Kitchen Chemistry Here's to Hue!

Toward the end of their first year, babies develop an understanding Pick a color to honor all day, and help your toddler recognize it.
of cause and effect, which enables them to trigger changes on their
own. Here, help your tot make a fun food transformation. Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

Appropriate ages: 12 months to 2 years To observe the day's hue:

To Prepare: Whipping up a batch of gelatin demonstrates how to  Let your child pick out an outfit or shirt in the chosen
dissolve a powder into liquid, then how to cool a liquid into a shade.
jiggling but solid mold. Pour the contents of a package of instant  Point out all of the objects and toys in her room in the
gelatin into a bowl. Let your child touch and taste the grainy same color.
powder. With your child well back from the bowl, stir in 1 cup of  Hunt for the special color outside, in the supermarket, or
boiling water for about 2 minutes, until the powder is completely while you're traveling around town.
dissolved. Explain that the hot water is dissolving the little grains  Collect objects in the chosen hue as you walk around the
of powder into the liquid. block or in a nearby park.
 Serve foods in that color.
To Play: Next, mix in 1 cup of cold water, then put the gelatin in
the refrigerator until it has firmed up. Tell your toddler that
adding water and cooling the liquid will help it to become a solid. Goo, Glorious Goo
Scoop out a piece of the solid gelatin and let your child touch and Your child can check out the color, texture, and consistency of
taste it. food with these edible finger paints.

First Photos Appropriate ages: 6 months to 3 years

Put together an album of everyone's favorite activities. To Prepare: Wash your hands, strip your child down to his
diaper, cover the floor with a plastic tablecloth, and have a bath
Appropriate ages: 6 months to 2 years waiting.

To Prepare: Take snapshots of your family, then put them in a To Play: Let your baby use his fingers to mix foods on his
small album. Write a descriptive sentence beneath each one. high-chair tray, or for older kids on a piece of wax paper taped to
the table. Some good combinations: whipped cream with gelatin,
To Play : Babies love to look at photos, so browse through the book and yogurt with a teaspoon of sugar. For kids under 9 months, who
together and talk about what each person is doing. You can also aren't yet eating dairy foods, try applesauce with cinnamon, and
make up a short, silly song about each. mashed bananas with a little hot-chocolate powder.

PAGE 1 PAGE 2
A Feast for Beasts Catch Some Rays
Invite your toddler to celebrate the pretend birthday of a Make a sun reflector to show your toddler how sunlight shimmers
favorite stuffed animal. and shines.

Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years Appropriate ages: 12 months to 2 years

Help your child host a birthday bash: Together, prepare a cake Cover both sides of a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil, shiny
from play dough or modeling clay. Let him choose a toy to give the side showing. Outside or near a window, tilt the reflector so that
guest of honor (he can even scribble on paper and use it to wrap the he can see it light up.
gift). Pick up the guests (dolls, stuffed animals) in a
pretend bus, then sit them on the floor in a circle. Now it's party
time! Sing "Happy Birthday," serve cake, and make up games to
A Day in the Life
play. Creating a book that illustrates your child's daily routine helps
teach her that there's a time and a place for everything.

Brick Layer Appropriate ages: 12 months to 4 years

See what your child can construct using oversize homemade build-
ing blocks. Materials:
Camera
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years Film
Small photo album
Materials: Empty oatmeal, salt, shoe, cereal, flour, or gift boxes
Rolls of colored masking tape To Make:

To Play: Wrap each box completely in colored tape. Then let the Over the course of one day, take a picture of your toddler
building begin: engaging in each of her regular routines — waking up, eating
breakfast, getting ready for a walk, and so on.
 Help your child construct a wall big enough for her to hide
behind. Put the pictures in the album chronologically. Above each, write a
 See how many boxes she can stack vertically before they brief caption: "Every morning [child's name] sits in her chair and
topple. has yogurt and cereal for breakfast."
 Make the perimeter of a mighty fort in a corner.
 Place the bricks in a pyramid shape, or try stacking them in When you're done, read your child the story of her day: "This is
an inverted pyramid. you waking up. Every morning, Mommy and Daddy pick you up
 Lay the blocks in a row, a foot of space between them, to and give you a morning kiss." Emphasize the time of day, pointing
make an obstacle course. out clues such as the sun shining through a window.
 Build a wall, then knock it over by tossing or rolling a ball
at it.
 Build a bridge, placing blocks lengthwise on top of
upright ones. PAGE 3 PAGE 4
Animal Exercises Bowl 'em Over
This game shows your child how a round object can be an
Touching your toes has limited appeal to most toddlers and effective tool.
preschoolers. But acting like an elephant bending at the waist
and swinging your clenched hands down like a trunk from side to Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years
side is considerably more exciting.
Stack about 10 blocks at least two levels high. (Or line up several
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 4 years empty plastic bottles.) Place a ball 2 or 3 feet away, and help your
toddler kick it to knock down the blocks. If he's too young to kick,
See how many standard exercises can be turned into something help him roll or swat the ball. Stack the blocks again and let him
resembling an animal or inanimate object. As you exercise, get have another go.
your children to guess what you are (make appropriate noises as
clues) and get them to exercise along with you. Challenge them to
see what exercise charades they can come up with. Can they arch Kitchen Chemistry
their backs like a cat? Roll like a worm? Skitter like a crab?
Toward the end of their first year, babies develop an understand-
ing of cause and effect, which enables them to trigger changes on
their own. Here, help your tot make a fun food transformation.
Obstacle Course Appropriate ages: 12 months to 2 years
Older kids and toddlers alike will enjoy an indoor triathlon, which
could last all morning. Whipping up a batch of gelatin demonstrates how to dissolve a
powder into liquid, then how to cool a liquid into a jiggling but
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 4 years solid mold. Pour the contents of a package of instant gelatin into
a bowl. Let your child touch and taste the grainy powder. With
Materials: your child well back from the bowl, stir in 1 cup of boiling water
Pillows Tunnels (or a big cardboard box) for about 2 minutes, until the powder is completely dissolved.
Couch cushions Bottomless coffee cans Explain that the hot water is dissolving the little grains of powder
Ride-on toys Balls into the liquid.
Slides
Next, mix in 1 cup of cold water, then put the gelatin in the
To Play: Scatter the pillows and cushions around carpeted areas refrigerator until it has firmed up. Tell your toddler that adding
of the house to establish the course route. In between station cars water and cooling the liquid will help it to become a solid. Scoop
to drive, slides to scoot down, balls to roll through bottomless out a piece of the solid gelatin and let your child touch and taste it.
coffee cans turned on their side, and open cardboard boxes or
pre-made tunnels to crawl through. From the age of 18 months my
daughter could spend entire mornings running these courses.
This always made nap time a breeze for both of us, because she
insisted that I run the course with her.

PAGE 5
PAGE 6
10 Little Fingers Earth: A Kit
Your baby's growing awareness of her body will help her get a feel What better way for a toddler to explore nature's goods than to dig
for numbers. right in with his fingers.

Appropriate ages: 3 months to 2 years Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

Start by asking, "How many fingers do you have?" Then count them, Give your child an empty egg carton, a sectioned box (like the kind
touching each one in turn. Repeat with her elbows, cheeks, ears, that holds holiday ornaments) or a muffin tin to sort the rocks,
chin, eyes, lips, belly button, knees, feet, and toes. As your baby gets wood chips, fallen leaves, pieces of grass, clumps of dirt and twigs
older, let her "count" with you. Say, "Show me how many ears you he finds while playing in the backyard. (Be sure he doesn't put any-
have today." thing into his mouth.)

Guide her hand to touch one ear, then the other, as you count to- If he's old enough to talk, have him tell you what he has found. Say
gether. Repeat with her nose, head, eyes, tummy, and legs. Wrap the name of any item he's not sure about and point out details he
things up with this poem, touching each part of the body: may have missed pebbles in the dirt, for example. A few days later,
spread newspapers on the kitchen floor and let him pull out his
Ten little fingers Two little cheeks and outdoor collection and play with it. You might point out any
Ten little toes One little chin and changes that have occurred. For example, if the moist dirt he col-
Two little eyes and One little mouth lected has become crumbly, or the fresh blades of grass have turned
One little nose. Where the food goes in! brittle, explain that the water in dirt or living grass has dried out
since he took them out of their natural environment. Then show
him what adding rain (a few drops of water) does to the dirt.
Know Noise Zone
When your child begins to crawl, demonstrate how an object's
Homemade Play Dough
sound can vary, depending on its container. This will encourage It's never too early for a child to play games. For babies, playing is
him to listen closely -- a skill that may aid language development. learning. And vice versa.
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 2 years Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

Collect an array of household items and place several different con- How to play: Spread a plastic tablecloth or a clean tarp on the floor.
tainers - a paper bag, a glass jar, plastic ware, and a cardboard milk Then, using a bowl and a spatula, try this play-dough recipe
carton - on the floor. Prompt your child to choose a container and a (compliments of Jean McCartin, director of Bright Horizons Child-
noisemaker, and put the two together. As he shakes his creation, care Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts) with your toddler: Mix
describe the sound he's hearing - soft brushing, loud jingling, shuf- two parts creamy peanut butter with one part powdered milk. Once
fling. Then help him transfer the item into a container made of you've got a malleable mass, sit back and watch your child mold his
some other material, so he can hear the difference. own free-form blobs. Later, you can show him how to roll balls or
twirl snakelike shapes between his hands.

PAGE 7 PAGE 8
What it teaches: Small motor skills and creativity. Manipulating Stringing Beads
play dough shows a toddler that his hands can be used to make
something, not just touch it. "It's also a great example of It's never too early for a child to play games. For babies, playing is
open-ended art, where children are not locked into making just one learning. And vice versa.
thing," says McCartin. "This kind of dough also invites a child to
use most of the five senses." Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

How to play: Tie one really large knot at one end of a two-foot piece
Block Therapy of sturdy, thick string. Glue the other end and let it dry; this will
make it rigid. Then place an assortment of large, colorful,
Toddlers can learn a lot from a simple set of blocks.
differently shaped wooden or plastic beads in front of your child
and ask him to string them onto the cord. Have your child pick
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years beads in random order for the first necklace. Then encourage him
to think about the different colors and shapes of the beads. Ask, for
To Play: Offer your toddler a set of large wooden, plastic, or
instance, "How is this bead different from that one?" Later, show
cardboard blocks and ask her to build a house or a tall tower. him how to alternate two or more types of beads in a row.
If you have rectangular blocks, help her build a simple three
piece bridge. What it teaches: Manual dexterity, classifying, and patterning.
Stringing beads gives toddlers a chance to practice their
What It Teaches : Balancing techniques, measuring, a sense of newfound small motor skills; learning about patterns helps pave
symmetry, and the concept of part/whole relationships, such as the way for understanding math. It will also help them exercise
fractions. All this from a humble set of blocks? That's right, says their ability to reason.
David Kuschner, an associate professor of early childhood educa-
tion at the University of Cincinnati College of Education. Unit
blocks — which are rectangular and come in different lengths — Sand Pies 101
are especially instructive, he says. "When toddlers play with these
blocks, they soon learn to use them like a ruler or a standard It's never too early for a child to play games. For babies, playing is
distance of space," he says. "And because everyone has a natural learning. And vice versa.
affinity for symmetry, children can also learn that the two sides of
an equation must be in balance," he adds. Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

How to play: Outdoor sand activities require the least cleanup:

Bubble Dance Simply pack a container of water and an assortment of safe
Make raisins jump with gas. kitchen utensils and cookware, such as muffin tins and spatulas,
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 12 years and take your child to a sandbox or the beach. Or if there's no sand
near your home, place a plastic dishpan and a small plastic bottle
To Play: Pour club soda into a clear cup. Can your child see and feel of water on top of a few beach towels. Then offer the same kitchen
the bubbles popping in the air? Now drop in raisins. supplies and pour about five pounds of cornmeal, grits, or cream
of wheat into the dishpan to substitute for sand. Add water
What You Discover: When enough carbon dioxide bubbles collect occasionally so that your child can experiment with consistency
under each raisin, they rise. Air trapped inside the dried fruit also and shape. The outcome may be messy, but mess is instructive, too.
fizzes as it's released. As the gas disappears, the raisins PAGE 10
settle on the bottom. PAGE 9
What it teaches: Physical properties and experimentation. Sand
play isn't exactly high science, but science it is: Children see
Bucking Bronco
firsthand how a grainy substance can become soupier or more Believe it or not, this rowdy game can teach your toddler
crumbly. Many a scientific mind gets its first nudge during such compassion.
hands-on exercises.
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years

I Spy To Play: In an uncluttered, carpeted area, kneel on all fours, and

encourage your intrepid toddler to clamber up on your back.
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years Neigh, snort, trot, munch imaginary grass from time to time, and
even rear up a bit, but once you've been "tamed," step out of
How to play: First, single out certain objects pictured in a book and character long enough to remind your child to reward you with a
say: "I spy, with my little eye, something red." After your child pretend carrot or some gentle back-patting.
guesses correctly a few times, expand the field to include objects in
the room. Later, you can make the clues more specific and What It Teaches: Gross motor skills and compassion. Small
challenging. ("I spy something red, in a bowl," or "I spy a ball that's children spend a good part of their daily lives being told what to
bigger than that pink one.") Eventually, your toddler may want to do, so it's a good idea to hand them the reins once in a while. Arms
initiate the game and challenge you with some clever clues. and legs will get a real workout trying to hang on to a sometimes
fractious mount. And if the compassion part of the lesson takes
What it teaches: Perception of similarities and differences. This hold at all, it will be quite a triumph for you both: Empathy, after
classic game is a good way to help toddlers start to distinguish all, is not high on the typical toddler's roster of emotions.
colors, shapes, and different objects.

A Fantasy World
Scribble, Scrawl Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years
Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years
How to Play: Collect an assortment of household odds and ends
How to play: Tape several long pieces of wax paper to the top of (a colander, for instance, could make a fun crown, and a turkey
your coffee table (to protect the finish), and tape a large piece of baster can easily become an impressive magic wand). To this, add
white paper on top. Give your toddler some oversize crayons and a makeshift dress-up box full of old clothes. Then just stand back
start doodling with one yourself so she can see how to use them. and observe, resisting the urge to guide or question. In this
production, your toddler becomes the director, producer, and star
What it teaches: Hand-eye coordination and creativity. Toddlers all rolled into one.
may be a long way from drawing anything remotely
representational, but that doesn't mean they can't scribble. "Don't What it Teaches: Dealing with emotions. Children need this kind
even ask what the child what she just drew," advises Elaine Martin, of open-ended outlet to handle the vast amounts of new knowledge
a former preschool teacher in Toronto and the author of Baby and powerful feelings they deal with every day. "Fantasy play is
Games. "What matters is her sense of accomplishment in the ultimate self-teaching tool," says Vivian Gussin Paley, a
mastering the process." kindergarten teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory
Schools who has studied this activity for more than three decades.
"By acting out different roles, children learn to examine
PAGE 11 their emotions and express them as well." PAGE 12
Sound Off! Shifty Appearances
Long before your little one can sing her ABC's, she's learning lan- Toddlers are still trying to figure out the differences between
guage structure through rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. themselves and others. Playing dress-up in front of a mirror is an a
musing way to show them that changing their appearance doesn't
Appropriate ages: 6 months to 3 years change who they are.

Encourage your baby's initial vocal explorations with: Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years

Vowel Chant Gather some old accessories, clothing, shoes, and scraps of mate-
Face your child and slowly chant these vowels, which are among rial, and place them next to a full-length mirror. Help your child
the first sounds a baby can make. Exaggerate the shape of your put on a pair of Dad's shoes, an old shirt, a towel for a turban —
mouth; hold each sound for three seconds. whatever he wishes. Describe what you're doing as you help him
dress: "Sam, this is Daddy's baseball hat you're putting on. Now
 Ahhhh (drop your jaw and open wide) you're putting on Mommy's raincoat." Then let him try on other
 Ehhhh (like the a in ate) items. Some popular ones:
 Eeeee (like the e in bee)
 Ooooo (like the o in boat)  Anything belonging to Mom or Dad
 Ewwww (like the u in cue)  Scraps of see-through material (so toddlers can cover up
but still see themselves)
As her vocal skills develop, explore other letters.  Hats
 Scarves or towels
 Sunglasses or glasses frames with the lenses taken out (to
Letter Rhyme remove, heat the lenses with a hair dryer and pop out)
 Plastic bowls (to wear as hats)
P, P,  Paper cups (stick a looped piece of tape inside the rim of
One, two, three. the cup, then rest the cup on your child's nose to make a
This is how you make a snout)
[pause for dramatic effect] P!  Aluminum-foil crown, sword, or antennae
 Halloween masks
On the last note of this jingle, trace the letter on your child's tummy
with your finger. If she's old enough, have her "alphabetize" your
stomach too. Repeat, using B, C, D, E, G,T,V, and Z. You can also
tailor the rhyme to other sounds: U, U, one and two. This is how
you make a U!

PAGE 13 PAGE 14
Dog and Bone Sock It to Me
When we roll a die, we know without counting that the two sets of In this game, toddlers get an idea of how a detective might use his
three dots represent the number 6. With this game, your child will senses of touch and sight when important evidence is under wraps.
learn to quickly recognize these common depictions of numbers
Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years
too.
Using a marker, draw a smiley face on an old sock near the toe, just
Appropriate ages: 2 to 5 years
for fun. Collect small objects with simple, distinctive shapes - a ball,
Materials : a block, a spoon - and slip one into the sock.
12 index cards Knot or tie the open end and let your little sleuth poke and prod
Black felt-tip marker the sock to figure out what's inside. Then try a different item. For
Die (for your reference) very young private eyes, place familiar objects in the sock as he
looks on, then talk him through the investigation: "Do you feel a
spoon? Or a cup? A spoon is long and straight; a cup is round."
To Set Up : Six cards will be "bone" cards. Draw a small bone, about
1¡ inches long, in the center of the first card. Draw two bones on the
next card, positioning them like the dots on a die. Continue,
drawing bones on cards three, four, five, and six. On the other six 1, 2, 3 ... What Do You See?
cards, draw simple pictures of dogs instead of bones, again posi-
Solving this mystery helps strengthen a tot's ability to remember
tioning them like the dots on a die.
what he's just seen - a skill every budding detective or eye-witness
must master.
To Play: Shuffle the dog cards and place them facedown in a pile.
Shuffle the bone cards and lay them face up in a row. (Start with
cards depicting one, two, and three for younger kids. Use all six for Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years
older ones.) Explain that your child is going to make sure the dogs To begin, place three small toys or knickknacks on a table or the
find just the right number of bones for lunch. Take turns picking floor. After pointing out and naming the goods, cover them with a
up a dog card and looking for its match in the face up row of bone towel or cloth napkin. Then ask your child to close his eyes and
cards. slowly count to three as you surreptitiously (and quietly) remove
When your child selects a bone card, ask her, "Are there enough one of the objects and place it behind your back.
bones on that card for your dogs? How do you know?" If a player To begin sleuthing, say "1,2, 3... What do you see?" As you lift the
makes a match, she keeps both cards. If she doesn't find the match cover, feign astonishment that one of the objects has disappeared.
card, she keeps the card and tries again on the next turn. Continue Your youngster will likely wonder too. Ask him if he can tell you
until all cards have been matched. what the missing item is - give clues if necessary - and suggest he
look for it.
Challenge: To sharpen your child's recognition of patterns, place While he's distracted, slip the missing item back under the cover.
the bone cards facedown in a row. Your child draws a dog card, Remove the cloth again and show your little one that the object has
turns over a bone card, and checks to see if there are enough bones reappeared. For 3-year-olds, play the game with more objects. The
for every dog on the card. If she makes a match, she keeps the challenge for them is to name the item that has vanished based on
cards. If not, she replaces the bone card facedown in the same spot those that are left behind.
on the row.
PAGE 15 PAGE 16
Reel Fun Fridge Sticks
In this game, kids catch fish using a magnetized rod. To help kids learn what sticks to a magnet, initiate a hunt around
the house.
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
Materials:
Materials
2 sheets each of red and blue construction paper (9x12 inches)
Pencil
Black marker
Index cards (3 x 5 inches) in various colors
2 boxes of small paper clips
Scissors
8 pieces of contact paper (9x12 inches), available at most art supply
Old magazines
stores
Glue
Scissors
Magnetic stick-on tape
Pencil or a small stick
Clear contact paper
String
Magnetic wand or a bar magnet
Draw several different-size shapes (at least 2 square inches each) on
the colored cards. Cut out magazine pictures of animals and plants
To Make: Draw 4 fish about 6 inches long on each sheet of con-
and paste them to the cards.
struction paper. With marker, mouth to both sides of each fish.
Place 10 to 12 paper clips on each red fish. For each shape or picture, cut a strip of magnetic tape half its
length and affix it to the back in the center.
Cover each piece of construction paper with contact paper, sticky-
side down. Turn them over and laminate the other sides. Then cut Cover the front and back of each card with contact paper. It'll be
out all 16 fish. lumpy over the tape. Then cut out the shapes.
To Play: Tie the string to one end of the stick for a fishing pole; tie
the magnet to the other end as a hook. Scatter the fish on the floor To Play: Toddlers will usually take it from here, sticking the mag-
and show your child how to reel them in. nets on the refrigerator door and pulling them off again and again.
But you can also try this game: Place all the magnets on the refrig-
erator and ask your child to pull off the small yellow star, the
Moon Walk brown puppy, and so on. Ask preschoolers to make up a story, us-
Show what it's like to be an astronaut walking on the moon. ing the picture magnets to tell it.

Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years

Hold your child tightly under the armpits and tell him to start
walking. Each time he takes a step, lift and carry him two steps
forward before gently setting him down.
Explain that gravity is an invisible force that keeps people and
houses and toys from floating up to the sky. And that astronauts
are buoyant on the moon because of the lower levels of gravity
there. PAGE 17 PAGE 18
Star Search Sketch a Self-portrait
Little ones will enjoy the peek-a-boo fun of this celestial concentra-
Help your child make a life-size portrait.
tion-style game.
Appropriate ages: 2 to 5 years
Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years To make a life-size body poster, first cut off the rectangular bottoms
Materials from several paper shopping bags, then slit open one side of each
Scissors bag. Next, paste or tape them together to make one sheet that's
Manila file folder long enough to accommodate your child. Have her lie still on the
Black construction paper paper while you use a marker to draw an outline of her body. Then,
Metallic markers she can paint or draw on a clever face and clothes.

Cut ten flaps (about two square inches each) at random on the cover String Along
of the folder. Then glue a sheet of black construction paper to the
inside of the folder's opposite flap. All you need is some string or twine for this rainy-day game.
Glue the edges of the folder closed.
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
Open two flaps at random. Using metallic markers, draw identical
stars on the black paper under each flap. Wind a long piece of string or twine in a trail through the bedroom
or kitchen to parts unknown. Your child will get a kick out of
Repeat with other pairs of flaps, drawing two crescent moons, a marching on the string, following it wherever it takes her, and try-
pair of ringed planets, two identical clusters of stars - such as the ing not to step off. (For a special treat, pack a lunch bag and put it
Big Dipper - and two suns. at the string's end.)
Show your child how to lift the flaps to find each picture's match.

Welcome to My Hideaway
Stage a Switch Day Appropriate ages: 12 months to 3 years
Turning the day upside down will provide your preschooler with an How to play: Set up a big box for your toddler or create a tented
opportunity for crazy creativity. shelter by covering a table with a sheet or a blanket. Consider this
the child's own private domain, a place to hoard toys, hatch fanta-
Appropriate ages: 2 to 5 years sies, and someday invite a few select guests.
Declare the day utterly different, and go about ordinary routines in
the most extraordinary fashion: Your child can start off the morn- What it teaches: Autonomy and self-reliance. Like teenagers,
ing by telling you a bedtime story, then feast on dinner for break- toddlers have a pressing need to assert themselves as individuals.
fast. Wear your shoes on the wrong feet, or trade hats. Any mixed- What else would account for the tendency to say no as often and
up idea will do. reflexively as they do? Support your little one's bid for
independence by giving her plenty of time to play in her own little
hideaway. Once she's ready to move on to one of her next
developmental frontiers — socializing — her castle will be the
perfect setting for cooperative pretend play.
PAGE 19 PAGE 20
Toe to Toe Journal Keeping
Turn toes into talkers and chat away. Diaries don't have to be top secret.
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
Appropriate ages: 2 to 6 years
To Play: Draw different faces on the bottoms of your toes and your
child's. Sit on the floor together and put your toes "face-to-ace." This exercise isn't just recreational — it can teach your child the
(Or let her sit in front of a mirror.) Make up imaginary conversa- connection between words and writing as well as give you the
tions, encouraging all the toes to chat with each other. record you want of your child's firsts.

My daughter and I started her journal during the dark days of

Bring in the Noise January when she was two. I'd ask about her day, and she'd tell
Take the next scientific steps by experimenting and recording your me bits and pieces, watching carefully as I wrote down the
discoveries. fragments, sentences and disconnected words. Soon we were
taping Polaroid photos, as well as cutout scraps of artwork, into
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years the journal or drawing the outlines of our hands and feet on the
Use a stick to demonstrate how tapping on the ground, the porch, a pages. These days Anna "writes" in her journal herself, and lets
tree, or a fence produces different sounds. Give your toddler his me write down what she tells me she has inscribed below it.
own stick, and join him in seeing how many noises the two of you
can make around the yard, on the porch, or through a playground.
Waiting Games
Then grab a video camera or tape recorder and encourage your Helping your children learn the fine art of patience.
toddler to do a solo performance by making his favorite sounds.
Replay the recording, asking him to describe the sounds. Point out Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
how different each one is.
You're standing on line at the Department of Motor Vehicles on the
Be Pushy last day you can renew your driver's license before it expires, or
maybe you're seated at a restaurant, waiting for dinner to arrive.
Help your child exercise fine-motor skills and her imagination. Tugging on your hand is your two-year-old, who thinks that four
minutes of staying still has been more than enough. She's ready for
Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years action. Although there's always I Spy and Simon Says, a little imagi-
nation can go a long way in making a wait more tolerable for your
Materials: Two blocks of floral foam: one whole, one cut into toddler.
squares, sticks, drinking straws, pipe cleaners, crayons, or long
pasta. For instance, you could play:

To Play: Show your child how to push a stick, straw, or other object
into the big block of floral foam. Once she gets the hang of it, let
her add the smaller squares of foam to the ends of the items.
Talk about balance and gravity: Too many items on one side tips
the whole creation over. (Note: These materials are not edible, so
supervise a young toddler closely.) PAGE 21 PAGE 22
The Song Box Circle Safari
Fill a small plastic box, such as an empty baby wipes container,
Searching for circles around the house is a fun way to identify the
with strips of cardboard on which you've written the names of dif-
ferent songs. Shake it up, then let your child reach in and make a shape.
selection (no peeking). Together, sing the song she picked. Return it
to the box when you're done, snap the lid, let her shake the box, Appropriate ages: 2 to 6 years
and start again.
For Preschoolers:

High Five, Low Five  Find a circle in your toy chest that rolls and bounces.
Put your hand up in the air and say, “High five!” After your toddler  Find 4 circles on your toy truck.
slaps it, bring it to her knee level and say, “Low five!” Next, with  Look on the wall for a circle that ticks and has numbers on
your palm down, say “Backside!” This time, pull your hand away it.
before it's hit, saying, “Too slow!” Toddlers unfailingly giggle and
want to try again and again. Make sure you alternate “Too slow!” For Older Kids:
with “Oops—you got me!” periodically. Then give her a turn to try
the sequence herself, with you slapping her hand.  Name something that you drink out of that's round on top.
When your child guesses a cup, ask her why she thinks the
opening is circular. Explain that when you tilt a glass for
The Grab Bag drinking, the liquid comes out in a thin stream. To
demonstrate, have her try to drink out of the flat side of a
Take along a bag of inexpensive playthings she's never seen before: square plastic container.
a small board book, a new pad of paper and chunky crayons, a toy  Find something round that helps you open the door. Ask
truck, some plastic animals. Let her pick one without looking, then her if it would be harder or easier if the doorknob were a
play with the toys, draw pictures, or read along with you. triangle or square. Take an orange and a
(Depending on where you are, she may keep busy on the floor, so  banana and have her pretend they are doorknobs, holding
choose items that won't cause either of you heartbreak if stepped them in midair. Which one is easier to turn in a circle? Ex-
on.) plain that the round orange best fits the shape of her hand.
 Name something round that gives off light. A light bulb is
Funny Sounds round, you can explain, because the shape allows the light
to shine equally in all directions.
Two-year-olds adore nursery rhymes, so memorize a few with non-
sense words such as “Hickory Dickory Dock!” and say them to and
with your child. Then play with her expectations: Change a word
here and there, or simply the first letter of some words (“mickory
pickory sock”). She'll burst out laughing at the silliness, leaving
both of you to enjoy how time flies when she's having fun.

PAGE 23 PAGE 24
Shape Shifters Follow Your Nose
Use modeling clay or Play-Dough to create 3-D circles. Most kids recognize something by sight - such as green grass -
before smell. But in this activity, your child will learn to use her
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years sniffer to identify items around her, as well as notice odors she
might not otherwise.
Sphere : Place a small lump of clay on a flat surface and put your
child's palm on top. Show her how to move her hand in a small Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years
circle to roll the dough into a ball. Point out that no matter how
you turn it, it always looks round. First, clean a small plastic or glass container that's odorless and
opaque, like a margarine tub or dark glass jelly jar. Poke 4 or 5
Cylinder : Help her roll the dough with her hands into a short, quarter-inch-wide holes in the top with a scissors point. (For metal
stocky snake about 2 inches long. Show her how the ends of the tops, use a hammer and nail.)
snake are round, like circles.
Collect several samples of fragrant items from your backyard -
Spiral : Have her roll the cylinder into a thin snake about 6 inches such as flowers, grass, bark, leaves, wood chips, or dirt - and fill
long. Loop one end into a small ring. Then show her how to wrap the container with one item at a time. Accompany your child
the rest of the clay around the ring to form larger and larger outside with the aromatic jar and encourage her to match its smell
circles. Continue until there's no more snake left. Explain that a to the real thing.
spiral curves around itself, growing larger and larger.
Touchy-Feely Match-ups
Disk : Have your child press the spiral flat with her palm to create
a disk. Ask her to think of some disks in real life: pizza, Frisbees, Challenge your toddler to match pairs of texturized cards, using
pennies. her fingertips as a guide.

Appropriate ages: 2 to 3 years

Shake Your Shadow Materials: Scissors, 6 swatches (each large enough to cover two
3 x 5-inch index cards) of various materials: silk, felt or flannel,
Your child can dance with a shadowy figure. sandpaper, tin foil, plastic wrap, cotton balls or gauze, canvas or
denim from old blue jeans, hosiery, velvet, suede, 12 index cards (3
Appropriate ages: 2 to 4 years x 5 inches), glue

Remove the shade from a lamp with a strong bulb and set the lamp To Make: Cut two pieces of each type of material to the size of an
in an uncluttered corner of a darkened room. The light will cast index card, and glue each swatch to a card. (Glue cotton balls or
long shadows. Play lively music and invite your child to twirl, material to completely cover one side of each card.)
bend, sway, and move to the beat so her shadow dances along with
her. Point out how her shadow changes as she moves quickly or To Play: Arrange one set of textured cards on a table or the floor
slowly, moves closer to or further from the wall, and makes little in front of your child. Then ask her to place her hands behind her
or big movements. back, and offer her one of the matching materials to feel (no
peeking). After she's familiar with the texture, tell her to touch the
cards in front of her and guess which material is behind her back.
PAGE 25 PAGE 26