Category: Play with

Work together with your child to create a play kitchen by offering them pots, spoons, and other safe kitchen items. Use the top of a table as a stove and ask them what they need to make food, like soup. Pretend to put in ingredients and take turns stirring and tasting your creation!

Make an obstacle course today! Line up a few pillows for a jump or go under the table as a tunnel. Lines on the floor could even become a tightrope. Try one or two of these and then add on some of your own! Talk to your child about what they’re doing as they do… Continue reading Obstacle Course

How does your child tell you they’re hungry? Do they fuss? Turn their head toward the bottle or breast? Look at you? How do they tell you they’ve had enough? Do they turn away? Stop eating? Push away? You can be a detective. Look for the clues and talk to them about what you think… Continue reading Detective

Do you have a muffin tin or ice tray at home? Take small pieces of your child’s finger foods and put them in different sections of the tin or tray. Leave some empty spaces so they can move pieces around. Describe out loud what they’re doing, “You moved the cracker over!”

When you’re out and about with your child, play “The ABC Game.” Take turns spotting each letter in the alphabet from A to Z on road signs, billboards, cars, licenses, and more! Write out the letters so they can match them with what they see.

When you’re out with your child, team up with them to find colors. Have them point to something and name the color. Then you name all of the things you can think of that are the same color. Take turns playing this game.

Make a telescope with your hands. Circle your fingers and hold them to your eye and look at your child telling them, “I see you!” Show them how to make their own finger telescope. Take turns looking through the finger telescope and sharing what you see.

With your child on your lap, pretend you’re riding together on different things. First say, “We’re on a horse. Neigh!” while bouncing up and down. Then say, “Now we’re in a race car!” and move quickly from side to side. Watch their reaction to the motions and repeat the ones that they like.

Turn some bowls upside down and cover them with a towel. Reach under the towel and hide something—like a spoon—under one of the bowls. Then pull off the cover. Can your child figure out which bowl is the hiding bowl from having watched your hand move under the towel?

Ask your child to watch your finger as you draw a shape in the air. Start with something simple, like a circle. Can they guess what it is? Make it harder and draw more complicated shapes, like a heart or a star. Then have them take a turn drawing and you take a turn guessing.