Explore Textures
Toddlers are sensory learners who touch, smell, and taste to understand the world around them.2 Use a dark marker to trace letters and numbers onto poster board. Then, have your tot decorate the letters with textured items such as cut-up sandpaper, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners (avoid items that could be choking hazards).
Touching the letters allows kids to feel how a letter is formed. For little ones learning to write, their fingers can experiment with the shape of a letter before grasping a writing utensil.
Say the letters and the sounds they make aloud as your child runs their fingers over them. Later on, extend the activity by creating a poster that spells out their first name. Soon, your child will notice these letters on signs, posters, and billboards.
Measure Up
This toddler developmental activity uses everyday items to teach them how to measure. Although a ruler is the most common measuring tool, experiment with other forms of measuring to make the learning process more interesting.
In the fall, have your child lie down on the grass and then line up leaves next to them to measure how many “leaves tall” they are. Or determine how many “Legos tall” the couch is or how many “wooden blocks wide” the refrigerator is.
For extra fun, discover how many of your child’s books it will take to cover your bed. Count as you place the different objects, and soon your child will be counting and measuring in all different ways!
Label Your House
Pick a few items to label in your house—such as the refrigerator, windows, and chairs—and rotate the labeled objects every few months. Make labels the same size and use a basic font so kids can identify them easily. Cut out each word and use blue painter’s tape (which allows for easy removal) to stick them to the objects.
If your child is old enough to recognize letters, ask them what letter “lamp” begins with and ask them to find the label with the word that starts with “L.” Then they can stick the label to the lamp.
If your child isn’t quite ready to pick out letters and their sounds, point out different letters from your labels and introduce them to the sounds they make. For example, you can say, “Lamp starts with ‘L.’ This is an ‘L.’ Can you stick this to the lamp?” Over time, your child will be able to identify the words independently.
Introduce Organization
Nurture your child’s helpful spirit by getting them involved in putting things away in their place. Try to embrace your toddler’s desire to be involved even though it may slow down activities and chores. While inconvenient in the short term, kids as young as 3 can help with basic tasks, and kids who do may grow in self-esteem and responsibility.3
Tie in the “Label Your House” activity by keeping toys, clothes, dishes, and household items in specific places. As you put things in their labeled bins and drawers, turn the process into a guessing game.
Ask your child where certain items belong (“Where do your toys go? Where should your shoes be stored?”), or place forks in a sock drawer or a toy in the refrigerator and challenge toddlers to fix the mistakes. They will love to reorganize for you when you can’t seem to remember where the cups belong!
Arrange a Scavenger Hunt
Children are natural investigators, and they love to explore. 4 Scavenger hunts lean into this interest and can be planned or invented on the spot. For example, search for foods with a specific color (like purple) at the grocery store or look for objects of a certain shape (like a circle) around the house.
If your child needs assistance, gather three objects to choose from while asking, “Which object is red? Which object is a circle?” Expand on the “Label Your House” activity by arranging a scavenger hunt for different labeled items, or ask them to search the bookshelves for a specific letter, word, or number.
You can also pretend you can’t find the orange juice carton or a pair of socks. Send your child on a fun mission to locate the items in the house.
Take on the Town
Get familiar with your town by pointing out the supermarket, fire station, gas station, and other places of interest. As you pass each place, discuss the details of these neighborhood staples including who works there, the purpose of your visit, and what items you find inside.
Then draw or print pictures of these places and put them on index cards along with their details. The next time you’re out with your child, refer to these “neighborhood” cards.
For example, if you stop by the dry cleaner, ask your child to find the matching neighborhood card and ask them questions: Do you buy dry clothes or pick up clothes that are cleaned? Who works there, a cleaner or a firefighter?
Sing Vocabulary Words
For this developmental activity for toddlers, create funny tunes about rhyming words and counting to 10, or sing classic songs such as the “Alphabet Song” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
“During the pre-reader years, children learn an average of nine new words a day,” says Eugie Foster in Your Child’s Writing Life written by Pam Allyn. Parents can support their child’s word development by using different words and sounds to enhance their child’s expanding vocabulary, says Allyn, who is also the executive director and founder of LitWorld.
Encourage singing in the car, while playing at home, and during bath time. If your child attends daycare or preschool, ask the teacher for the class’s favorite songs and reinforce them at home.
Teach songs to grandparents and babysitters so that all of the important people in your child’s life will be involved in this lighthearted activity. Your child will start learning through song as they recite letters, numbers, days of the week, and body parts to melodic tunes.
Pin Up Pictures
Keep pictures of friends and family on a bulletin board in your child’s room to develop word association and improve memory. Write people’s names on sticky notes (include titles such as “aunt,” “uncle,” and “cousin”) and put them at the bottom of each photo.
Remove the sticky notes from the pictures as your child becomes more familiar with everyone. Also, read books about brothers and sisters or aunts and uncles, and ask your child to identify each family member mentioned.
As your child grows, extend the activity by creating a family tree with names and pictures. Make this an ever-changing piece of artwork in your home.
Encourage Pretend Play
Toddlers learn about the world around them through pretend play or make-believe. Not only can they emulate some of the adults they see in their lives (like doctors, nurses, firefighters, and police officers), but they also get the opportunity to use their imagination and creativity.5
Equip your little one with simple clothing to dress up in. Look for basic items around your home, like different hats and accessories. You can also purchase an inexpensive doctor’s kit or other dress-up items like a chef’s hat and apron.
As you interact with your little one, let them lead the way. When they’re pretending, they will develop their social skills and learn to master basic actions like putting on a hat or pulling an apron over their head.6
You also can use pretend play to prepare for things, too. For instance, use the doctor’s kit to prepare your child for an upcoming visit to the pediatrician.