Welcome to our ABC's of Toddler Activities series!
This week I'm sharing simple toddler activities with you as we move through the ABCs!
Each activity will be easy to set up and use materials that you probably already have around your house. These activities aren't rocket science and some of them might not be brand-new to you, but they are tried and tested activities that my toddler has enjoyed... so perfect to bookmark (or pin) when you need a go-to activity on a boring afternoon.
Today we're featuring toddler activities starting with the letters K through O! (Yesterday we shared activities F-J and Monday we shared A-E, so check them out on our ABC's series landing page if you missed them). Many of these activities aren't just for toddlers, so try them out with your big kids too!
Do you have any toddlers that like to cook or bake at your house? K is for Kid Chef! My daughter says "help you mommy?" and tries to pull a chair over to the counter every time I am making dinner or some sort of treat... she is my favorite little kid chef! I love to find ways to have her help me in the kitchen and try to include both of my kids as often as I can in meal preparation or other baking activities. There are so many great language skills that can be learned in the kitchen, in addition to academic skills like reading, measuring, and practicing other math skills.
As part of our annual summer "Camp Mom" series last year we did an entire cooking themed week. We even hosted a Little Chef party and had a blast with our friends. We decorated chef hats, made spaghetti hot dogs, and went on a utensil hunt. Pretending to cook or bake in our play kitchen is also something that never gets old!
What does your toddler love to make with you?
We love...
I find that when I let my kids be involved with making dinner, they enjoy the food so much more and are less picky (hooray!). I need to let my kids be kid chefs more often! If you are looking for more kid chef ideas, check out Life at the Zoo's ABC's of Baking with Kids post.
Last year my son had a Lego birthday party. I already want to do another one. We did Lego Duplo printing, painting, ate Lego themed food, and did some Lego relay races. The kids had a blast. Lego Duplo blocks are my favorite for toddlers because they are chunky and easy to manipulate.
In addition to printing and painting with Duplo Legos, we've also gone on Lego hunts around the house and we created a Lego rainbow! If you need more Lego ideas, check out this Lego Pinterest board by Crayon Freckles.
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, my kids are constantly moving... so today we are sharing lots of movement activities! At our house we have a freeze dance party at least once a day and my kids also love to run laps around our kitchen and cul-de-sac. I am constantly trying to invent new ways to get them moving and having fun. Sometimes I even manage to create a learning activity that gets their bodies going... like our super popular ocean animal movement game and escape the volcano shape game.
Other favorite movement activities include stroller number races, color wall slam, indoor counting croquet, making a spy course, and playing balloon tennis. If you're looking for even more ways to move with your kids, check out Hands On: As We Grow's 30 Moves for Excess Energy.
Toddlers love their names! We love to create name puzzles, name stamps, name sticker art, name hunts, and name games (especially ball games)!
Name Twister is a fun way to move your body and practice stepping on the letters in your name too!
It can also be fun to make a Name Banner for your child's room featuring their favorite theme. We made a name train. As a toddler, my son loved looking at the letters and practiced saying them when he woke up in the morning.
You can find other Name activity & craft ideas on my Name Pinterest Board!
Our last letter today is letter O for obstacle course!! Creating an obstacle course is such a simple and open-ended activity. You can incorporate all of your toddler's favorite activities. We like pulling out our tunnel, tinker toys, blankets, pillows, chairs, boxes, yarn, and all sorts of other random objects and then we create a course. We include jumping, crawling, hopping, running, walking, balancing, building, etc. It is exhausting and so fun!
Usually I create the first course plan and the kids have to follow me and try and copy all of the tings that I do, in order. This activity is great for strengthening memory skills too. Then we take turns re-arranging the course and being the leader. It is so great to see what the kids come up with as their obstacle course activities!
I'd love to hear your other favorite toddler activities K-O, so add them in the comments and if you have a blog post link or photo, come share on our Facebook wall!
Go here for activities P-T
If you're interested in checking out some ABC's series Arts & Crafts activities, click on these other posts below:
Arts & Crafts
- Art History for Kids from B-Inspired Mama
- Cardboard Box Creations from Here Come The Girls
- Children's Music With Art from Rainbows within Reach
- Crafts and Art from Red Ted Art
- Crafting on a budget from Housing a Forest
- Creativity from Little Artists
- Paper Plates from Domestic Goddessque
- Toddler Crafts from Rainy Day Mum
- Upcycled and Recycled Crafts from Craft to Art
- Valentine Crafts and Recipes from Local Fun For Kids
To see all the other ABC's series topics covered by my blogging friends, click on the image above.
Tomorrow I'll be sharing several more toddler activities. They will start with the letters P, Q, R, S, and T!
Hahaha! I love the ideas. We used to do the cooking activities together while watching videos for toddlers or Barney shows for addded fun
INCREDIBLE THINKING!! You did really making sense. I think this is most effective way to learn kids. Thanks
I love this series you are doing! You have the most amazing craft ideas and your graphics to pin are all so enticing!