Activities for Toddlers

Here’s what we did today.
We built towers with square blocks. They were taller than most of the toddlers, but the best part was knocking them over. In one case, one boy ran the bike right through it.
We chased, kicked, threw and bounced balls. The best part was seeing how far they go across the room. One girl asked to play pass with her friend, but unfortunately she wasn’t interested. Maybe next time. Some of the boys carried them around keeping them from everyone else. Eventually, when they found something else to do, other kids got to play with them.
We bounced on and built towers with large squishy blocks. The toddlers had the most fun bouncing on them. It got a little chaotic when everyone wanted a turn at once. A couple of them started working together to bounce by holding on to each other’s hands instead of mine.

I blew bubbles while the toddlers chased after them. One boy kept asking for a bigger and bigger one. I did the best I could with making them bigger, but there’s only so much you can do with a small wand and a different amount of liquid each time. They thought of a new game when they started stomping around and saying, “pop, pop!”

All the toddlers rode bikes at least once. The toddlers love the three bikes and everyone wants a turn at once. I had to distract them several times by building towers, throwing balls, etc. It usually worked, but some were insistent on having the bikes now. One girl sat with me until she could calm down and eventually she got her turn.

They finger-painted while I watched. It was more about the process because there were few colors and the toddlers didn’t stay at the table long. There were some lines and blobs and when some were done, they folded and crumpled their papers. We unfolded them and set them in the hall to dry. We ended up with eight paintings that looked pretty much the same, but that’s okay. It’s for the experience.

We played outside in the rain. I didn’t enjoy this because it was a little cold and wet, but they loved it. They played in puddles, rode bikes on the path, played in the sand box and simply ran around the playground. They didn’t mind the rain at all and needed the fresh air.

We looked at books. Several of us sat together and just looked at the pictures. Some of the books had special features like textures and a bell, but the children were most interested in the ones with simple words and pictures. Many of the books had pictures of different people and animals. They especially liked the book with pictures of babies. It had baby rabbits, human babies etc. One of the babies even looked like one of the toddlers.

When nap was over, we started the routine all over again. The only things that were left out were playing in the rain and finger-painting. We also used the tunnel. It worked well at first when one person went in at a time, but then got crazy when three kids were inside the tunnel at once. It was too crowded and the one in the middle wanted to get out. We had to put it away after a while, but it's a good activity for learning to take turns. My day ended quietly with all the kids leaving before five.