Fun with Toddlers: Activities That Parents & Children Can Enjoy Together

Parenthood is wonderful, but demands your time, especially when you have a toddler. A toddler is at a very crucial developmental stage and needs activities which will facilitate the same. Motor and language development, sensorial development and socialisation are important milestones in a toddler’s life.

How do we provide these experiences to our toddlers? Well, the best experiences are those which develop organically from our surroundings and imagination.  Here are some activities you could try with your child.

Storytelling

Stories are such a joyful part of childhood. Make up a story using the things and animals that you see in your surroundings, such as crockery, birds, articles of furnishing, etc. Specifically use vocabulary which you would like the child to pick up. After a few re-tellings of the story, ask the child to identify things and bring them to you if possible. This activity awakens your imagination as parents and helps in the language development of your child.

Playing with dough

This is a time tested activity for toddlers. Dough is safe, easy to make and extremely pliable. It lends itself to various shapes thus giving ample scope for the motor development of the child as well as to fire up their imagination.  What’s more, use the dough to make animal shapes and weave stories out of them!

Cooking

Yes! You read right! Sow the seeds of self-sufficiency early by allowing them to help you in the kitchen. Simple things that doesn’t involve fire or sharp objects, something as simple as making dough balls for puris or chapatis can be excellent kitchen activities for children. Help them to make a simple dish which only requires mixing such as a salad or a simple dessert using crushed biscuits, broken chocolate and cream.

Potting saplings

What better way to start environment education than by getting your wee one to plant saplings either in a pot or in the ground? Playing in the safe mud or sand is an integral part of childhood especially because it introduces the child to various textures. Get your child to dig a small hole in the ground or to put soil in a pot and then gently help them to plant a sapling. The importance of rhythm and routine cannot be stressed enough at this age. Get the little gardener to water the plants every day at the same time. And see the face of the joy of your life light up when the plant grows or sprouts a flower!

Aptech International Preschool is a second home for your child where we initiate these activities and more in a safe and stimulating environment. However, there’s no better place than home. There’s so much you can do! You are limited only by your imagination! So, enjoy this beautiful phase of your child’s life.