Our Toddlers |

Does your toddler have a birthday coming up and you’re not sure what to do? Don’t worry, toddlers actually like doing their regular activities at a party. Think of the things she does everyday, singing, games, toys and use them as the activities for the party. Here are some simple child birthday party ideas and tips to prepare for an enjoyable day for your child.

When planning for the party, you don’t need to let your toddler in on the plans early. She will get too excited and then feel as if the party day will never come. A month seems a lot longer to a toddler than to an adult. A week’s notice is plenty of time. But, since you are the party planner, you will need the extra time to prepare. When you’re able to take your time and think things through, party planning becomes much less stressful.

Decide if you want a themed-party or simply casual. For my daughter’s second birthday, I didn’t have a theme. We just set up a table, chairs, and a mat for the kids to on while they ate all in the backyard. I had cake, ice cream, juice boxes for the kids, and sodas for the adults. The kids had fun playing with my daughter’s toys and climber which were already there, and the adults sat in the carport, chatted, and watched the kids play. For that age, that was perfect.

For a toddler a little older, a theme party might be a good idea. My daughter is now really into the Disney Princesses, Cinderella is her favorite. She also enjoys Dora. Those are two great starts. You can get birthday sets and have everything come in one package. No running around trying to find items that match. Just be sure to choose something that your child is interested in, not what you think they might want. When my daughter turns three, I think I will try something with a theme.

Other things to consider when planning a party are the party guests. These will be other toddlers and preschoolers. When planning activities, make them noncompetitive and make sure they are something that all attendees can participate in. If your child is in daycare, use the games and songs they play and sing at school. If you’re having a theme party, make sure there is enough of everything to give out to all the kids. Take plenty of pictures and include all the kids. Give these out when you send the thank you cards.

Also, one thing I like to do is make up goody bags. Depending on your type of party, these can be as simple as sandwich bags with candy to theme bags with gifts. Be sure to have enough for each child and to have extras just in case something gets broken. I made simple bags filled with Dum Dums and the kids thought those were great. Another thing you can try is to have the kids make their own goody bags. Spread out some items, give each child a bag and let them fill them. Just be sure to supervise to make it fair for everyone.

So long as you have set up a simple, fun-filled time for your child’s party, you can just sit back, relax, a let the kids have a good time. When they are older, then you can think about parties held at children’s venues. But for now, just relax and enjoy yourself.

Avoid the hassle of searching around for a themed party. Visit Birthday in a Box

We’ve gone through a few bath toys in our home. As my daughters get older, I buy new toys. In an effort to cut back on costs, I’ve started looking for other ways to entertain my toddler in the bath. In doing so, I’ve also discovered some great ways to teach her as well.

For some cheap and educational play during bath time, let your toddler play with some kitchen items. Things like funnels, measuring cups, ladles, and containers. While your child is filling them up with water and dumping them out, you can teach opposites like “full” and “empty”. You can also use a container and a ball and have your toddler try to toss the ball into the container. This is a great way to teach hand-eye coordination.

When you’ve emptied a plastic bottle such a soda bottle, poke holes in the bottom. My daughter has a toy car with holes in the bottle and she loves watching the water comes out. This give you the same effect without the extra expsense.

Another thing I’ve reused is a baby shampoo or baby soap bottle. My daughter loves to fill up the bottle, and pour the contents into something else. Also, if you use the bottle that you squeeze (versus the pump), fill up the bottle and put the top on. Your toddler will love squirting the water out on other toys. My daughter also likes to squirt mommy at times.

One last thing I do involves no cost at all. Sometimes, I’ll call out a body part and ask my daughter if she can point to hers. When I’m washing her, I also describe what I’m washing, being sure to point out right and left. When she’s surrounded by toys, they are a distraction. But I can squeeze this is sometimes.

I hope these inexpesive ideas can help make bath time fun and entertaining.

Reading is one of the most important skills your toddler will learn.  It is a skill that most people use every day. Get your toddler interested in reading and it will make her more excited about learning how to read when the time comes.

When to Read

Bedtime is one of the most popular times for parents to read to their toddlers. Listening to a story helps your toddler wind down from a busy day.  It also gives you a chance to bond with her. Another good time is right before a nap.

However, sleep time isn’t the only time you should read to your toddler. You should set aside a time in the morning or afternoon for reading.  If your toddler asks you to read to her, do so if possible. There’s no such thing as reading to a child too much and always foster her desire to read.

Many libraries and bookstores have story time once or twice a week. If you have the opportunity, take your toddler and pique her interest in reading. Experienced storytellers have a knack for making stories exciting, and seeing all of the other kids enjoying the story will make a good impression.

Make Reading Fun

You don’t have to be a professional storyteller to make reading enjoyable.  The one-on-one attention you give your toddler when reading to her is very important. It allows an opportunity to interact with you that she doesn’t get elsewhere.

When reading, try to use different voices for different characters. If you aren’t about to put her to bed, you could also get Dad, Grandma, or Big Brother to help and have them do the voice for one of the characters.  Use finger puppets or props, anything you can do to get your toddler excited about story time is wonderful.

Let your toddler turn the pages. Point out objects in the pictures and ask her what they are, or ask her to find specific objects. Trying asking what she thinks will happen next, what she thinks of the characters, or what kind of sounds they make. Things like this will get her involved, and that’s one of the most important things you can do to instill a love of reading.

If Your Toddler Won’t Sit Still

Some children, especially very young ones, do not have the attention span required to sit through an entire story.  If this is the case with your child, don’t push.  Read as long as she will listen, and save the rest of the story for later. Also, try the board books that only have a few pages. These work really well as they are colorful, short, and offer you a chance to point out things in the pictures.

Reading to your toddler offers the two of you quality time together. Make things fun and interactive to keep her interested in books.  This will lay the foundation for a lifelong love of reading.

Kids are fascinated with insects and worms. When trying to find fun activities for toddlers, consider making a worm farm. With a worm farm, your toddler will learn how worms live in the soil and mix it up.

Before you get started on your worm farm, you’ll need to gather your supplies. Trying using a clear, 2 liter soda bottle, get scissors, water, leaves (and/or vegetable peelings), and try to get different types of soil, preferably soil and sand. Also, you will need worms — of course! Cut off the top of your soda bottle so that you can have easy to access to add the soil and worms.

Add your sand, soil, and your leaves. Add some water, just enough to dampen your layers, and continue to alternate until you’re about a couple of inches from the top, then stop. Now, add your worms. To keep the worms in the bottle and to protect them from too much light, cover with your cloth. If you don’t have a cloth, tape the top of the bottle back on, but try to keep the bottle out of direct light.

Your worms should almost immediately begin digging. In a few days, you and your toddler will see that your worms have eaten the leaves (and whatever else you gave them to eat) and made a system of tunnels. Your toddler will enjoy watching their worms as they make their way through the soil. You can continue to keep your worm farm by adding leaves for food and periodically watering the soil. Or, you and your toddler can spend some time releasing the worms out into the garden. This is also a fun activity, having your toddler help give the worms a “new home”.

Making worm farms is a great activity for toddlers. It’s fun and is a good learning tool as you help your toddler learn how worms live. They also have a chance to learn responsibility as they get to help feed the worms and water the soil. For more great ideas on activities for toddlers, please visit: http://www.ourtoddlers.com/101-tips.html

You’ve just realized that your baby isn’t a baby anymore. She is putting together full sentences, showing her independence, and is illustrating a genuine desire to learn about the things around her. Here are some simple activities that you can do in your daily routines to help your little toddler grow.

Let her make choices
Rather than making all the decisions, it’s time to let your toddler express herself. For lunch, ask her is she wants milk or juice. Don’t get frustrated if she asks for both, just try again. If she continues to repeat both, it’s okay at that point to make the decision for her. The point here is that at some point, she will pick just one. I’m doing this with my daughter and I’m happy that she will sometimes ask for the milk. This is leading to me just asking what she would like to drink instead of giving the two options.

Show connections between items.
When you pick up the salt, also pick up the pepper. If you have a slice of bread, show that butter or jelly can go on the bread. Pick up a pair of socks and show that shoes go on after the socks. Small things like this help them draw connections between items. When I get my daughter’s socks, she asks for her shoes.

Show cause and affect
Rather than just saying, “stop”, explain why. When my daughter tried to run into the street, I stopped her, kneeled down and showed her the car that was heading our way. I tried to explain, in simple terms, that she could have been hurt. Since she knows what hurt is, I left it with that, rather than moving on into the “you can get killed” territory. I sometimes repeat that message, even when she isn’t running towards the street, when I see a car coming. She now will say, “don’t go in the street” when we’re going for our walks.

Encourage the use of words
Now that I know my daughter can tell me certain things, I no longer will accept crying or whining as a way of expressing herself. I only do this, however, if I know she can tell me what is going on. If she wants to be picked up, she says “up please” rather than whining until she’s picked up. If not, I’ll simply say, “I don’t know what that noise means” and she’ll say, “up please”. If there is something she wants, I try to get her to say the name of the item if she knows it. If doesn’t, I’ll still get it, but then I’ll try and teach her name of the object she wanted.

Identify sounds
If my daughter hears anything that sounds close to a motorcycle, she says “motorcycle”. If I can identify what is it, I’ll correct her and try to show it to her if we can still see it. She can now identify motorcycles, lawn mowers, airplanes, and helicopters. She also knows the ice cream truck, fire engines, cars, trucks, and car horns, among other things, and will identify them just from hearing them.

Try to encourage sharing
You will definitely have to be patient with this one. My daughter is either very good and shares everything, or will just not have it and everything is hers (even things that really aren’t’). Try not to become impatient. Instead, explain why sharing is a good thing, another cause and affect activity. My daughter initially refused to share her bubbles with her friend. I simply stated that her friend came over to play with her and if she wasn’t going to share, her friend might go back home. It was that simple. It doesn’t always work, but keep trying.

These are just a few samples of learning activities for toddlers. Try to think of other ways you can incorporate simple learning exercises into your daily routine.

For more great ideas on activities for toddlers, please visit: http://www.ourtoddlers.com/101-tips.html