The Wonderful Box / Family Language

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

 

The Wonderful Box

 

The following story is from my book "The Complete Book of Activities, Games, Stories, Props, Recipes and Dances For Young Children."

 

You will need a box wrapped in pretty paper with a toy inside. In this version, there is a top in the box. That idea can be changed.

 

Tell this story to the children:

 

Look at this wonderful box. It’s all wrapped up. with pretty paper and a pretty bow. It’s a present. I wonder what’s inside? Do you wonder what’s inside?

 

What do you think is in the box? Maybe it’s a ball. Maybe it’s a doll. Maybe it’s a rattle for a baby.

 

Let’s pick up the box to see if it is heavy or light.

 

Let’s shake the box to see if we can hear something.

 

Maybe it’s a book. Maybe it’s a toy car. Maybe it’s a jack-in-the-box. Let’s find out.

 

Let’s take off the bow and carefully take off the paper. We might want to use it again.

 

OK! Are you ready to see what’s inside?

 

Look! It’s a top!

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Talk about the box and use descriptive words.

 

For developing the idea - “What would you put in a box for a surprise?”

 

For moving for forward - “If a rattle is in the box when you shake it, would you hear a noise? What else could be in the box that makes a noise?”

 

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Family Language

 

Discuss the names in a family. Mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother, etc.

 

Ask each child, "What do you call your mother?" There will be a variety of answers...Mommy, Mama, etc. 

 

Let each child share what they call their mother.

 

Continue on with sharing names of other family members.

 

Remember to count pets as members of a family.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Can you tell me names of your family members?

 

For developing the idea - What do you do with each family members? Do you play with your sister? Do you read stories with your grandmother? How about your dog or cat? Do you play with them?

 

For moving for forward – If you were a father, what would you say to me? If you were a dog, how would you play with me?

 

Recommended products from Discount School Supply®:

Families Books - set of 7 (FAMBKS)

Featured Review: Big Mouth Animal Puppets!

Check out this featured review of  Big Mouth Animal Puppets  from a very satisfied Discount School Supply® customer and parent:

5-Star Review/ 5-Star Overall

 Awesome Puppets!

Review: "These are so cute and adorable. The children have taken them and treat them like they are real. They read books to them, talk to them, and carry them around like they are their best friend."

These plush, soft animal puppets are perfect for role-playng, storytelling and classroom puppet shows. My, what big mouths they have!

• Each puppet measures approximately 9"L x 5-1/2"W
• Includes alligator, dinosaur, dog, duck, lion, monkey, parrot and tiger
• Fits both children's and adults' hands
• Ideal props for dramatic play
• Helps children develop language and vocabulary
• Ages 3 years and up

Singing with Bells / Funky Sounds

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.

Music Activities for Infants and Toddlers

Singing with Bells

Place a jingle bell inside an empty film canister. Tape or glue the lid on securely. Shake the canister and sing familiar songs like "This Old Man," "A B C Song," and "One Elephant."

Play this game with the bell.

Sing to the tune of "If You’re Happy and You Know It."

Shake the bell in the air, in the air, (hold your hands over your head to shake the bell)
Shake the bell in the air, in the air,
Shake the bell in the air and hold it up right there,
Shake the bell in the air, in the air.
Shake the bell on the side, on the side, (hold hands to one side for shaking)
Shake the bell on the side, on the side,
Shake the bell on the side as you smile very wide,
Shake the bell on the side, on the side.
Shake the bell down below, down below, (shake the bell below your knees)
Shake the bell down below, down below.
Shake the bell down below and smile and say “hello,”
Shake the bell down below, down below.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence - “This jingle bell will make our singing sound beautiful.” Sing several familiar songs and shake the bells.

For developing the idea –“Which song did you like singing? Can you think of another song we could sing?”

For moving forward – “Do we have to shake our bells all through the song or could we shake them at certain times?” Try singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and only shaking the bells on word “lamb.”

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Funky Sounds

 

Brain research says that auditory discrimination of various types of sounds must be developed in order to be able to process letter sounds.

 

This activity is an important pre-reading experience.

Locate several types of containers with lids.

 

Fill each container with a different object such as sand, buttons, bells, stones, beads, birdseed, etc.

 

Securely attach the lid with super glue and/or tape. You can decorate the outside of the container if you like.

 

Give your child the opportunity to shake and make some noise with each filled container. You may even wish to leave one container empty just for novelty.

 

Talk to your child about the different types of sounds you hear when the container is shaken.

 

Choose familiar songs to sing as you shake the different containers. You might sing some of them loudly or softly, in a high or a low voice. Let the sound help you decide what to do with your voice.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Shake each container and talk about how it sounds. Is it loud or soft? Is it light or heavy? Is it tinkley or thundering?

 

For developing the idea - Select a container and ask your child to select one also. Choose a familiar song and sing and shake together.

 

For moving for forward – Go outside with your child. Listen to the different sounds. Airplanes, birds, the wind and cars.

 

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:

Wooden Wind Chimes - set of 12 (BREEZY)

Kitchen Bottle Collection - set of 5 (BOTTLES)

Big Mouth Animal Puppets - set of 8 (FUNPUP)

Brawny Tough Jingle Wrap - set of 10 (JBELLSET)

Gold Jingle Bells - 150 pieces (BELLS)

Cluster Bells (CLUS)

 

Outside Exploring / Seek and Ye Shall Find

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 Infants

 

Outside Exploring

 

Brain research says that early childhood experiences exert a dramatic and precise impact, physically determining how the intricate neural circuits of the brain are wired.

 

The brain takes in information through the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound) and translates that information into a response.

 

Playing outside on a lovely day is a wonderful way to experience all of the senses.

 

There are so many things to do.

 

Let your baby crawl in the grass while you crawl along with him.

 

Name each thing that your baby seems interested in.

 

Smell flowers, tickle with grass, look for bugs, etc.

 

Rolling over in the grass is fun to do and your baby will enjoy the light, prickly feel of it.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Say to your baby, “We are having fun playing outside.”

 

For developing the idea – Do activities that use the senses. Look at flowers, smell the flowers, listen to the birds, touch the grass, and taste some herbs.

 

For moving forward – Repeat the same activities and use say the name of the body parts you are using. For example, “I see the flowers with my eyes.” or, “I smell the flowers with my nose.” Continue on with all of the senses.

 

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Seek and Ye Shall Find

 

Brain research says that an infant’s brain can discern every possible sound in every language. By ten months, babies have learned to screen out foreign sounds and to focus on the sounds of their native language.

 

Listening for the source of a sound is a very good game for developing auditory awareness.

 

This kind of game needs to be played in the early years to strengthen brain connections for the future.

 

You will need a wind-up clock that makes a nice sound.

 

Hold the clock and sing a little tick, tock song with your baby.

Tick, tock, tick tock

Goes the clock,
Tick, tock

 

Now take the clock and put it under a pillow.

 

Ask your little one, “Where is the tick tock?”

 

Help guide him to the clock, using the sound to locate it. Once he understands how to play this game, he will want to do it again and again.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Hide the clock in the same place several times so that your baby will know exactly where it is.

 

For developing the idea –Begin hiding the clock in different places while your baby is watching you.

 

For moving forward – Ask your little one “where shall we hide the clock?”

 

Recommended Products from Discount School Supply®:

Time Buddy (AP40015J)
 

 

Five Plum Peas and The Salad Game

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

Five Plum Peas

A delightful action poem that uses fine motor skills and alliteration.

Five plum peas in a peapod pressed.
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest
They grew and they grew and they never stopped,
They grew so big that the peapod popped! 

Make fists with your hands and press the knuckles together.

On "one", straighten your thumbs and touch the tips together.

On "two", do the same with your index fingers. 

Continue with your middle fingers, ring fingers and pinkies on "so," "all," and "rest," respectively. 

Now you should have your hands palm to palm, with the finger tips touching. 

As you say "they grew and they grew" you start moving your hands apart, showing bigger and bigger . . . slow it down . . . stretch it out . . . by the time you get so big "that the peapod" you should be reaching as wide as possible then on "POPPED" you clap your hands together very fast and very loud.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence –“ Show me how you made the pea pods pop.”

For developing the idea –“ Can you say “pea pods pop” slowly? Now can you say it fast?”

For moving forward – “What other words start with the same sound as “pea pods”? (some ideas…pepper, potty, pickle)

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The Salad Game

You will need:

A chef’s hat

Pictures of foods that are in a salad.

Seat the children in a circle.

Talk about salads and the different ingredients that are in a salad.

If possible get a chef's hat to play this game. Choose one child to be the chef and she stands in the middle of the circle.

Each of the children sitting on the circle decide what food they would like to be if they were in a salad. Go around the circle and let each child tell you what food they are. If someone can't think of something, you can help them. It is okay for the children to repeat the same foods.

Say to the chef. "Chef, would you like some lettuce in your salad?" The chef answers, "Yes, I would like some lettuce in my salad." 

Whoever is the lettuce (it can be more than one person) gets up and goes into the middle of the circle and stands next to the chef.)

Continue on until every child is in the circle. Then say "Toss the salad!" and all the children jump up and down until you say, "Time to eat the salad."

Children really like this game.

Song: Fruits and Vegetables by Jackie Silberg. Can be found on award winning CD Touched By a Song.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence - What do you like to eat in your salad?

For developing the idea – If you were making salad, what would you put in it?

For moving forward – When you go to the super market, what are some of the salad vegetables that you see there?

Drum Songs and I Use My Brain

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.

Music Activities

Drum Songs

Play music for the children with drum parts. Jazz is particularly good because there are often drum solos for listening.

Encourage the children to pretend they are playing the drums with the music.

Show the children different ways to make drumbeats to the music.

Hit your fists on different surfaces.

Use wooden spoons or rhythm sticks to play on different surfaces.

Play imaginary drumsticks in the air.

Using a hand drum, play a steady beat and ask the children to follow you as you move in and out around the room. As you walk, skip, hop (you choose) sing the following song to the tune of “London Bridges.”

We are moving to the drum

Rum tum tum, Rum tum tum

We are moving to the drum

Now we stop.

When you stop, sit down on the floor and sing the song again as the children pretend to play a drum.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Listen to the drums in some music and talk about if it is fast, slow, loud, or soft.

For developing the idea – Listen to the music again and pretend to play the drums when you hear them.

For moving forward – Visit a music store and look at drum sets or invite a drummer to the classroom.



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I Use My Brain

From infancy, as babies develop, the sounds of rattles and musical toys intrigue them. Toddlers begin composing their own rhythmic patterns by banging on pots and other surfaces. A tune on the radio or television can spontaneously inspire a toddler to respond by swaying and bouncing his little body. 

Here is a rhythm action poem that develops motor skills and identifies body parts.

I Use My Brain by Jackie Silberg

I use my brain to think, think, think

(touch your head with your index finger)

I use my nose to smell

(touch your nose)

I use my eyes to blink, blink, blink

(blink your eyes)

And I use my mouth to YELL

(yell)

I use my mouth to giggle, giggle, giggle

(touch your mouth)

I use my hips to bump

(sway your hips)

I use my toes to wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

(wiggle your toes)

And I use my legs to jump

(jump)

Here are some additional ideas for playing this rhythm game depending on the age of the child.

1. Clap the rhythm of the poem. Notice that the rhythm is the same every other line.

2.Clap two lines and speak two lines.

3. Clap two lines and stamp two lines.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence - Say the poem and do the actions with the child.

For developing the idea - Say the poem and ask the child to do the actions.

For moving forward – While holding a doll or stuffed animal, point to the doll’s body parts as you say the poem.

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:
Indestructible™ Infant Books - Set of 6 (INDY)

Nursery Rhymes, Games and Songs - Set of 3 Board Books (FUNBK)

Bilibo® (BILIBO)

Babbles and In and Out

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 Infants

Babbles

This game is a wonderful language developer.

Listen closely to the rhythm of your baby’s babble and you will discover that she babbles a bit and pauses. The pause is waiting for you to respond with some babble or words.

Then you pause, and the baby will pick up on that and babble again.

You are teaching the art of conversation.

Try it! You will be amazed.

When babies begin to make babbling sounds, they start with lots of “p” “b” and “m” sounds.

If you say a lot of words using those sounds, you will be helping to develop their language skills.

Sing songs starting all of the words with the same letter sounds.

Have a conversation with your baby and use the same sound over and over again.

Current research is saying that babbling is a very important sign of good language development.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Sing the melody of a familiar song using the same sound for the words. Using the beginning sound of your baby’s name is a good way to start.

For developing the idea – Repeat the same sound several times and then put it in a word. For example, ba, ba, ba, ba, ball. If you are using the baby’s name, say his name after repeating his beginning sound.

For moving forward – Using the sounds that your baby makes, imitate those sounds and add words that start with those sounds.

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In and Out

Early experiences shape the way circuits are made in the brain.

Understanding spatial concepts like in, out, over, under, and behind are important for brain development.

Playing games that encourage this understanding will benefit your baby in future years.

Start with inside and outside. Take a large paper sack¾the kind that your cat would like¾and put a favorite toy inside. Help your baby find the toy and take it out.

Put it back in again and keep playing the game over and over. Soon your baby will put the toy inside the sack by himself.

Make up a silly song or group of words, such as the one below, and say it each time you put the toy back into the sack.

Sacky, wacky, toysie, woysie
Boom, boom, boom (say the last boom in a bigger voice)

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Play the game several times and compliment your baby each time he takes the toy out of the sack or puts it into the sack.

For developing the idea – Give him a different toy and ask him to put it into the sack and take it out.

For moving forward – Find different containers to put toys into. Perhaps a basket, a box or a bowl.