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)

 

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?

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?"

Cardboard Music & Animal Songs

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

Cardboard Music
Playing this game will develop rhythm and memory.

You will need a toilet tissue paper tube (ARTROLL) for each child.

Show the children how to make a musical sound by singing into the tube.

If you sing "toot, toot, toot" you will make an interesting sound.

Try "toot tooting" familiar songs like " Happy Birthday" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Playing this game is a forerunner to playing a kazoo and later perhaps a wind instrument.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Ask the child to toot a song and you sing along.

For developing the idea - Try tooting the songs in a high voice and a low voice.

For moving forward – Pick out three favorite songs and play them together. Let the child choose which song he will toot in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. 

If your child is enjoying this, change to new songs every few days.

This is a great pre-cursor to poetry and reading in general.

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Animal Songs
This activity encourages creativity, cognitive thinking and the joy of singing.

Young children are particularly fond of songs, games and books about animals. 

The more that you sing with your child, the better language he will have and the better reader he will be.

Here are some songs about animals. Can you think of some more?

Itsy Bitsy Spider, Five Little Ducks, Old Macdonald, All the Fish, Shoo Fly, Bingo, and Hickory Dickory Dock.

A wonderful website to find Animal Songs is Kididdles.com.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:For building confidence –Sing an animal song with the child and praise him for doing such a good job.

For developing the idea - Pick an animal song and ask the child to make the sound of that animal. Now sing the song in the animal voice that the child made.

For moving forward – Make up a song with the child about an animal. It’s best to use a familiar tune like “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Here is an example.

Bobby had a little dog, little dog, little dog,
Bobby had a little dog
It’s fur was black and white.

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:
Indestructibles™ Nursery Rhymes Books - Set of 6 (INDY2)
Maestro Baby Instruments - Set of 4 (MAESTRO)
Circus Sorting Train Banner - 29 Pieces (CHUCHU)

Giggle Box & Sweet Little Bunny 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
Communication with a young child creates the patterns for understanding. 

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

Giggle Box
Help your baby know how special she is by imitating and mimicking her sounds.
When your little ones begins to giggle, giggle right along.

Laugh often and show spontaneous joy at what your baby can do.
Bring a favorite toy to life. Take that teddy bear or puppet and have it dance, sing, and move about. Be prepared for lots of giggles.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Let the favorite toy jump up and down while you laugh together.

For developing the idea - Do some more actions with the stuffed animal. Rock it in your arms and sing a song.

For moving forward – Give the stuffed animal to your baby and let him rock the toy or move it up and down. You may need to help him at the beginning.

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Sweet Little Bunny
You will need a toy bunny.

Hold the stuffed animal in your hands and say the following:

Sweet little bunny hopping on the ground - hold the bunny and hop it up and down
Sweet little bunny looking all around - turn the bunny around

Look up high - hold the bunny high in the air

Look down low - bring the bunny down to the ground

Run, run, run

Oh, Oh, Oh, - run with the bunny

Sweet little bunny, where did you go? - hide the bunny behind your back

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – After saying the poem again, give the stuffed animal to your child. Ask her to hold the bunny high and hold the bunny low. Move her hands up and down as you ask these questions.

For developing the idea – Hold your child in your arms and say the poem letting her hold the stuffed animal. Move her arms accordingly with all of the actions.

For moving forward – Pretend you are the bunny and do the actions in the poem. Encourage your little one to copy you. 

Two books that go nicely with this activity are:
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

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.

What Shall I Wear?

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 pathways of their brains to make new connections.

FOR TODDLERS
Stories Come to Life 
Creating and acting out a story makes it come to life and helps children internalizes the concepts in the story.

Read The Three Little Pigs or another familiar story to the children.
Read the story out loud and as you read, find one word such as huff, and say it in a loud voice.
Ask the children to act out the "loud" word when they hear it (by huffing).
You can also use words that show emotion such as “happy” and “sad.”

Ideas to do to that will take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: “Who do you think has a loud voice in this story?”
For developing the idea: “Can you pretend you are one of the pigs? Can you pretend that you are the wolf?”
For moving forward: Could you tell me this story? What would come first in the story?”

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What Shall I Wear You will need a raincoat, heavy wool hat, bathing suit, and a lightweight jacket or dress.
Talk with the children about the kind of clothes you need for different kinds of weather and seasons.
Look at the articles of clothing and discuss when you would wear them. 

Say the following rhyme:

What shall I wear on a rainy day, rainy day, rainy day?
What shall I wear on a rainy day?
This is what I’ll wear.
(on the last line, choose a child to go to the clothing and hold up the correct item.
Continue with a new rhyme.
What shall I wear on a sunny day?
What shall I wear on a snowy day?
Download my song "Whatever the Weather" at Early Childhood News or at my website.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: What do you wear when it is cold outside?
For developing the idea: Clothes protect us from changes in the weather. What did you wear to school today? Why did you pick these clothes?
For moving forward: Let’s make up a story about a hot summer day at the swimming pool. What clothes shall we talk about?

Let's Play Dress Up!

TODDLERS
Playing dress up gives children an opportunity to express their feelings, use language, and imagination.

You will need a basket filled with shoes, hats, scarves, gloves, jewelry and belts.
A full length mirror makes this game even more fun..

Pick out a hat and put it on your head. Then give another hat to a child.

Stand in front of the mirror and say or do something different with the hat on. For example, pretend to be another person and use a different voice.

Encourage the children to do something different in front of the mirror.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Say to the child “When I have on a cowboy hat, I say “howdy partner. Can you say that?”
For developing the idea: What would you say to me if you are wearing gloves?
For moving forward: Can you make your voice sound different when you put on the different clothes? Let’s put on some scarves and change our voices

Recommended book - We Love Dressing Up by Caroline Uff

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Winter ClothesTell the children that you are going to pretend that it is cold outside with lots of snow and that there will be a pretend snowman in the room.

You will need mittens, scarves, hats, boots, and other winter clothes.
Choose one child to be the "snowman."
Tell the children that you are going to dress the snowman.

Ask the class, “What shall we put on first?”

Proceed putting on a hat, scarf, mittens, etc. on the snowman. 

Ask the children to look very closely at the clothes the pretend snowman is wearing. 

Now ask the children to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, change one clothing item ( e.g.. put a different hat on) or take a piece of clothing item away.

Ask the children to uncover their eyes and guess what is different about the snowman. 

Encourage them to use complete sentences. Example: “The snowman’s hat is dfferent.”

Say the following snowman poem.

A Chubby Snowman - Author unknownA chubby little snowman
Had a carrot for a nose.
Along came a bunny
And what do you suppose?
That funny little bunny
Was looking for his lunch.
So he ate the snowman’s nose,
Nibble, nibble crunch!
Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Say to the child “Changing our clothes is something that we do often. When do you change your clothes?
For developing the idea: “When you dress yourself in the morning, what clothes do you put on and what clothes do you take off?”
For moving forward: “Can you tell me three things that you wear every day?”

Beginning Rhythm Ideas

Learning Objective – Beginning rhythm ideas
Rhythm experiences for young children are vital for their development. It puts them in sync with the world.

Play some recordings for your children that use drums.

If you can bring a drummer to your room or take the children somewhere to see a drum set, that would be wonderful.

As you listen to the music, pretend you are playing air drums.

Here are some ways to make drumbeats to the music.
Hit your fists on different surfaces.

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

Shake your entire body to the rhythm of the music.

Some children will naturally feel the rhythm of the music. Others will need more time to develop a sense of rhythm.

Hit a steady beat with a drum or your hands and ask the children to hop on the beat, stamp on the beat and march on the beat.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Awareness of drums and their different sounds.

For developing the idea – Listen to instrumental music and identify the drums. If the drum beat is simple, clap your hands with the drums.

For moving forward – “How could we use drumbeats in the classroom? Could the teacher hit the drum to tell you it’s time to sit on the circle?’

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Learning Objective – Encourages musical learning
The newest brain research says: The earlier music is introduced, the more potential a child has for learning and enjoying it in the future.

If You're Happy and You Know ItSit on the floor with your child facing you.

Sing the song "If You're Happy and You Know It."
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(take your child’s hands and clap them together two times.)
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(repeat clapping)
If you're happy and you know it
Then your smile will surely show it
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(repeat clapping)
Keep repeating the song and changing the action.
Move your child’s hands for clapping, waving, wiggling, snapping, etc.

Do the action first and then let your child do it.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Repeat the song and clap softly and loudly.
For developing the idea – Do other movements with the song. Hop, jump, tap your foot, turn in a circle are a few to try.

For moving forward – Play the game with a stuffed animal. Let your child move the animals hand, feet, or paws to the words of the song.


Recommended Products from Discount School Supply®:
The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants (RHYMES)
Familiar Objects Language Cards (CARDSET) 
Match It Up! Animal Matching Game (MATCHUP)

Acting Out Sounds

Learning Objective – Acting out Sounds
Let the children act out sound words. Make up a sentence using a sound word.

Instead of saying the word, let the children make the sound and move accordingly. For example:

First there were small raindrops and there was loud ---------(thunder sounds)

I see a fire...here comes the ---------. (fire engine sounds)
The drummer was playing on the ------. (drum sounds)

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence - “Let’s make some like thunder sounds, some fire engine sounds and some drum sounds.

For developing the idea – What sounds do you make in the morning? (wash face, brush teeth, drink milk)

For moving forward - What are some of the sounds that you hear at your house?

Book Suggestion - Bow Wow! Meow! A First Book of Sounds (Little Golden Book)

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Learning Objective – Understanding Vocabulary
This rhyme helps toddlers understand and use vocabulary.

Say the following rhyme and point to each part of the body.

You are also saying words that begin with the same sound

I’ll touch my chin, my cheek, my chair
I’ll touch my head, my heels, my hair
I’ll touch my knees, my neck, my nose
Then I’ll bend and touch my toes.
Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence -“Let’s name all the words in the rhyme that start with “nnn sound..”

For developing the idea – Where is your neck? Where are your knees?

For moving forward - Let’s look in this book and find someone’s neck, knees and nose.

Where Is the Sound?

A young child's brain grows at a phenomenal rate in the early years of life opening windows of opportunity for learning that occurs only once in a lifetime.
These simple games will promote early brain development for Infants and toddlers.

FOR INFANTS

Learning Objective – Auditory Development

Where Is the Sound?

The newest brain research says that musical experiences enhance the future ability to reason abstractly, particularly in the spatial domains.

Auditory awareness is something that comes with age and experience.

Playing games to heighten your baby’s hearing awareness will help wire her brain.

Take a wind-up musical toy and put it out of your baby’s sight.

Wind it up and ask her “where’s the music?”

When she turns to the sound, praise her generously.

Repeat this game in different parts of the room.

 If your baby is crawling, you can hide the music under a pillow or elsewhere so that she can crawl to the music.

Ideas to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Repeat the game several times and praise your baby.

For developing the idea: Put the musical toy at different levels: on a table, on a chair, on the floor, etc.

For moving forward: Put the toy next to the baby and clap hands and sing "la la la" to the music. 

FOR INFANTS

Learning Objective – Practicing Language

Speak with your body

When babies learn new words, they like to repeat them over and over because they enjoy the sounds. Practicing speech patterns is a wonderful pre-reading experience.

Start with simple words like “moon.” Say it with your mouth several times,’

Say it in the evening so that you can point to the sky as you say it.

Say it with your hands  Clap your hands as you say the word.

Say it with your head. (move your head up and down to the word).

Say it with your feet - (stamp your feet to the word.)

Say it with your eyes -(blink your eyes to the word)

Play the same game with another word or words.

Ideas to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: It's fun to say the words in different ways. Let's say the word and I will bounce you on my knee.

For developing the idea: Let's say a new word and clap our hands at the same time. Pick a name of a family member.

For moving forward: Tell me a word you would like to say with this game.

Awareness of 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 pathways of their brains to make new connections.

FOR TODDLERS
Learning Objective – Awareness of Sounds

Body Sounds
Before there were pianos and guitars, people made sounds with their bodies.
Think of the different parts of your body that can make a sound.
Ask the children to do the following.

Rubbing your hands together.
Hitting your hands on different surfaces,
Stamping your feet against the floor.
Slapping – open your hands against your chest, slap your thighs, and your tummy..
Clap your hands together or against someone else’s hands.
Mouth sounds – click your teeth together, rub your tongue against your lips, gargle, smack your lips.
Whispering

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Do you have some favorite sounds? Can you make them now?

For developing the idea: Let’s find some pictures with people making different sounds.

For moving forward: What body sounds do you make when you are happy, sad, angry, and sleepy?

Sound Awareness and Creative Thinking

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 pathways of their brains to make new connections.

Learning Objective- Awareness of Sound

This game is like a scavenger hunt. Talk about all the different kinds of sounds you can listen to and try to find examples of these sounds.

Crunchy, funny, terrible, scary, scratchy, buzzing, humming, a sound that starts and stops, and metal sounds.

Here are some ideas to start with.
Carrot for crunching
Scary sound with your voice
A buzzing toy
Two metal spoons
Slide whistle

Pick up one of the objects and make the sound. When you make the sound, give the descriptive word.
“Oh, that is a loud sound.”

Take a walk outside and see what sounds you can identify.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence - “Can you make your voice sound happy?”

For developing the idea - “You make wonderful happy sounds. Can a bird make a happy sound? Can a dog make a happy sound?" Continue asking about different animals and different sounds.

For moving forward - “I’m going to make a sound. See if you can tell what it is. (make a sound of a cat. Now you make a sound and I’ll see if I can tell what it is.” There’s a good chance that the child will copy your sound. That’s normal and should be expected.

Learning Objective – Creative thinking
A favorite song with toddlers is “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” They love to make the animal sounds.

Talk about other kinds of places Old MacDonald could go. The children will tell you things based on their families.

Try singing the song using other ideas.

Old MacDonald had a cold, e,i,e,i,o
And with his cold he had a cough. Etc.

Think of sounds you have with a cold.

Old MacDonald could also have a yard, a house, a candy store, etc. Changing the words will develop vocabulary.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – “ Let’s sing Old MacDonald together.”

For developing the idea - “If Old MacDonald had a candy store, what kind of candy would he have in the store?”

For moving forward - “Let’s sing Old MacDonald had a car and make up sounds of the car.”

An excellent book to read for this activity is Old MacDonald in the City by Suzanne Williams.

Recommended Items:
Watch Me Crawl Tunnel (GOBABY)
Giant Plush Stacking Ring (TALLRING)
The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays and Chants (RHYMES)

Develope Your Toddler's Vocabulary

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

Learning Objective – Developing vocabulary
Sit the children on the floor gathered around you. If they understand sitting in a circle, that would be ideal.

Ask the children if they can tell you what is in their house…tables, chairs, lamps, TV, etc.

Sing this song to the tune of "London Bridge" and leave out the last word for the child to fill in.

Tell us please, what’s in your house
In your house
In your house
Tell us please, what’s in your house
Tell us …..(Lakeesha)
(Lakeesha names something in her house)
Continue the song giving the children an opportunity to tell about their houses.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence -  Can you name some of the things at your house?

For developing the idea - What do you like to do in your house at the table?

For moving forward - What does your mother do at the table? What does your grandpa do at the table?

Learning Objective – Growing motor skills
Cut out large apple shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and place them on the floor. If this presents a problem, you can cut out the apple shapes and tape them in different parts of the room.

Ask the children to hop from one apple to another as they sing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Hopping, hopping for my health
For my health
For my health
Hopping, hopping for my health
I am healthy.

Continue with other movements such as jumping, marching, turning, and running.

Follow with a conversation about exercise and health.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Tell the children “hopping makes up feel good and is a lot of fun”.

For developing the idea – Ask “where are places that you like to hop”?

For moving forward - Can you hop like different animals? A rabbit, a frog, or a bird?

Learning Rhythm

THE ANTS GO MARCHING
Sing to the tune of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.’

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching out to the big parade.

Additional verses
two by two- the little one stops to tie his shoe
three by three - the little one stops to climb a tree
four by four - the little one stops to fall on the floor
five by five - the little one stops to joke and jive
six by six - the little one stops to do some tricks
seven by seven -the little one stops to point to heaven
eight by eight - the little one stops to shut the gate
nine by nine - the little one stops to read a sign
ten by ten - the little stops to say “THE END.”

1. March around the room and sing the song. Act out each part that says, “the little one stopped to...”

2. Substitute other actions for the word marching, as follows:

The ants go skipping . . .
The ants go hopping . . .
The ants go swimming . . .

3. Experiment with ant voices. Teeny, squeaky voices are lots of fun.

4. Party stores carry plastic ants. Singing and counting the ants as you move them along is a great game.

Moving to Music
The more rhythm experiences a young child has, the better they will relate to the world. Talking, reading, and moving all improve with rhythm activities.

Play some instrumental music and move with your child. If the music is fast, move quickly. If the music is slow, move slowly.

Encourage the children to copy your actions. Say things like “Can you turn like me?” or “Can you bend like me?”

Vary the musical sounds from high to low, loud to soft, and fast to slow.

Learning with Play

Here is a quick and easy activity you can do with your toddler to show them how household goods are used as you play!

1. Select several objects such as a toothbrush, a spoon, or a cup that your toddler is familiar with and uses on a regular basis.
2. Sit on the floor and put the objects in front of you.
3. Pick up one object, such as the toothbrush, and pretend to brush your teeth.
4, Pick up each object and pretend to use it.
5. Ask your toddler to pick up one of the objects and show you how he would use it.
6. This is a great game to develop your toddler’s thinking skills and help him imagine other things to do with the same object, such as using a cup to drink from and for pouring.