It’s the Little Things

May 13, 2016

As toddlers grow up, they often get used to adults doing everything for them, whether it’s zipping their coat or buttoning their shirt. Toddlers are curious by nature, and so you have probably noticed them watching you do these tasks that you don’t normally think twice about. For instance, I was watching my three-year-old niece trying to button her pajama top for the first time when I remembered that we all had to be taught how to do everyday tasks such as that one. It is easy to forget that little everyday tasks take A LOT of concentration and energy for little fingers, but it’s a very important stage of early learning and development.

Sea Foam Sensory Play

May 2, 2016

Create your own version of sea foam! Explain that when the ocean churns up dissolved salts, proteins, dead algae, organic material, and pollutants, the materials mix together and wash ashore as sea foam.

Offering Loose Parts

April 19, 2016

Loose parts play is popular in early childhood settings. Play experts value it as a form of open-ended learning. Loose parts are objects that children can move around and combine or arrange in many different ways. While some educators prefer to use natural materials as loose parts, manmade materials also work well. Loose parts may include rocks, shells, twigs, leaves, cardboard tubes, jar lids, boxes, bits of ribbon, and more. Any materials that are intriguing to children and offer many possibilities for play will work.

Building a Honeycomb: Toddler Adaptation

April 4, 2016

Our original activity Building a Honeycomb (link here) sparked one of our readers to ask how the activity might work for toddlers. We adapted the activity with Velcro strips for those not ready to use clothespins or paper clips.

Building a Honeycomb

April 1, 2016

Cardboard rolls make great pretend honeycombs! Create a honeycomb using cardboard tubes and paper clips. Recap what a honeycomb looks like. A honeycomb is group of wax cells with six sides inside a beehive, used to store honey or protect baby bees. A six-sided shape is called a hexagon. Explain to the children that you will be making honeycombs using sections of cardboard tubing. Here is a step-by-step picture tutorial of how to complete the activity.

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