creating a learning plan for an advanced child

Two Popular Games That Teach Your Daycare Toddlers Basic Developmental Skills

Day care is about so much more than just watching children while parents are away at work. Between the ages of 18 to 24 months, children are developing their basic skills that will carry them through their education. With all of the children that you have to care for, it is hard to find the time to sit down with them and help teach them these important developmental skills. Fortunately for you, children learn best when they don't even realize you are teaching them something. Below are two of the most popular games that you can play with your day care toddlers that will help teach them to use their basic developmental skills.

Name That Sound

Toddler learn best when they have to use one of their five senses to identify something. Once a toddler is able to identify an object by using one or all of their senses, it makes it easier for them to learn and they are able to identify that object later. Name That Sound is a game that teaches toddlers to be silent and to listen for to the sounds that certain objects make. Look around your room and find various items that make an easily identifiable noise. For example, have your toddlers close their eyes while you shake your car keys. You can also dry beans in a storage container and shake that around or knock on a nearby table.

After your toddlers have identified the sounds, have them touch the items and explain to you how they feel. They might be a little too young to fully form words, so you can help them along by explaining that the table top is smooth or the keys are jagged.

Alphabet Lentils

Toddlers are natural curious little creatures, so in order for them to learn and develop, they will want to touch everything that they can. They are eager to learn and want to know everything they can about something, and to do that they must start with touching. Because touching is so important to a toddler's development, introducing them to textures is a must. Lentils are the easiest texture to introduce to your toddlers because they are smooth and easy for their little fingers to work with.

Gather various colors of construction paper and cut out a letter for each child. These letters can be random, but it will be more helpful if you cut out the first letter of each of their names. This will start your toddlers off with knowing how to identify the letters in their names. Have your toddlers decorate their letters with the lentils to help them develop their fine motor skills.

Helping your toddlers develop their basic skills doesn't have to be hard or stressful. By implementing fun and play, you will be able to engage your toddlers in development and it will be so discreet, they won't even realize that they are learning. For more ideas, talk to a professional like Small World Early Learning & Development Center.