Toddler Activities: Matching Shapes

I bought these flashcards at Target. Its the Dr. Suess set. I cut off all the busy borders and then cut the cards in half.

I showed Landon how to match up each shape then mixed it up and asked him to try.

great questions to ask:

"what is this?" 

"Can you tell me this shape?"

"what color is this?"

"where is the "heart"?"

Toddler Activities: Animal Match

This matching activity was a gift from Landon's great aunt. She found them at the dollar tree! What a great gift!

We talk about the animals, what the animals say, and we talk about the color of each animal.

this is such an easy and affordable activity!

Toddler Activities: Matching & Stacking Shapes

We love stacking! When I found these shapes at target, I snatched them up! 

Our conversations about this activity can be endless.. we talk about shapes, we count the shapes, we talk about colors. What an amazing activity for only $1.

He can say, "star, heart, square and circle"

We have also used these shapes to paint/stamp, I've photocopied the shapes and let him match them as well. It is endless!

Toddler Activities: Letter Recognition

Just wanted to show you how well landon can recognize letters after 2 weeks.

We got these flash cards and magnets at target 

Toddler Activities: Matching Alphabets

We've been working on our alphabet recognition. I bought these flashcards and magnets from target in the dollar aisle. These are great!! We started with 3 letters per day and by the end of the week, we had him matching 12 cards. 

While matching letters, I ask many questions to get him thinking...

"Can you say A?"

"What starts with A?" 

"What animal is this?" 

"What is the alligator eating" etc

We also sound out the letter as he holds them. 

Target flashcards are great! Try it out and let me know what you think. We also see these cards at the dollar tree, and dollar store.

Toddler Activities: threading noodles

This is one of our daily activities during "table time".  Its such an easy activity and it covers a number of fine motor activities!

all you need is:

noodles

styrofoam 

pipe cleaners

Landon also counts as he threads.

The pipe cleaners are pretty flimsy so he has to use both hands to thread his noodles.

it also takes a lot of concentration to complete this activity so teaching him to be patient and calm is important!

He loved it so much we had to add more pipe cleaners for him! 

Toddler Activities: Transferring Rice

Warning- this activity is MESSY but fun!

I'm teaching Landon how to transfer stuff. I provided a cup of rice, a few containers, measuring cups, funnels and spoons... I also had a dirt devil and broom with dustpan for clean up!

I showed him how to use the spoon and funnel. then I stepped back and let me explore.

every once in awhile, I will remind him to "keep it in the box" and to be careful. he really did try! he said "uh-oh" every time he spilled rice. It was really cute to watch him explore!

the best thing about giving him an activity is... I can cook dinner in peace! 

Toddler Activities: Dinosaur Water Exploration

We clearly have a dinosaur obsession in our house. Its non stop. So on a hot summer day, I decided to let me explore a dinosaur water table! You really can add anything to a water table and kids will love it!

We added a few rocks, dinosaurs, funnels, water bottles, tupperware, measuring cups, tweezers and basters. he spent about 2 hours playing and laughing!

He loved picking up dinosaurs with his tweezers and playing with all the rocks I added.

I added sand for him to scoop and bury his dinosaurs.

I also added dinosaurs that grow with water. this activity lasted a few days so he noticed his was growing. 

this is a great activity when he's fresh from his nap! 

Here he is digging up his trees and dinosaurs!

the baster was a hit! Hope you guys try this with your little ones! Its super fun and keeps them very busy!

Toddler Activities: Bell Pepper Painting

We tried this activity after breakfast one day! Its super easy and fun!

All you need is a few bell peppers and some paint!

He really enjoyed picking up the bell peppers and smashing them on the paper!

He kept calling them "Flowa" 

We paint with anything we have laying around the house but he the bell pepper stems make it easier to pick up.

The results are beautiful and he continued to paint for 30 minutes!

Landon loves art... we send a lot of his artwork to my husbands family in PA and my parents. A LOT of artwork.

Toddler Activities: Cars and Tubes

I received a package the other day and was excited to use the box as a learning activity! 

Propped up the box at an angle and taped it to the wall..

Gave Landon some match cars and showed him how to drop them in...

He was instantly impressed.. Screaming "MORE".. And laughing!

He would collect them and repeat for what seemed like hours! 

He would count with his fingers 1-2-3 then yell "GO"!

It's great to watch him try to figure out where his cars where when they got stuck. This is such a great fun and free activity for toddlers! 

Toddler Activities: Slime

It's amazing to see how a $3 container of slime can provide hours and days of fun!!! 

If you're worried about making a mess, I'll be honest... it makes ZERO and its worth EVERY PENNY!

When I introduced this, I said, "Landon, do you want to play with Slime?"

he said "no". No is his new favorite word.

I took this as an opportunity to teach him how to follow instructions. First I said: "here, you open" and I showed him how, closed it and handed him the container.

Once the container was open, I said, "turn it upside down" when he did, the slime plopped out. He was fascinated!!

simple instructions:

"touch it"

"pick it up"

"not in your mouth"

"use 2 hands"

once we made it clear that he couldn't put it in his mouth, he started to really pull it apart and play with it!

his favorite thing to do was "clean up". Actually, it's all he does when I hand him slime, open it, dump it, clean it up, put the cap back on... simple yet enjoyable!

M

after about 2 weeks, the slime stopped being gooey and would come apart easily so we replaced it. such a fun activity and totally recommended.

**you don't need an apron, we were painting right before this activity!**

Toddler Activities: Watercolor Painting

We introduced watercolors a few weeks ago. He kept drinking the water and eating the brush. It was really hard to get him to paint. 

So I changed it up. I took an old container and cut a hole our, filled with a little water... And BOOM.. Painting became this amazing game for him! 

To wash his brush was actually a learning opportunity. He had to fit his brush in a little hole to wash. 

After he washes his brush, I asked him to pick up some color. 

He kept whispering "paint" 

Everytime I cheered beautiful, he would smile and keep painting! I love it!