Children Activities and Child Development from Fisher-Price

Enjoy these activities with your 2� to 3-year-old�they're a great way
to make learning fun!

�	What Happened?	�	Sand and Water	�	Silly Stories	�	Sticker Search

�	Picture Pairs	�	Storybook Theater	�	Copycat	�	Know the Noise

�	Mix It Up	�	Shell Game	�	Tightrope Walk

What Happened? *

Help your child learn to anticipate and solve problems�before real problems come along! Make it fun for her to figure out solutions.

Materials:
�	Picture book with a good story


	�	Cognitive/thinking skills
	�	Creativity and imagination
	�	Language and vocabulary development
	�	Problem solving
	�	Sequencing

What to do:
1. Select a picture book in which events happen that your child can anticipate.
2. Sit together in a comfortable chair and begin reading the story.
3. As you proceed, ask your child what she thinks is going to happen next and let her guess before you turn the page.
4. Turn the page, read the next part of the story, and see if she was right!
5. Continue until you reach the end of the book.

Safety: Be sure to select books that don't cause your child anxiety about what's going to happen such as a story about death.

Sand and Water *

Sand and water are two properties that offer your toddler a wide range of open-ended activities. All she needs are a box of sand and pail of water to pretend she's at the beach, as she pours, presses, molds, and sifts.

Materials:
�	Large wooden or cardboard box
�	Fine sand
�	Bucket of water
�	Sand toys, plastic animals and figures
�	Sifters, cups, scoops, spoons, and other kitchen items


	�	Cause and effect
	�	Fine motor development
	�	Imagination and dramatic play
	�	Sensory exploration

What to do:
1. Set a large wooden or cardboard box in the yard and fill it at least one-foot deep with fine sand.
2. Set out a bucket of water, sand toys, and kitchen items for discovery play.
3. Let your toddler enjoy exploring the sand and using her imagination as she sifts, pours, buries, and plays.

Safety: Watch your toddler around the sand, in case she gets it in her face.

Silly Stories *

Just when your toddler thinks she's got the world figured out, tell her a Silly Story and make her think again! This fun game requires the use of your toddler's favourite storybooks.

Materials:
�	favourite picture book


	�	Cognitive/thinking skills
	�	Language and vocabulary development
	�	Social interaction

What to do:
1. Select one of your toddler's favourite picture books�one that you read to her frequently.
2. Sit with your toddler on your lap in a comfortable place.
3. Begin to read the book to your toddler, as you always have.
4. After a few pages, instead of reading what is written, change the story into something silly. For example, if you're reading the "Three Little Pigs," instead of having a wolf come to the door, make it a gorilla!
5. Pause for a mument after you say the silly part, to see your toddler's reaction. When she says, "No! That's not right!" read it correctly for a few more pages.
6. Then surprise her again with another silly change.
7. Continue making up silly parts for the rest of the story.

Safety: If your toddler gets upset at the changes, play the game another time.

Sticker Search *

In this form of Hide-and-Go-Seek, your toddler searches for stickers instead of people. Use your imagination to hide the stickers in fun places!

Materials:
�	Variety of paper stickers
�	Playroom


	�	Gross and fine motor development
	�	Problem solving
	�	Visual tracking and acuity

What to do:
1. Buy some interesting, self-adhesive paper stickers.
2. Place the stickers on various items in the playroom, such as furniture, lamps, toys, the floor or walls, shoes, even the dog! Keep all the stickers in plain view.
3. Bring your toddler into the room and tell him to look for the stickers you have hidden.
4. Give him hints if he needs help, using "hot" or "cold" as he gets closer or farther from an item.
5. Have your child stick the stickers to his shirt as he finds them.

Safety: Don't place stickers where your child will have to reach, push, pull, crawl, or make any other dangerous effort to reach them. Make sure all stickers are clearly visible, to minimize your toddler's frustration.

Picture Pairs *

As your toddler begins to recognize the similarities and differences between the three-dimensional world and two-dimensional representations, such as pictures, play a game of Picture Pairs and see if he can match up 3-D and 2-D!

Materials:
�	Pictures from magazines that represent things found around the house, such as toothpaste, toddler food, hat, toy, shoes, watch, and so on.
�	Real items to match to pictures


	�	Classification and matching
	�	Real vs. representation
	�	Visual discrimination

What to do:
1. Find pictures that represent items found in your home, as suggested above.
2. Collect real items to match the pictures.
3. Set out the real items in a row on the floor or at the table.
4. Seat your toddler next to you, facing the items.
5. Hold up a picture of one of the items and ask your toddler to find the matching real item.
6. Repeat until your toddler matches all the items.

Safety: Be sure all items are safe for your toddler to handle, and give him lots of praise, encouragement, and help so he doesn�t become frustrated.

Storybook Theater *

If you toddler has a favourite book, turn the make-believe story into a real-live play, with masks, props, and costumes. Watch your toddler�s delight as familiar characters leap from the page and onto the stage!

Materials:
�	Blanket
�	favourite storybook
�	Costume props for whatever characters you choose


	�	Creativity and imagination
	�	Dramatic play
	�	Language and vocabulary development

What to do:
1. Spread out a blanket in the middle of a room to make a stage.
2. Choose one of your toddler�s favourite storybooks, such as Winnie-the-Pooh or Curious George.
3. Create costume props for the book�s characters.
4. Read the story to your toddler.
5. Then get out the costume props and dress yourself and your toddler as the characters.
6. Act out the story together, using the blanket stage.

Safety: If your toddler gets scared during the dramatic play, remind her it�s just make believe. To make the play more fun for her, have her choose the character she wants to act.

Copycat *

Your toddler is a great imitator�which is one of the ways he learns. Turn the tables on him and play a game of Copycat, where you do the imitating!

Materials:
�	Your bodies


	�	Cause and effect
	�	Gross and fine motor development
	�	Social interaction

What to do:
1. Bring your toddler into the playroom and set him on the floor.
2. Sit down next to him, imitating his exact body position.
3. Every time your toddler moves or does something, do exactly what he does.
4. See if you can tell when he catches on to what you�re doing!

Safety: Stop the game if your toddler gets into anything dangerous and deal with the problem before you continue. Don�t tease your toddler or upset him with your imitating.

Know the Noise *

Your toddler loves to listen�to music, to voices, to animals. Enhance his listening skills with a variety of familiar sounds he can guess. All you need is a portable cassette recorder.

Materials:
�	Portable cassette recorder and tape
�	Interesting sounds


	�	Cause and effect
	�	Classification skills
	�	Listening skills

What to do:
1. Use a tape recorder to record a variety of interesting sounds, such as a dog barking, a familiar children's song, musical toy, Daddy�s voice, telephone ringing, keys jangling, and so on. Allow some time between each noise.
2. Play the tape for your toddler and see if he can guess each sound. If you have not left enough time between noises, stop the tape after each noise and allow your child to guess.
3. Play the tape again; this time, demonstrate the source of each noise as it plays.

Safety: Be sure the noises are loud enough to be heard, but soft enough to avoid startling your toddler.

Mix It Up *

As your toddler pieces his world together, play games that enhance his ability to sequence�a skill that must be mastered before he can attempt to learn to read.

Materials:
�	Series of photos, such as holiday, birthday party, holiday event, first day at preschool, and so on
�	Large sheet of white construction paper
�	Felt-tip pen
�	Table


	�	Cause and effect
	�	Cognitive/thinking skills
	�	Sequencing and prereading skills
	�	Visual discrimination

What to do:
1. Search the family photo album for a series of four pictures that focus on a particular event, as mentioned above. Select pictures that have a beginning, middle, and end. For example: Welcoming party guests. Opening gifts. Eating the cake. Saying good-bye.
2. On a large sheet of construction paper, draw a row of four squares, a little larger than the size of the photographs.
3. Label the first square #1, then #2, #3, and #4.
4. Seat your toddler at the table with the construction paper in front of him.
5. Spread out the four photographs for your toddler to see.
6. Remind him of the event, then ask, �What happened first?� See if he can pick out the photograph that represents the beginning of the event. If he needs help, give him clues.
7. Have your toddler set the beginning picture on square #1.
8. Search for picture #2, and continue until all pictures have been placed in order.

Safety: If your toddler gets frustrated, use only three pictures, and help him with lots of clues.

Shell Game *

Can you fool your toddler? When he was younger you could, but now that he�s growing up, it won�t be so easy. Still, don�t let him bet his future college fund on this Shell Game!

Materials:
�	Table
�	3 small bowls in different colours
�	Bite-sized soft candies, cookies, or crackers


	�	Eye/hand coordination
	�	Problem solving
	�	Visual acuity and tracking

What to do:
1. Seat your toddler at the table.
2. Place three coloured bowls on the table, facedown.
3. Set a bite-sized candy, cookie, or cracker in front of one of the bowls.
4. Cover the treat with a bowl.
5. Move the bowls around, keeping your toddler�s attention on the hidden treat.
6. Ask you toddler, �Where�s the treat?�
7. Let your toddler pick up the bowl to check for the treat.
8. If he guesses correctly, let him eat the treat.
9. Play again!

Safety: Move the bowls slowly, so your toddler can track the treat. The idea here is to make him successful, not to frustrate him. Be sure to use treats your child won't choke on.

Tightrope Walk *

Your toddler walks easily at this age, but you can challenge him with a game of Tightrope Walk. You try it, too! The game won�t be easy, but it will be fun!

Materials:
�	Floor space
�	Masking tape


	�	Balance and coordination
	�	Eye/foot coordination
	�	Gross motor development

What to do:
1. Clear the room so you have lots of floor space.
2. Make a line along the floor with masking tape�start with a straight line, then make it twist and bend, and end it with a spiral.
3. Challenge your toddler to a Tightrope Walk. You try it first, by walking on the tape. Try not to step off the tape!
4. Then let your toddler have a turn, and see if he can stay on the tape better than you can.

Safety: Don�t lead your toddler into any dangerous areas using the tape. If he has trouble with balance and gets frustrated, line the tape parallel to the wall, so he can use the wall for balance.

* Play & Learn activities reprinted from "Preschooler Play & Learn" with permission of its author, Penny Warner, and its publisher, Meadowbrook Press (2000.)

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