Welcome to day five of our activities for toddlers series. We’ve already looked at sensory play, arts and crafts, maths games and imaginary play and today we have some lovely playful ideas for reading, writing and songs that are just right for toddlers.
Do your kids like to play with their food? I know there are times when we might discourage this and focus on promoting polite table manners, but there are other times when fun food can be just what you need to get reluctant writers, drawers, counters and storytellers bursting with enthusiasm.
We’ve been playing around with Jacob’s Oddities this week – cute little snacks that come in all sorts of fun shapes that are just right for making art you can eat!
After the pig weighing and egg cracking fun we had last week, today’s brain boost question is a drawing game about team work and listening skills, as we’re asking: can you copy what you can’t see?
‘No! Don’t talk to me Mummy. Send me a letter!’
Our house has been transformed this week with the creation of a pretend play post office. Children who used to run off into the garden at the sight of a pencil and piece of paper are getting up early to check their mail and write replies. Everyone is excited to find mail waiting for them outside their bedroom door when they wake up in the morning and lots of kind wishes are being expressed between siblings in their correspondence. The children are putting in plenty of writing practice too of course and learning the value of letters – making their mark with a practical purpose and having lots of fun as they learn.
The girls and I were invited to join Wild Rumpus for a trip to The Spellbound Forest at the weekend. Created by the team behind the Just So Festival, The Spellbound Forest weaved it’s magic through Delamere Forest in Cheshire, bringing to life four English fairy tales with a mixture of story telling, theatre, music, dance, woodland crafts and toy making. The event was like a forest school on a grand scale, full of inspiration and ideas to bring back and adapt to keep the outdoor story telling alive at home.
Use this guide on how to make easy shadow puppets to make your own puppet show.
