More Activity Ideas
- Talk to a baby before you pick her up to explain what you are going to do. As you carry her around the room, talk about what the baby is seeing. Look her in the eye when you stop and talk.
- Take babies outside or hold a baby up so that you can look out the window together. Watch to see what engages a baby’s attention, and tell him all about what he is looking at.
- Use changing time for a face-to-face conversation. Tell the baby what you are doing, name body parts, and enlist her help as you sit her up or put her arms into her sleeves. Babies who hear words, such as the names of body parts and actions, over and over again learn the words by the time they are 6 months old!
- Position two babies so they can see and “talk” to each other.
- Get down on the floor with babies when they are enjoying “tummy time.” Scrunch down so the babies can lift their heads and see your face. Engage them in back-and-forth conversational play. Use words to encourage and celebrate their efforts as they attempt new skills, such as rolling over, wiggling forward or backward, and sitting up.
- Teach “show-off” routines, such as “wave bye-bye,” “touch your nose,” and “how big is baby?” Enlist older children to help you teach these routines to young babies. Encourage babies to show off by performing these tricks for their families.
- Sit beside a baby or hold her on your lap and together watch another child. Talk about what the other child is doing. Help the baby join in with a similar activity and make a friend.
- Create a safe and interesting space where babies can pull themselves up to a standing position and “talk” with each other. It may be a couch or table with a few things to reach for or a sill or bench under a low window. Talk with babies about what they are doing as you help them get to know each other.
- Play different peek-a-boo games. Hide your face with your hands; then try covering it with a blanket that a baby can pull off. Or, help the baby cover his eyes. Ask parents how the game is played in their culture, what word is used for peek-a-boo, and how they play the game with their baby.
- Practice give and take. Hand a baby a toy; then put out your hand as you ask for it back. Say, Thank you. (Ask parents to teach you the equivalents of please and thank you that they use to help their babies learn culturally appropriate exchange behaviors.) Help a baby and an older child play a give-and-take game
- Help toddlers retell stories of their experiences over and over again. Add a bit more detail to the story with each retelling, and ask questions to help the toddler elaborate as well. This “elaborated reminiscing” helps toddlers develop stronger language and storytelling skills as preschoolers and helps them remember more details about new events.
- Ask a toddler what he thinks or what he would like. Respond in a way that builds on his ideas. Try to continue your conversation through several exchanges and follow his lead if he changes the subject.
- Use toy phones, cardboard tubes, or cell phones that no longer work to have pretend phone conversations with toddlers. See if they can imitate and “talk” to each other.
- Talk to a stuffed animal, doll, or puppet as you model caregiving routines and conversation. Use a special voice for the toy as you invite a toddler to play or ask for her help.
- Play “I Spy.” Help toddlers name, describe, and locate things they see as they go from one place to another. You can do this inside or outside.
- Use content-specific vocabulary to help toddlers become “experts” on their favorite subjects. Share toddlers’ favorite new words with family members so they can acknowledge when their child uses the new words in retelling their stories.
- Use specific, interesting words to name and describe the things that interest toddlers. For example, identify the flower as a daffodil or the truck as a back hoe.
- Bring in an interesting object such as a flashlight, prism, beach ball, or kite. Let toddlers examine it and encourage them to talk and ask about it. Ask questions about it to keep toddlers thinking and talking.
- Turn a familiar object into a conversation piece. You might wrap it like a present or display it as part of a collection or exhibit. Encourage children to explore, ask questions, look, draw, and look again.
- Engage toddlers in word play. Through songs, games, books, or in playful conversation, introduce real and nonsense words and phrases that are fun to say. They may be rhymes, alliterative phrases, or nonsense words and songs.
- Help toddlers retell stories of their experiences over and over again. Add a bit more detail to the story with each retelling, and ask questions to help the toddler elaborate as well. This “elaborated reminiscing” helps toddlers develop stronger language and storytelling skills as preschoolers and helps them remember more details about new events.
- Ask a toddler what he thinks or what he would like. Respond in a way that builds on his ideas. Try to continue your conversation through several exchanges and follow his lead if he changes the subject.
- Use toy phones, cardboard tubes, or cell phones that no longer work to have pretend phone conversations with toddlers. See if they can imitate and “talk” to each other.
- Talk to a stuffed animal, doll, or puppet as you model caregiving routines and conversation. Use a special voice for the toy as you invite a toddler to play or ask for her help.
- Play “I Spy.” Help toddlers name, describe, and locate things they see as they go from one place to another. You can do this inside or outside.
- Use content-specific vocabulary to help toddlers become “experts” on their favorite subjects. Share toddlers’ favorite new words with family members so they can acknowledge when their child uses the new words in retelling their stories.
- Use specific, interesting words to name and describe the things that interest toddlers. For example, identify the flower as a daffodil or the truck as a back hoe.
- Bring in an interesting object such as a flashlight, prism, beach ball, or kite. Let toddlers examine it and encourage them to talk and ask about it. Ask questions about it to keep toddlers thinking and talking.
- Turn a familiar object into a conversation piece. You might wrap it like a present or display it as part of a collection or exhibit. Encourage children to explore, ask questions, look, draw, and look again.
- Engage toddlers in word play. Through songs, games, books, or in playful conversation, introduce real and nonsense words and phrases that are fun to say. They may be rhymes, alliterative phrases, or nonsense words and songs.