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Fun activities for your toddler


Two little siblings on a grass ground playing
Children learn about the world through play, so here are some fabulous ideas to help them have fun and make some important discoveries at the same time.

Make-believe play
Children love to have the chance to make up their own stories. You can help by supplying some simple items to aid their imaginations. For example, you could set up a mini-kitchen area, with some pots, pans, plastic cups and plates. This offers children the chance to:
  • act out aspects of their own lives which may be puzzling them
  • develop mathematical ideas of one-to-one correspondence, as they offer imaginary treats to imaginary guests “one for you and one for you”
  • explore the idea of symbolic representation – the idea that one thing can stand for another
  • try out how it might feel to be someone of a different age, sex or culture
Energetic play
Physical play allows children to develop:
  • a better sense of overall control and balance
  • judgement of direction, speed and distance
  • strength and stamina
  • understanding of spatial relationships as they move around, through, beside things
  • hand-eye co-ordination as they throw and catch
  • confidence in their own skill, strength and judgement
You can help them to develop physical skills by setting up an obstacle course in the garden, or taking them to the local park.

Small worlds
For much of the time, young children’s lives are under the control of other people. But when they organise small-scale train or road layouts, dolls houses or farms, they are in charge for once! This gives children the opportunity to:
  • make choices and direct outcomes
  • plan, organise and take charge
  • become skilful with their fingers as they manipulate small objects
  • form mathematical concepts of sets as they sort the pigs from the horses in the farm, or the kitchen furniture from the bedroom furniture in the dolls house
  • create worlds of their own in which they can act out their present understanding of the real world
Sounds and music
Children love rhythm, dance and singing, and helping your child to experiment with songs and rhymes develops many skills, such as:
  • listening carefully
  • understanding more about language by hearing and responding
  • repeating key phrases and anticipating the next line of a well-loved song
Your child will love the sound of your voice, so don’t worry if you don’t think you can sing – they’ll be happy to hear you try! You can sing favourite pop songs, nursery rhymes or make up your own tunes. Gently clapping your child’s hands or moving your knees to the rhythm as they sit on your lap all adds to their enjoyment. You can also borrow some CDs or DVDs from the library with actions and songs on.

Water
Playing with tipping and pouring water from one container to another helps to develop muscular strength and hand-eye co-ordination. Children also begin to understand the principle of conservation as they discover that the same quantity of water can fill containers of many different shapes. As they tip and pour, they also learn to think in terms of full and half-full, more and less. You can set up a bucket or washing up bowl outdoors, with various objects such as plastic jugs and cups or watering cans, so children can experiment with pouring and filling water, or you can play with water at bath-time.

Building blocks
Children gain powerful emotional satisfaction from knocking down a tower and then building it up again. This game also develops their mathematical skills – they learn how many blocks they need and how tall their tower is. Making estimations in this way strengthens their understanding of number. While building with toy bricks, children also learn about measuring and balancing, about making a plan, deciding what materials are needed for it and then carrying it out. Building activities develop hand-eye co-ordination and manual skills as children select and manipulate objects.
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