Movement Fun and Watching!

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
The newest brain research says that early movement experiences are essential to the neural stimulation of an infant.. For healthy brain development, infants need to have many movement experiences.

Movement Fun
Sit on the floor with your baby sitting opposite you.
Play this game as you sing to the tune of “London Bridges Falling Down.”
Hold your baby’s hands as you follow the directions in the song.

Put your hands up in the air
In the air, in the air
Put your hands up in the air
Clap, clap, clap – clap your baby’s hands together.
Put your hands down to the ground
To the ground, to the ground
Put your hands down to the ground
Clap, clap, clap

Continue using different motor activities. Always end the song with “clap, clap, clap.”

When you feel that your little one understands the activity, add movement with another part of the body.

For example you can:

• Kick your leg into the air
• Move your arm from side to side
• Take your legs and shake, shake, shake

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Play the game and encourage and praise your little one.

For developing the idea - Ask questions using the words of the song. “Can you put your hands in the air?” “Can you clap your hands?”
For moving forward – Give your child a toy that has arms and legs. Show her how to move the toy’s arms and legs as you sing the song.

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Watching
Loving care provides a baby’s brain with positive emotional stimulation.

Think of all the different places that are good for watching.

When babies can watch things move, they are happy.

A front-loading washing machine or dryer is fun for babies to watch.

Windows that are near trees are wonderful watching places.

Sit outside with your infant for an amazing amount of stimulation. You can:

• Watch birds fly from one place to another.
• Watch cars moving down the street.
• Watch the branches of a tree blow in the wind.

Take time to sit with your infant and watch together. Having you next to him will give him the comfort and security that he needs to enjoy the wonders of the world.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – As you watch things together, speak words of praise in a gentle voice. “The wind feels so nice.” “What a lovely flower this is.”

 

For developing the idea - Encourage your baby to move his head back and forth. Hold a small toy in your hand and when he is looking at it, move it back and forth.

 

For moving forward – Hold your infant and walk around the room or outside and talk about all the different things you are looking at.

Two Little Blackbirds and The Piano Game Activities

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

Two Little BlackbirdsSing or say the words to this popular children’s song as you do the actions

Two Little BlackbirdsTwo little blackbirds sitting on a hill – Hold up the index finger of each hand.
One named Jack and one named Jill –Wiggle one finger for Jack and the other finger for Jill.
Fly away Jack - take the Jack finger and put it behind you.
Fly away Jill – take the Jill finger and put it behind you.
Come back Jack – bring you finger back to where you began
Come back Jill – bring your finger back to where you began.

Now play the following movement game.Divide the group into two parts. One part is “Jack” and the other is “Jill.”
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill – wave your arms like a bird
One named Jack and one named Jill – say “tweet, tweet, tweet.”
Fly away Jack – fly to a different part of the room
Fly away Jill – fly to a different part of the room
Come back Jack – fly back to where you began
Come back Jill – fly back to where you began

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Say the words of the song together.
For developing the idea - Sing or say the words as you act out the story.

For moving forward - “Where do you think blackbirds live? What do you think they eat?”

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The Piano GameYou will need a keyboard.
The word "piano" comes from the Italian word "pianoforte" which means loud and soft. The piano can make both loud and soft sounds.

Let the children watch as you play some notes at the top of the piano. Talk about the "high" sound. Now play some notes at the bottom of the piano and talk about the "low" sounds. Ask the children to close their eyes and tell you whether you are playing a "high" sound or a "low" sound.

Ask the children to pretend they are elephants and move around the room. Play loud and slow notes on the keyboard. 

Ask the children to pretend they are butterflies and move around the room. Play high and fast notes on the keyboard.

You do not have to know how to play a piano to do this activity with the children. Just play one at a time in any order that you desire.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Can you show me where the high sounds and low sounds are on the keyboard?

For developing the idea - Can you make your voice sound high and low?

For moving forward - Let’s make rain sounds. The high notes are raindrops and the low notes are thunder.

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:
3-D Spindle Puzzles (ANIMATCH)
Soft Touch Baby Wild Animals (BABYZOO)
Counting Cookies (COOKIES)

Be a Machine and Many Faces Activities

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
Be a MachineTalk about all the different kinds of machines that we see everyday.
Show the children pictures of a vacuum cleaner, toaster, clock, computer, dishwasher, and any others that the children will recognize.

Talk about the machines that you have in your house. The washing machine, the toaster, the vacuum cleaner, a clock, etc.

Look at the pictures and discuss each one individually and as to how they are used and why they are important. Choose two machines that are familiar to the the children and show them how to imitate these machines. For example a clock and a vacuum cleaner.

For a clock, let your hands become the clock’s hands and move them in a circle. For a vacuum cleaner, move around the room in a gliding manner.

When you say the words "Machines go!" the children pretend to be the machines. When you say "machines stop!" the children stop.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Ask the question “Why do you think a clock is important?” and “Why do you think a vacuum cleaner is important?”

For developing the idea - What other machines do you have at your house?

For moving forward - Tell me what the vacuum cleaner does, the toaster does and the dishwasher can do.

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Many Faces
This game helps children to become more observant and sensitive to others.

Look through books and magazines with the children and talk about the different faces that you see. 

Talk about happy faces, silly faces, sad faces, and angry faces.

Play the following game.

When I am happy, I look like this- make a happy face
Can you make a happy face?- (wait for the children to make happy faces)
Continue on with silly, sad and angry faces.

After you have finished practicing all the different faces, choose individual children to make a face and the rest of the group guess which face he is making.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Expressing emotions with the face.

For developing the idea - Becoming aware of different feeling and emotions.

For moving forward - “What are some things that make you happy? What makes you angry? What makes you sad?"

Peek-a-Boo and Laughing Fun Activities

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

Peek-a-Boo

Playing “peek-a-boo” with an infant will reward you with smiles. It’s definitely a favorite game.

Why is peek-a-boo so important? This game makes connections between a child’s brain cells. The more they use these connections, the stronger these pathways become. 

Here are some different ways to play peek-a-boo.

• Cover your eyes with your hands.
• Put a towel over your face.
• Hide behind an object and pop out.
• Place a toy or stuffed animal under a cover and then pull away the cover.
• Draw a face on your thumb with magic marker and hide it under your other fingers.
• Make your own peek-a-boo pictures,
• Cut out pictures from a magazine and tape one picture each on a separate piece of cardboard.
• Cut out pieces of fabric that are bigger than the cardboard picture and tape it on one end of the cardboard to cover the picture. You should be able to lift the fabric and see the picture.
• Make up a story about the picture and then lift the fabric and show your baby the picture. For example: The little dog said “Bow Wow, Bow Wow, I want to see you.”
• Lift up the fabric and show the dog picture and say “Peek-a-boo.” Soon your little one will learn to lift up the fabric himself.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Play the game with your baby and praise him as he plays

For developing the idea - Try to switch roles. Put your baby’s hands over his eyes and take them away as you say “peek-a-boo.”

For moving forward –Show your infant how to play the game with a stuffed animal.

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Laughing Fun

Once you hear a baby's laugh, you won't be able to get enough

Laughter helps in releasing feel good chemicals and responses in the body, thereby increasing attachment and feelings of self-worth.

Baby's first smiles easily melt your heart. Soon your baby will learn to laugh out loud. Sometime between three and four months of age, she'll likely begin giggling along with her cooing.

What will inspire that first giggle?

The sight of your face, a silly grin, a favorite toy or a silly sound could stimulate the giggle.

Your baby is learning to recognize her voice and seeing how others react to it. She is also learning to move her mouth and tongue to produce different sounds.

Here are some ways to encourage your baby to laugh.

• Funny faces: Scrunch up your face and stick out your tongue. Your baby will laugh and soon try to imitate you.
• Peek-a-boo: Always guarantees a giggle.
• Silly sounds: Make up a silly sound of your own as you smile and laugh. This will tell the baby that she can smile and laugh at the sound.
• Fingerplay: Short poems that have a surprise.
• Jack in the box, you sit so still (hand folded with index finger of other hand tucked inside the folded hand). Say, "Won’t you come out?" and then say, "Yes, I will!" (say in a big voice as you pop out the index finger.)
• Looking in a Mirror: Look with the baby in a mirror and make funny faces.
• Dancing: Hold your baby and dance and glide around the room. If you add music, it makes it even more special.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Imitating and mimic your baby’s sounds.

For developing the idea - Play games that encourage laughter with your baby.

For moving forward – Laugh often and show spontaneous joy at what your baby can do.

Diddle Diddle Dumpling and The Blue Danube

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
Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Poem – Anonymous
Song – by Jackie Silberg

This musical game is fun to sing or say and teaches beginning sounds.
Ask the children to each take off one of their shoes. Now say the following poem or sing the song.
Diddle diddle dumpling, dumpling , dumpling,
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
Went to bed with his stockings, stockings,
Went to bed with his stockings on.
One, one shoe off.
One, one shoe on.
Diddle diddle dumpling
Diddle diddle dumpling,
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
The words “Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling” are fun to say and to sing. “Dumpling” is a term of affection.
What other words are terms of affection? ...sweetie, cutie, honey? There will be a lot of laughing in this discussion.

Sing the song with different beginning sounds. Try a “b” sound: “biddle, biddle, bumpling.” Or a “z” sound: “ziddle, ziddle, zumpling.” 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Do you wear your shoes when you go to bed? What do you wear on your feet?
For developing the idea: Can you tell me what the boy did with one of his shoes?
For moving forward: The words “diddle diddle dumpling” all start with the same sound. What sound is it? Can you think of others words that start with that same sound?

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Waltzing- The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss

This is a video of the Vienna Philharmonic playing the Blue Danube. The children can see a symphony orchestra, watch a conductor, see dancers and hear the wonderful music.

You will need waltz music or you can play this wonderful YouTube video and use various stuffed animals.
Play waltz music and dance around the room..
Hold the stuffed animals and dance with them....swirling and twirling
When the music is over, fall to the ground and shout “viva le waltz!”

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: “That music makes me want to dance.” Let’s dance together.
For developing the idea: “Isn’t dancing fun? It makes me feel good.”
For moving forward: “Would you like to dance to a different kind of music?” "What kind of music do you like? Fast or slow?"

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:Naptime Classics - 4 CDs (LULLABIES)
Happy Hands Farm Puppets - Set of 6  (FIRSTPUP)
Early Childhood Puzzles - Set of 12 (ECPUZ12)

Color Clothes

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.

FOR TODDLERS
Tell Me What it Says 

The brain likes novelty. By exploring and investigating new sounds, the brain seeks to connect the learning to an already existing pattern or begins the process of creating a new pattern for understanding.

You will need pictures of a baby, a clock, a bird, a drum, and water
The teacher asks the question and the children give the answer.
First, tell the child what the baby says. Then ask the question:
Tell me what the baby says.
Ma ma, ma, ma
Continue on telling the answer and then asking the question.

Tell me what the baby says
Da da da da
Tell me what the clock says
Tick, tock, tick, tock
Tell me what the birdie says
Tweet. Tweet, tweet, tweet
Tell me what the drum says
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Tell me what the water says
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle
Depending on the age of the baby, ask the appropriate number of questions.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Let’s make these sounds again.
For developing the idea: Let’s look through magazines and find pictures of things with other sounds
For moving forward: What are some things in our classroom that make sounds? (door, water running, footsteps)

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Color ClothesSit the children in a circle.
Ask them to look at their clothes carefully to see the different colors that they are wearing.
Tell them that you are going to ask them questions about the color of their clothes.
If a question applies to them, they should stand up.
Sometimes more than one child will be standing.
Make up questions about their clothes.

Who is wearing black shoes?
Who has a jacket on?
Who is wearing a belt?
It is fun for them to see which children are similar to one another.
Once you have played the game awhile, ask if anyone else would like to ask a question about someone’s clothing. You will find that your older toddlers will volunteer.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence: Tell me about the shoes that you are wearing. What color are they?
For developing the idea: Does anyone else have on shoes that look like your shoes?
For moving forward: Let’s look through some magazines and try to find a hat, a belt, brown shoes, and a dress.

One, Two and I'm a Walking Activities

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.

FOR INFANTSThe newest brain research says that babies need touching experiences to “grow” the brain and grow the body. It is as critical as nutrients and vitamins. 

One, Two
Sit with your baby on the floor.
Make up rhymes as you hold your baby’s hand and let him or her touch different parts of your body.
Here are some ideas:

One, two, touch my shoe.
Yellow, red, touch my head.
Dippity dips, touch my lips.
Apples, pear, touch my hair.
Each time you say the body part, put your child’s hand on that part. When you say, “One, two, touch my shoe,” put your baby’s hand on your shoe.

Continue on with each rhyme.
Reverse the game and help your baby touch his shoe, head, etc.
Make up new rhymes for different parts of the body.
Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Say the rhyme with your little one and praise him as he touches the different parts of his body.
For developing the idea: Ask your little one “Where is your head? Where is your shoe?” Encourage him to touch his head and his shoe.
For moving forward: Using a doll or stuffed animal, find the head, shoes, lips and hair on the toy.

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I’m a Walking 

Movement unites all brain levels and integrates the right and left hemispheres. The locomotion centers of the brain are paired, facing one another along the top of the right and left hemispheres, so that the center controlling the left leg parallels the center controlling the right leg, and so forth. For this reason, movement ties in both hemispheres, allowing young children an opportunity to use both sides of the brain.

This song is on the CD: "Hello Rhythm" by Jackie Silberg and in the I Love Children Songbook by Jackie Silberg.

Sing or say the following words.
I’m a walking, walking, walking
I’m a walking, walking, walking
I’m a walking, walking, walking
Then I stop!
Walk around the room and on the word “stop” freeze in place.
Hold your child’s hand to walk or carry him if he isn’t walking.
You can also skip, hop, jump, skate, swim, run, tiptoe, swim and march.
Children adore playing this game…..especially the stop part.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Walk several times and practice the stop part. Make positive comments like "Isn’t this fun!” or “I like to walk with you.”
For developing the idea:  Repeat the activity using different motor skills.
For moving forward: Let’s sit down and crawl and scoot to the words.