Different Ways to Play

© Tacita Morway

Help toddlers make sense of new ideas, concepts, and words by finding opportunities to include them in their play in different ways. For example, take toddlers outside after a warm rain or during a light drizzle and try these activities.

• Sing “Rain, Rain Go Away” or make up a puddle dance.
• Explore how raindrops fall and how rain pours down. Use a bin of water, a sponge, and a container.
• Watch a rag absorb water. Place a rag in a puddle and talk about wet and dry. Then write about it.

If you stay inside while it is raining, try these activities.

• Read a story about rain, such as Rain by Manya Stojic or Red Rubber Boot Day by Mary Lyn Ray and Lauren Stringer.
• Pretend to get caught in a rainstorm.
• Draw a picture of a rainstorm.

Tune into something that fascinates a toddler, such as a worm on the playground after a heavy rain. Expand her exposure to worms and related ideas.

• Look for and watch worms in the soil; this could lead to interest in other animals or insects.
• Read books about worms and their environment.
• Make up a worm dance.
• Ask other adults (such as a plant farm worker or scientist) to tell her more about worms.
• Make a corner of the room a “garden” where she can play with plastic worms and bugs.

As you support toddlers’ investigations, creativity, and pretending, be sure to share their new words, ideas, and questions with family members.