Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers.
There are numerous fine motor activities for toddlers that you can easily do at home. Fine motor skills are small movements of muscles that involve using the hands and fingers together to execute movements such as pinching or grasping. These types of movements are essential for toddlers to practice. It helps them to learn to do everyday tasks like buttoning a shirt or tying shoelaces. The fine motor activities I am sharing with you use items commonly found in homes, are low prep and budget-friendly. My Top Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers. Play Dough Fine Motor Activities. Firstly, manipulating the play dough uses lots of the smaller muscles in the fingers and hands. Children can poke, squeeze, flatten, pull, chop, cut, roll, or squash it. It is a never-ending tactile experience for all children that aids in many aspects of their development. You can add other elements such as stones, sticks, dry pasta, and cookie cutters and to increase creative play possibilities. Some play dough activities for toddlers include: Poke play dough with individual fingers. Hammer (child´s hammer) pasta into play dough. Play ‘Hidden Treasure’. Hide small objects in the play dough and then try to pull them out. Make holes in pretend cookies or
Kindergarten Readiness.
Starting kindergarten is a big milestone for you and your toddler. It is an exciting time of learning and growth. I want to share some kindergarten readiness tips from the perspective of a teacher. I do value fostering early literacy and numeracy skills however, sometimes I think it can be easy to place too much importance on these. There are so many everyday toddler activities, like getting dressed, preparing food, or tidying up, that we miss opportunities to develop our child’s independence To begin with, I will highlight and share some practical skills that young children sometimes struggle with when first starting school. It can really make their transition into kindergarten a lot smoother if they have started practicing some of these at home. The Kindergarten Day. Firstly, let’s look at how your child will predominately spend their day. In kindergarten, most of your child's school day will be working with and relating to other children. Therefore, it is heavily reliant on social and communication skills as they learn to: Cooperate and collaborate on projects. Talk and play with peers. Share toys and taking turns. Follow directions. Work alone. Relate to an adult other than parents. How to Prepare for the Transition. You can create opportunities
A Healthy Balanced Diet for a Toddler.
Healthy Eating for Toddlers. Toddlers are very active little people. A lot of toddler activities require a lot of energy. So, it is important that we know how to fuel their bodies for proper growth and development. Click here for ideas on how to involve your toddler in meal preparation. A healthy balanced diet for a toddler can also get them into the lifelong habit of consuming a healthy diet. What is a healthy balanced diet for a toddler? You might be surprised to hear that a healthy balanced diet for a toddler is not the same as a healthy balanced diet for an adult. Toddlers, aged 1 to 4 years of age, have very high energy needs to sustain their growth both physically and mentally. A balanced dietary pattern for a toddler consists of three meals and two to three snacks a day. A toddler’s diet should consist of a balance of the following foods: Starchy carbohydrates. Fruit and vegetables Dairy, and protein, including meat, fish, eggs, pulses and ground seeds, nuts. Drinks like milk and water. The high sugar, salt and processed fat foods are not needed in a toddler's diet but can occasionally be given in small amounts. So how does a