Rain on the Green Grass

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Activities for Toddlers

My name is…..
This is a game that I play in my classes for parents and babies. It is very popular.

You will need a brightly colored rhythm stick. A lummi stick is perfect because of the small size.

You will also need some smiley face stickers

Decorate the stick with the smiley face stickers.

The ideal situation for this game is to have one adult with each child. That way, if the child is not speaking yet, the adult can speak for them and move their arms up and down.

Seat the children in a circle and pass the stick around one child at a time. The child who is holding the stick taps it on the floor and says "My name is -----, and I like -----." Then she passes it on to the next child.
The children really enjoy this game and also discover that they have similar likes. This game is also excellent for eye-hand coordination and language development.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Say to the child, “I like the way you hit the stick and told what you liked.”

For developing the idea: Ask the child, “Can you tell me other things that you like?”

For moving forward: Say to the child, “Let's draw some pictures of things that you like.”

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Rain on the Green Grass
Say the following poem together:
Rain on the green grass
Rain on the trees
Rain on the rooftops
But not on me

Let the children name three things that it can rain on. For example, sidewalk, kitty cat, and windows. Always end with the same last line "But not on me."

Rain on the sidewalk
Rain on the kitty cat
Rain on the windows
But not on me!

Continue to name things that can be rained on and then put them in the rhyme.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: “Let’s say the rain poem again.”

For developing the idea:  “Let’s look out the window see the different places the rain could fall.”

For moving forward:  "How does rain feel? How does rain smell? How does rain taste?"