping and pouring dry items provides at least an hour’s worth of continuous fun, not to mention plenty of fine motor skill development.
Healthy eating: you know it’s important, but how do you make it fun? Here is a simple game that not only uses fruit that you can eat, but encourages early practice in counting as well.
You know all those shoes you have hidden in the back of the wardrobe – the ones that still haven’t made it back into fashion but you can’t bear to part with them? Well now is the time to bring them out of isolation!
It’s never too early to start good hygiene habits! Washing hands in lovely warm, soapy water is a pleasant and soothing distraction, and has the added benefits of keeping germs at bay!