Activities

19 - 24 months
 Activity
Bath Math

Bath time provides a great opportunity to You Will Need:

introduce new concepts to your baby, such as
number, volume and position. Comfort, Play Plastic cups and
& Teach time in the warm, soapy water lets containers of different sizes,
your baby learn in a relaxing way! a bath puppet

While you gently wash your baby, use the bath puppet to tell her where you are going to
wash her next. Say, “Look! The puppet is going to wash you behind your ears, and under
your arms and between your toes!” She will learn new words to describe position as she
enjoys being bathed, tickled and touched.

Encourage your baby to fill and empty the different containers again and again. Each time
he pours out water, count aloud. Tell him, “You emptied the cup five times! One, two,
three, four, five!” He will begin to learn names for numbers as he plays.

Describe what your baby is doing as she puts water into the cups and pours it out. Say,
“This cup is full but this one is empty,” or “The blue cup has more water but the yellow one
has less.” Talking about what you see helps your baby to develop language skills needed
to describe what she is learning.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Bathing Babies

You Will Need:

Washing dolls is an enjoyable Comfort, Play
& Teach activity that can help your toddler to Two plastic basins, warm water,
practice playing with others. As she plays plastic dolls, bath toys, bath books,
alongside one friend, she will slowly develop sponges, wash cloths, towels
the ability to co-operate and share.

Water play is a soothing and relaxing activity that two toddlers can happily enjoy together.
Ensure that there are enough materials so that both children can have one of each.
Together they will love washing and nurturing the dolls.

Providing a variety of bath materials will encourage toddlers to role play experiences that
are part of a familiar routine. They will enjoy squeezing sponges, splashing and pointing
at pictures in the bath books together!

Comment on the toddlers actions. For example, say, “Look at how gently you are washing
the doll,” or “Thank you for sharing the rubber duck!” This will help toddlers to know you
approve of their behaviour in addition to building their language skills.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Finger Family, Where Are You?

How to do this Activity: You Will Need:

Hold your hands behind your back as you sing The words to the following finger play:
Tommy Thumb, Tommy Thumb,
or say the first two lines. On the third line,
Where are you?
reveal one thumb or finger at a time. Bend Here I am, here I am!
your thumbs so they bow to each other. With How do you do?
each repetition, substitute different fingers
(Peter Pointer, Toby Tall, Ruby Ring and Baby
Finger).

Hearing the words to this simple finger play repeated many times will help your toddler to
learn them and to eventually join you in saying them. He will feel proud when he
remembers the rhyme and can tell you the names of some of the characters!

This finger play will encourage your toddler to use her imagination as she pretends that
each finger is a different character. Use a different voice (e.g. high, low, silly, loud or soft)
for each of the fingers to make the activity more creative!

When your toddler has heard the words enough times, ask him to tell you or show you
which finger to hold up next. Provide a choice, like, “Is this Toby Tall or Baby Finger?”
Asking simple questions will encourage him to make a decision and to use words to
respond.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
If You’re Happy and You Know It

You Will Need the Following Song:

Singing a song together is a fun way to explore
feelings, and learn words, facial expressions If you’re happy and you know it, clap
and actions that can describe the different your hands!
emotions your toddler experiences. This If you’re happy and you know it, clap
Comfort, Play & Teach activity is a way for your hands!
you and your toddler to enjoy the song and If you’re happy and you know it,
actions together! And you really want to show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap
your hands!
How to Do this Activity:
With each repetition, substitute different feelings and actions
(e.g. If you’re angry/stamp your feet; If you’re sad/say “Boo Hoo!”)

Singing this song encourages your toddler to name and express different feelings. This
helps her to understand and communicate her own emotions and also to begin to
understand and care about those of others.

Role-playing feelings using different actions allows your toddler to explore emotions in a
way that is both imaginative and safe. By clapping, stamping or covering his face, he can
express himself in ways other than speaking.

As children talk and sing about different emotions, they build their vocabularies and
become more able to use words like happy, sad, mad, scared and excited. This helps
them to label their own feelings, and to be more able to recognize and label other people’s
feelings.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Precious Prints

Your toddler will love the squishy sensation of You Will Need:
paint and will enjoy smearing it and making
designs with her hands and fingers. Here is a a plastic tray or cookie sheet
way to preserve many of your child's creations. finger paint
Cherishing your child's art work is a good way large pieces of paper
to Comfort, Play & Teach. a smock to protect your child's
clothing
Instructions:
Pour some paint onto the tray, and encourage your child to smear the paint with
their hands, making broad circles or sweeping motions, or use their fingers to make
designs in the paint like dots, lines, circles or spirals. Children who are able to can
even print their own name! When they are satisfied with the pattern they have
created, press a piece of paper onto the paint, then peel it back. You will be able to
preserve many of your child's creations this way.

The smooth sensation of finger paint can be very calming for your toddler. He will enjoy
repeating the activity again and again! Consider playing some soothing music in the
background to enhance his creativity.

Your toddler can discover the capabilities of her arms, hands and fingers by manipulating
the paint, and observing the changing patterns that emerge. She will be interested in the
variety that she can produce.

By making prints, your toddler will learn something interesting about creating 'mirror
images' of his work. Use two colours so he sees what happens when blue and yellow or
red and white are combined!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Show Me What You Do…

Your toddler understands how many familiar You Will Need:

household objects are used. Playing a game
where you look at different objects with your Familiar household objects like
toddler, and say, “Show me what you do with a a brush, a spoon,
____” is a simple way to spend quality a hat, a doll, a book
Comfort, Play & Teach time together!

Encourage your toddler’s interest in the objects around her, and offer lots of praise when
she demonstrates her ability to use an object or to tell you how it is used. This will help
her build confidence in her growing interest in her world.

Provide props that your toddler can explore through pretend play, for example cooking
tools like bowls and spoons, and different clothes. This will enable her to make
discoveries about how things work and the ways she can use them.

Describe your own actions to your toddler, and talk about what you are doing with different
things. This will build his language skills and help him to understand how different things
around him are used.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Snow Ball Rhyme

You Will Need the Following

This is a traditional rhyme that can be recited Rhyme:
with infants, toddlers or preschoolers as you
spend some Comfort, Play & Teach time A little ball,
together. Repeat it again and again while A bigger ball,
making snow balls, after building a snowman, A great big ball I see.
or simply using your hands to demonstrate
different sizes and counting on your fingers to Now let us count
show numbers. The balls we've made…
One, two, three!

Children will love to say this rhyme over and over again. Adults and children can take
turns saying the lines and enjoy sharing a wonderful language experience.

Finger plays and action rhymes encourage children to use their imaginations and to be
able to show their understanding of concepts they are learning through role playing.

This simple rhyme helps children to notice different sizes and provides words to describe
size. It also familiarizes children with numbers and teaches them how to count to three.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Teddy Bear Tea Party

You Will Need:

Throwing a party for teddy bears and dolls is a
lovely way for your toddler to practice a variety Props like
of important social skills. A few simple props dolls and teddy bears,
will transform a typical play experience into a blanket,
some lovely Comfort, Play & Teach for your plastic dishes and tea set,
toddler! party hats

Through pretend play, your toddler can practice social skills like caring for someone else’s
needs, sharing, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Comment on the way he plays with his
toys and let him know when he is being gentle and polite.

Providing props for your toddler to use will encourage her to explore familiar objects and to
learn how to use them with others. She will enjoy distributing dishes, pouring tea and
eating pretend cookies with her dolls. Pretend play allows your toddler to recreate
experiences that she has enjoyed with you!

Playing with teddy bears and dolls encourages your toddler to use his developing
language skills. The pretend play situation will prompt him to use a run-on flow of words
while talking to his toys and serving them tea. Join in the play and ask open-ended
questions so that he will talk to you as well!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activities

25 - 30 months
 Activity
Book Talk

Looking at picture books creates an You Will Need:

opportunity to tell stories, to share ideas and
opinions and to practice speaking and Books Books Books!
listening. Remember that reading provides
Choose a variety of books with
excellent Comfort, Play & Teach time for you different kinds of illustrations,
to converse with your toddler at bed time, textures, and story topics.
during play time….any time!

Reading with your toddler is a simple way to build his language skills and to show him you
are interested in talking about what he thinks and knows. Create a daily reading routine
where you can cuddle up together and enjoy a favourite book.

Choose a story book that you and your toddler have read together many times. Pretend
he is the teacher and encourage him to hold the book, turn the pages and tell you a story!
Together you can take turns pointing to and talking about the illustrations.

Ask your toddler open-ended questions and invite her to talk about what she sees in the
pictures. This will help her to build her vocabulary and to use her developing expressive
language skills.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
My Feelings Book

As you look at magazines with your toddler, You Will Need:

talk about faces that you see. Encourage him
to identify emotions in the pictures, and then Magazine pictures showing
cut them out and paste them into a scrap book. different emotional expressions
Spending Comfort, Play & Teach time (i.e. sad, happy, mad, surprised)
creating a special book will help your toddler A scrap book, safety scissors,
learn and talk about his different feelings. and glue

Cuddle up with your toddler and make time to look at the book you created together.
Asking her to share her ideas about the pictures makes her feel valued and gives her a
chance to talk about her own feelings.

Your toddler can create his own pictures that represent his feelings. He can select
crayons that are “mad” colours or “happy” colours and use them to draw. Encourage him
to tell you about what he is drawing and then add his art work to the scrap book.

Model coping with emotions, using words like, “This makes me feel sad/happy.” By talking
through emotional experiences with your toddler, she learns words to describe her own
feelings and begins to understand the feelings of others.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
My Special Day

Toddlers feel secure when they know what is You Will Need:
going to happen and they enjoy a predictable
routine. Making a picture chart that shows the Magazine pictures of children
different part of your toddler’s day provides doing daily activities (i.e. eating
some Comfort, Play & Teach time to talk to breakfast, brushing teeth);
her about her activities! or Photos of your own child
Bristol board, safe scissors,
glue or tape, and mac tac

How to do This Activity

Glue or tape the pictures in order onto a piece of Bristol board to create a chart to illustrate a day
in the life of your child. Laminate the chart so that it will last longer.

Toddlers enjoy an ordered routine. Creating a picture chart will give your toddler a sense
of security about the events in his day. Describing and showing him what will happen next
will give him reassurance about what to expect.

Point to one of the pictures and say something silly about it. For example, if it is a picture
of a child brushing his teeth, say “Look! He’s eating an apple!” See if your toddler notices
your mistake! Encourage her to say something about what is really happening in the
picture.

Looking at each of the pictures provides an opportunity for your toddler to label what he
sees and to tell you about his own experiences with eating, brushing his teeth, playing,
preparing for bed – things he does every day!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
One, Two, Buckle My ______

You Will Need the Following

Nursery rhymes, with their wonderful rhythms Rhyme:
and rhyme schemes, encourage toddlers to One, two, buckle my shoe
use their developing language skills. Reciting
Three, four, shut the door
a familiar nursery rhyme provides some
Comfort, Play & Teach time for you to play, Five, six, pick up sticks
laugh and talk with your toddler!
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, a great, big hen!
Cluck, cluck, cluck!
(traditional)

After several repetitions, say the rhyme leaving out the last word of each line for your
toddler to fill in. Reciting it in this playful way enables her to practice the listening and turn-
taking skills she will need for conversing with other people.

With each repetition of the rhyme, use different voices. For example, say one line loudly,
and one softly. Say one line using a high voice, the other using a low voice. Say one line
quickly and the other very slowly. The silliness is sure to bring giggles!

Hearing counting rhymes will help to familiarize your toddler with the names for numbers
and the order in which to count them. As you say the rhyme, hold up your fingers so that
your toddler can see how many there are, and begin to understand the connection
between the words for numbers and actual objects.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Playdough Party!

You Will Need:

Making playdough with a friend is a fun
Comfort, Play & Teach activity that helps to 3 cups of flour
develop important social skills. As two children 1 cup of salt
take turns adding and mixing ingredients they 1 cup of water
can enjoy each other’s company while 1/3 cup of cooking oil
squeezing their dough into shape. powdered paint or food colouring
mixing bowl, spoons and
measuring cups

Measure these ingredients into a bowl, and combine using a spoon or your hands.
When the dough is ready, it can be formed into different shapes.

As the children play together, let them know when they are being patient, sharing and
playing nicely. Say, “Thank you for waiting your turn. It’s hard to be so patient.” This will
reinforce their emerging social skills and developing ability to play cooperatively with
others.

Provide some paper plates and role-model making cookies from the dough and serving
make-believe cookies to each child. This will encourage them to begin using playdough
as part of their pretend play and to share what they make!

Your toddler and one friend can help you to measure and combine all of the ingredients
and see how they transform into playdough. Together they can practice sharing and
taking turns, and then enjoy the soothing sensation of squeezing, rolling and patting the
soft dough.
You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!
 Activity
Precious Prints

Children enjoy the squishy sensation of paint You Will Need:

and will enjoy smearing it and making designs
with their hands and fingers. Here is a way to a plastic tray or cookie sheet
preserve many of your child’s creations. finger paint
Cherishing your child’s art work is a good way to large pieces of paper
Comfort, Play & Teach with them. a smock or old shirt to protect
your child’s clothing
This activity is good for children 2 to 5.

How to do this activity:

Pour some paint onto the tray, and encourage your child to smear the paint with their hands,
making broad circles or sweeping motions, or use their fingers to make designs in the paint like
dots, lines, circles or spirals. Children who are able to can even print their own name! When
they are satisfied with the pattern they have created, press a piece of paper onto the paint, then
peel it back. You will be able to preserve many of your child’s creations this way.

The smooth sensation of finger paint is very calming for some children. They will enjoy
repeating the activity again and again! Consider playing some soothing music in the
background to enhance their creativity.

Children can discover the capabilities of their arms, hands and fingers by manipulating the
paint, and observe the changing patterns that emerge. They will be interested in the
variety that they can produce.

By making prints, your child will learn something interesting about creating ‘mirror images’
of their work. Use two colours so your child learns what happens when blue and yellow or
red and white are combined!
You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!
 Activity
Stocking the Shelves

Putting away groceries together provides an excellent opportunity to introduce

your toddler to very simple mathematical concepts such as counting, sorting and
size. Using the following Comfort, Play & Teach ideas helps you to teach your
child in a way that is imaginative and fun!

Providing your toddler with a special chore such as putting away some groceries lets him
know that his contribution is important. Count the cans and boxes aloud as he places
them on the shelf and then say, “Wow! You tidied five things! Thank you so much!” He
will feel very proud of his achievement.

Pretend that you are playing grocery store when putting things away. Help your toddler to
sort by telling her, “The boxes go here, and the cans go here.” This will help her to
practice grouping different things according to their shape, or the kind of objects they are.

As your toddler tidies the boxes and cans, point out the different sizes he can see. Ask
which box is bigger than the other. Encourage him to put the short can on top of the tall
one. Use words to describe the different sizes of the containers so these eventually
become part of your toddler’s vocabulary.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activities

30 - 36 months
 Activity
Bouncy Butter

Whoever heard of making butter by jumping up You Will Need:

and down? Have fun learning how your
energy can turn cream into butter! It may take 250 ml (or 1 cup) of heavy cream
time, but this silly churning chant might help!
Small containers with tight fitting
1, 2, 3, 4, Shake the butter, Shake it more! lids (baby food jars work well)
5, 6, 7, 8, Put it on a butter plate!

How To Do This Activity:

Pour some cream into your container and then put on the lid, making sure that it is on tightly, to
prevent leaking. Hold the jar very carefully and start shaking the cream. Now try jumping and
shaking at the same time. Repeat the churning chant as you shake the cream until it finally
thickens into butter. Making butter is hard work, so grown ups can help out, too! If there is still a
little bit of liquid in the jar, just pour it out. Now spread some fresh butter on crackers or bread,
and enjoy!

This activity is good for 2 ½ to 5 year olds.

Children love to recite rhymes and chants. The rhythmic nature of this poem will help
children feel comforted as they learn the words.

Children learn in a hands-on way. By shaking the jars and jumping, too, their whole body
becomes part of the activity.

Butter making allows children to observe how the cream changed and to ask questions
about how it happened. This activity lets them be little scientists!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Crazy Goop

Sensory activities like squeezing play dough, You Will Need:

and smearing finger paint and goop are very
soothing. An open-ended material like goop 3/4 cup cornstarch
will allow your toddler to enjoy a relaxing water
Comfort, Play & Teach experience! Food colouring (optional)
A plastic tray

How To Do This Activity:

Combine the ingredients, adding enough water to make goop that is squishy to the touch, and
not too runny. Allow your toddler to touch and explore the goop.

Your toddler will enjoy the silky texture of the cornstarch. It is very soft on the skin and
she may spend a long time patting, smearing and squeezing the goop that she helped you
to make. Comment on the way she plays with it so she knows you are interested in what
she is doing!

Toddlers learn through using their senses. As your toddler plays with the goop, talk about
how it looks, feels, and smells. Bring in some other materials like cookie cutters, and
encourage your toddler to discover what happens when he tries to make a shape.

When making the goop, talk about the ingredients. Which ingredient is wet? Which one is
dry? What happens when the ingredients are combined? How does the goop feel if there
is too much water, or too little? Making goop encourages your toddler to be a scientist
and to show how much she knows!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
I Can Dress Myself!

Whether your toddler is putting on an outfit or You Will Need:

joining in dress-up play with her friends, she is
developing important self-help skills. Getting A variety of clothes with
dressed can provide Comfort, Play & Teach different fasteners
time for you to encourage your toddler to (i.e. buttons, zippers)
choose clothes and dress herself! Hats, shoes

As your toddler learns to dress, he will communicate his needs, letting you know when he
wants help or when he can he do it by himself. Praise his efforts and comment on his
independence as he demonstrates how capable he is.

Dressing up with one or two friends encourages your toddler to use her imagination and to
practice sharing and co-operating as she role-plays familiar experiences. Toddlers can
help each other with buttons and snaps, developing important social skills.

By dressing independently, your toddler strengthens his fine motor skills and practices
important self-help skills like doing up buttons, pulling up zippers, and fastening Velcro
straps. He is also making decisions about what he likes to wear and developing personal
preferences!

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Number Puzzles

Putting together number puzzles is a fun way You Will Need:

for your toddler to solve problems and to
practice her emerging counting skills. You can Post cards or pictures
enjoy some Comfort, Play & Teach time as that show things to count
you talk about and count what you see in the (i.e. one apple, two houses etc.)
pictures! Scissors (for adult use)

How to Do This Activity:

Cut the postcards into two, three or four pieces, to create puzzles. When the
puzzles are assembled, your toddler can point to and count the objects in each
picture.

Assembling puzzles helps your toddler to build confidence in his thinking skills, as he sees
complete pictures emerge from smaller parts. Let him know how proud you are of his
attempts to put matching puzzle pieces together!

Provide objects that your toddler can count. These enable your toddler to engage other
senses in learning about numbers. It also provides her with something concrete that she
can match to the pictures.

Cutting the post cards into different numbers of pieces gives your toddler the opportunity
to practice counting twice! Count the number of pieces aloud when he assembles the
puzzle and then count what is in the pictures together. He will learn to match number
words to what he sees in the pictures.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
People Puppets

You Will Need:

Playing with puppets encourages your toddler
to explore different facial expressions and to Magazine pictures
talk about feelings and what causes them. Bristol board
Take some Comfort, Play & Teach time to Scissors (for adult use)
help your toddler learn about emotions. Glue
Mac tac
Popsicle sticks
Clear tape
How to Do This Activity:
Cut out various pictures that show a variety of facial expressions. Mount these on Bristol board
and then laminate them with mac tac so they last longer. Tape popsicle sticks to the back of the
pictures to create puppets.

As you play with the puppets, make up stories. Ask your toddler why the puppet might be
feeling happy, or sad, or mad. Ask what makes your toddler feel that way. This will help
him to think about other’s feelings and start to feel empathy.

Inventing and role playing stories enables your toddler to use her imagination, and to
express and explore different feelings that she has in her day-to-day experiences in a way
that is safe for her.

Talking about different emotions builds your toddler’s expressive language skills and gives
him the needed vocabulary to describe how he is feeling and how he thinks others might
be feeling.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Ring around the Rosy
You Will Need The Following
Traditional Nursery Rhyme:
Circle games give your toddler the opportunity
to play with you and another friend. Your Ring around the rosy,
toddler will enjoy the Comfort, Play & Teach a pocket full of posies,
time as he repeats the song and actions again Hush-a, hush-a, we all fall down!
and again!
The cows are in the meadow,
eating buttercups,
Hush-a, hush-a, we all stand up!
How to Do This Activity:
Everyone needs to join hands and form a circle. For the first line of the song, move together in
the same direction. On the second line, crouch down together. On the third line, pretend to eat
buttercups. On the last line, stand up together, join hands again, and repeat the game.

Singing, holding hands, moving and playing together all help your toddler to practice skills
like co-operating, being gentle, and listening to instructions. Children laugh and pretend
as they play this simple game!

This game encourages children to use their imaginations and to move their bodies in
different ways as they dance, crouch, role play grazing and jump up again! Toddlers can
invent their own actions or learn by imitating each other.

Encourage your toddler to join you in saying the words to the rhyme. Leave out words
sometimes to help her remember the words and to learn about the turn-taking and
listening involved in conversing with others.

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!

 Activity
Sleeping Bunny

This is a traditional game that your toddler You Will Need The Following Rhyme:
will love to play again and again. As you sing
the song, he will pretend to sleep like a baby See the little bunny, sleeping until noon.
rabbit and then jump around actively when Can we wake him with a merry tune?
he “wakes up”. Make this activity part of the Oh, so still…. Is he ill?
Comfort, Play & Teach time you spend Wake up sleeping bunny, hop, hop, hop!
together! Wake up sleeping bunny, hop, hop, hop!
Wake up sleeping bunny, hop and stop!
How to Do This Activity:
With each repetition of the song, substitute a different animal, or ask your toddler for ideas!

Your toddler will proudly demonstrate her physical skills as she moves and dances to this
song. She will show you how move like the different animals that she knows. Tell her that
you never saw a rabbit jump so high, or a fish swim so quickly!

Pretending to be animals is an excellent way for your toddler to stretch his imagination and
move his body in different ways. It also helps him to represent his knowledge about animals
through creative movement.

Substitute different animals, encouraging your toddler to stomp like an elephant, slither like
a snake, or gallop like a horse. Use musical instruments to suggest the different actions (i.e.
drum for stomping elephant, maraca for slithering snake, and tone block for galloping
horse).

You are your child’s FAVORITE TOY!