With older kids back in school, now is a great time to bond with your toddler. However, instead of simply reading books or singing songs, mix-up your routine by adding these fun and educational activities that your toddler will love to play over and over:
EGG MATCH
Materials:
12 plastic Easter eggs
Glue
Egg carton
Directions:
Use leftover plastic eggs from Easter (about one dozen) making sure that you have at least five different colors.
Glue or tape the two parts of each egg together.
Encourage your child to sort the eggs by color and place them into the carton.
You could also color the compartments of the egg carton to match the eggs and have your child place each egg in a compartment of the same color.
In addition, if you have leftover plastic Easter grass you can use it for another toddler activity. Simply place a large amount of Easter grass in a bucket or big plastic toy container and hide some of your toddler’s toys (e.g. plastic toy planes, trains, cars or mini farm animals or blocks) in the grass. Then, have your child search for the toys in the Easter grass.
HOMEMADE MEMORY GAME
Materials:
Metal lids from frozen-juice cans
Double set of photos of loved ones or of people your toddler is familiar with
Glue
Clear contact paper
Plastic container, shoebox, or baby wipes container
Directions:
Cut a duplicate set of photos into a round shape that will fit on the lid of a frozen-juice can.
Glue the pictures onto the lids and cover with clear contact paper. (When you are done you should have two sets of lids that are exactly the same.)
Have your child sort the lids into pairs by matching the two pictures that are the same.
If you desire you could glue magnets to the backs of the lids, so your child can play this game on the refrigerator or on a cookie sheet.
Store the lids in a plastic container, shoebox, or baby wipes container with a slit cut in the top. Your toddler will love dropping the lids into the opening at clean-up time.
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