Now that your little one is not so little anymore, you may be wondering, what to do now! Let’s face it! It’s hard to keep a toddler entertained and even harder when you have no idea where to begin. Toddlers have more energy than we do and for that reason, we need to find ways to engage them in fun activities in order to avoid those tantrums we do not look forward to. Though screens may seem like a saving grace (and they can be), limit screen time as much as possible in this stage, to avoid problems with attention and speech-related challenges later on.
Themes are often used in schools, especially in the early years. Think of a Nursery or Pre-k curriculum to help wrap your mind around it. Basically, you take a broad concept or topics like seasons, animals, or holidays and engross the child in a range of activities around it. With themes, your child will experience an almost unlimited variety of amazing real-life topics, which makes learning much more fun and challenging.
There are many benefits to using themes when working with your toddler. For one, your child is guaranteed to develop a deeper understanding of what you are doing as it connects to many areas. Themes also help your child to develop critical thinking skills many children lack as they enter primary school. Most importantly, themes allow your child to be creative and boosts problem-solving skills. Sold yet? I hope so. This is not only from a parent persepctive, but a psychologist persepctive as well.
Now, you may be seeing this sounds great but how do I put it to work? Easy! I use themes with my toddler daily. One theme can last a week, and I can incorporate both indoor and outdoor fun using a range of materials that I have at home. He absolutely loves theme-based play. Here’s a peek at one of our activities and a fun way to engage your toddler using a farm theme!
I always use books first. It’s the go-to way to pre-teach a theme. They are a range of books on anything you can think of and of course, we want to encourage reading as often as we can.
First, we read the story, Busy Noisy Farm! With the look and feel of a classic children’s book, Busy Noisy Farm is a first look and listen around the farm.
Next! Paint a picture. Toddlers love to be creative and you can foster this by giving them the right tools: paint! I know, it gets messy, but messy is a toddler’s favorite language and you will be encouraging a host of developmental milestones by engaging in activities such as this. Ask your child which farm animal they would love to paint! Either draw the animal yourself like I did or print a colouring page.
Finally, have fun by using a farm-themed sensory bin! Sensory play is a way to keep children entertained for a longer time than usually expected. Any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing is sensory play. With a sensory activity, you are facilitating exploration and naturally encourage children to use their brain while they play, create, investigate and explore.
Do you want to give this a try? Here’s another theme my son and I are still working on! The broad concept is “In My Garden” and there are so many possibilities! We’ve even started growing our own vegetables and herbs. That’ll be in another post.
try this plant theme with your toddler, using these activities.
- reading books about plants
- learning about the letter “p”
- discuss caring for the earth and environment
- start a kitchen garden
- count and sort seeds
- find plants on a nature walk
- sing songs about plants
- use flowers or twigs to paint
Let us know how it goes in the comments below!
