Sheila Ellison Read online

  19

  Dressing Fun

  Age Range: 18 to 21 months

  Sometimes toddlers develop a list of favorite clothes they like to wear. Often the favorites include costumes or clothes with big holes or stains, but they still want to wear them every day. Or maybe your child wants to wear a ballerina costume in the middle of winter. What can you do?

  When choosing clothes, give your child a few choices, like “Do you want to wear the blue sweater, the white sweatshirt, or the turtleneck?” Toddlers like to be in charge and will appreciate being given a choice.

  Take the warm-weather clothes and store them in a box during the winter. That way, you’ll avoid an argument over bathing suits and shorts versus sweatpants.

  Teach your child how to put on her own jacket. Lay the jacket on the floor with the inside of the jacket facing up. Have her stand at the top of the jacket, bend down, and put her hands into the armholes. As she stands up, her jacket will flip over her head. Voila!

  Put together a box of clothes to be worn during messy projects.

  If you are staying home and don’t care what your child wears, don’t say a word; just get your camera ready.

  20

  Manners

  Age Range: 24 months and up

  Inside/outside voice: Start explaining early to your kids that everyone has two voices, an inside voice and an outside voice. Then play a game using loud and soft voices, asking your child to tell you which voice you used.

  Cleaning up: Make clean-up a part of your everyday play experience. Before going on to the next activity, pick up the toys or wash off the table. When you are doing this, talk about how you want the space to be clean for the next person who needs to use it.

  Helping others: Kids learn by watching. Whenever an opportunity arises to help someone, take it. If you see an elderly woman struggling with a grocery cart, ask if you can help. If you see a child who looks lost or one who needs a push on the swing, offer to help.

  Caring for pets: Whenever your child pets, holds, or plays with an animal, make sure he does it with kindness and thinks about how the animal might feel.

  21

  Potty Training Tips for Boys

  Age Range: 24 months and up

  Boys are notoriously slower to train than girls, although subsequent children tend to be faster than firsts, so be patient.

  Go shopping for “big-kid” underpants and splurge a little on whatever ones he wants.

  Provide non-nagging reminders: “I have to go again. Do you?” If you are buying a child-sized potty, skip (or remove) the urine guard—it doesn’t really keep things clean, and it may get in the way or even bump or scratch him.

  Personalize the potty with stickers or paints.

  Teach him to use the potty sitting first—this makes things easier since both urination and bowel movements go into the toilet and often come together.

  Look for signs that he has to go, which include hopping, clutching himself, and “the look.”

  Have him watch Daddy and older brothers to learn how to urinate standing up (once he is toilet-trained). Use toilet-training targets to encourage good aim: float O-cereals or store-bought targets, or put a non-slip bathtub sticker on the toilet bowl.

  Put a drop of blue food coloring in the toilet water…he’ll be delighted to turn it green when he urinates.

  Praise and reward success: whoop it up or call Grandma to share the big news. Don’t make a big deal of accidents, but make sure the child is in on the clean-up process.

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  Potty Training Tips for Girls

  Age Range: 24 months and up

  Go shopping for “big-kid” underpants and splurge a little on whatever ones she wants.

  Provide non-nagging reminders: “I have to go again. Do you?” Let her choose and decorate the potty.

  Some girls want to stand after seeing fathers and older brothers do it. Let her try and see it’s messy when you’re not properly equipped—she’ll sit back down.

  Be sure she watches women so she can imitate. Try modeling with a doll or stuffed animal on a potty while she’s on hers. Wipe from the front to back, especially when she has a bowel movement.

  Look for signs that she has to go, such as squeezing her legs together or acting antsy.

  Put a drop of blue food coloring in the toilet water…she’ll be delighted to turn it green when she urinates.

  Praise and reward success: whoop it up or call Grandma to share the big news. Don’t make a big deal of accidents, but make sure the child is in on the clean-up process.

  * Words of Wisdom *

  When I was potty training the kids, I kept a potty in the back of the van. That way we always had something in case of emergencies, and it worked out when they were afraid to go at the mall.

  —Jack, Ramona, California

  23

  Phone Fun

  Age Range: 24 months and up

  The phone will ring at least once a day. Your toddler may be fascinated with the way voices come out of nowhere, or she may be scared. In order to help her understand that she is talking to real people she knows and loves, try the following:

  Take pictures of the family members your child might talk to on the phone. Keep them in a box next to the phone. When someone calls, pull out the picture so the child knows to whom he or she is talking.

  If your child likes to hear the voice coming through the phone but doesn’t say a word, try giving her a puppet and encourage her to let the puppet talk to the voice on the phone.

  24

  TV- and Computer-Time Tips

  Age Range: 30 months and up

  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours of age-appropriate, educational programming per day, and no TV for children under two. Many parents lump any screen time into that, so include the time your children play on the computer. The TV has been a dependable child-sitter for many, so how can you wean yourself and your child?

  Give your child daily tickets that she can turn in to you if she wants to watch a show. Each ticket is worth thirty minutes—you determine how many tickets she gets.

  Tape a piece of your child’s artwork over the TV when it’s not in use. That way you won’t be tempted to turn it on without thinking.

  Sit down and watch TV with your child so that you can talk about what is going on or use words or phrases from the show later on.

  There’s a lot of educational and interactive software available. Some libraries offer the programs available for check out. Most have bright colors and goofy sounds. Sit with your child and use the computer as you would a game.

  25

  Naptime Tricks

  Age Range: 30 months and up

  Wear your child out as naptime draws near. A chasing game or tickle fest may be just the trick! Then slow the child down with a quiet, predictable, restful ritual—a song reserved just for naptime, or a brief tummy massage.

  Don’t let her think she’ll be missing anything fun while she’s sleeping. Tell her you’ll be paying bills, making phone calls, or accomplishing some other activity that she knows keeps you from playing with her.

  Have your child put a favorite doll or stuffed animal down for a nap at the same time. Pretend the toy really doesn’t want to take a nap, and ask her to help her playpal unwind. As she soothes her friend to sleep, she’ll be lulled to dreamland as well.

  Create a special nap space that she can associate with happy slumber—a sleeping bag, a play tent or playhouse, or a favorite blanket and pillow by a sunny window.

  26

  Exercise Fun

  Age Range: 30 months and up

  Physical play helps your toddler learn how her body works and allows her to become more coordinated. It stimulates her appetite for healthy meals and helps her to nap regularly and sleep better at night.

  Build physical activity into your daily routine: Toddlers are notoriously energetic, so use this to your advantage by scheduling active play for opportune times—lik
e before a typically grouchy period.

  Make exercise fun: Twirl and dance to music, tumble all the way down the hall, or pretend to be a favorite thing (a growing flower stretching all the way to the sun or a race car charging through the finish line).

  Get physical: You’re probably his favorite playmate, so you’ll be his best motivator...and it might even help moms shed any lingering baby fat!

  Take it outside: The sun and the wind make for great play buddies who are sure to wear your toddler out!

  Early Learning Games

  27

  Reading Tips

  Age Range: 15 months and up

  Pick books with clear, easy words that go along with the pictures.

  Name the objects in the pictures as you go.

  Don’t feel like you have to read the story word for word. Pick a few key words and make up your own story that goes along with the pictures.

  Find books with funny words, rhymes, and pictures.

  Find ways to bring the book you’re reading to life. Find a book written about a picnic, the zoo, visiting grandma, baking a cake, whale-watching, or a farm or candy factory, and then take a field trip to do the activity or visit the location in person.

  Make reading a regular part of your daily routine or bedtime ritual.

  28

  Blowing Know-How

  Age Range: 15 to 18 months

  Materials

  Large straws

  Ping-pong ball, feather, Cheerios

  The cause and effect action of blowing through a straw to make an object move will delight your toddler. Blowing games can be played on uncarpeted floors, tabletops, or inside the lid to a clothes box. To begin, hold the straw up to your own mouth, and show your child how to blow through the straw. Let him feel the air that comes out of the end. Then put the straw up to his mouth and put his hand at the end of the straw to feel for the air. Put a ping-pong ball down on a smooth surface and begin blowing. At first, blow alongside your child so he can see the process. Try blowing other small, light objects like a feather or piece of cereal. Make up racing games by drawing a line on the surface for the starting point and then a line a few feet away to mark the finish point.

  29

  Hard and Soft

  Age Range: 18 to 21 months

  Go around the house collecting hard and soft objects. Put them into a container. Show each object to your child, allowing her to touch it, and use the word hard or soft to describe it. Then let the toddler take one item out of the container at a time and encourage her to say whether it is hard or soft. Once she’s gotten the hang of it, put one item at a time into a big bag, let her reach in, feel the item, and then tell you if it is hard or soft. Ask her to guess what the item is without looking into the bag.

  * Words of Wisdom *

  Puzzles have always been a nightmare to keep together in our house until I devised a plan. I mark a number on the puzzle and then put the same number on the back of all the pieces. The small puzzle pieces go into a Ziploc bag with the same number on it.

  —Becky, Batavia, Illinois

  30

  Writing Practice

  Age Range: 18 to 21 months

  Materials

  Large rectangular cake pan or cookie tray

  Sand, sugar, or flour

  Fill the cake pan or tray with sand, sugar, or flour. Show your child how to draw lines or pictures. Take a big piece of paper and make the shape of a letter. Let him practice drawing the same shape into the sand. Try doing an add-on picture where you make one line and then your child adds on the next line to make a new design. Describe the feel of the sand, sugar, or flour as rough, soft, grainy, or smooth.

  31

  Counting Songs

  Age Range: 18 to 21 months

  Toddlers learn how to count by hearing numbers over and over. Hearing them in song form makes the learning even more fun. There are many counting songs—“This Old Man” is a favorite.

  This old man, he played one,

  He played knick-knack on my thumb.

  With a knick-knack, paddy-whack,

  Give a dog a bone,

  This old man came rolling home.

  Sing the rest of the verses making these substitutions in the first and second line, or make up some of your own.

  Two on my shoe

  Three on my knee

  Four on my door

  Five on a hive

  Six on some sticks

  Seven all the way to Heaven

  Eight on my gate

  Nine on my spine

  Ten once again

  32

  Texture Mat

  Age Range: 18 months and up

  Materials

  Contact paper

  Nature items

  Use a large piece of contact paper, preferably no smaller than 2'x 2.' Place the contact paper so that the sticky side is facing up. Place your collected nature materials onto the sticky side, making sure to leave four inches on each edge clear of material. Then turn the entire piece of contact paper over and stick it straight onto your tile, wood, or linoleum flooring. (The contact paper is easy to pull up later, so it won’t leave a mess.) In the meantime, the kids will have a great time walking all over the different textures, touching them with their hands, and watching them change shape. It’s also fun to masking tape a piece of contact paper to the floor sticky-side-up so the kids can feel “stuck in the mud!”

  33

  Silly Book

  Age Range: 21 to 24 months

  Materials

  Notebook

  Magazines (wildlife or children’s magazines work well)

  Go through magazines and cut out large pictures of people, animals, or cartoon characters that have heads, bodies, and legs. Glue each picture onto one right-hand page of the notebook. Once you have at least ten pictures glued in the notebook, cut the pages equally into thirds so that when you flip a page the head or face will switch to be sitting on a different body. The bodies and legs should also be interchangeable so that the animals, people, or cartoon characters will look mismatched and odd when put together. This book can also be created using faces only. Make sure that the faces you choose cover most of the piece of paper.

  34

  Texture Box

  Age Range: 21 to 24 months

  Materials

  Shallow tie box

  Pieces of textured fabric or paper

  Feeling various textures and then learning the words that describe them allows a toddler to have a better understanding of the world around her as well as learn new words to describe the things she feels. Cut a hole in the top of the box big enough so that your child’s fingers can fit through. Place a piece of textured fabric—sand paper, velvet, cotton, or burlap—into the box. Let her feel it for a few minutes and then you feel it. Describe the sensations you feel. Encourage your child to touch it again as you describe what she is feeling. Use one-word descriptions so that she can begin to recognize the words that describe various textures.

  35

  Word Play

  Age Range: 24 to 30 months

  When your child starts speaking, take his first words and build on them to make real sentences. If he says, “Want milk,” you might say, “I want milk for breakfast.” Try using favorite words in silly combinations, such as “Willie wanted milk for kitty, bitsy, mite, and smee.” Or try to incorporate the words into a familiar song melody, replacing the words to a song like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

  * Words of Wisdom *

  I do a lot of baby-sitting. But for two-yearolds and up, I make a point of calling myself a “kid-sitter,” and I’m always sure to “scold” parents when they casually throw around the B-word in front of the children. The kids always crack up, and it makes them feel more mature.

  —Penny, Sayre, Pennsylvania

  36

  Recording Fun

  Age Range: 24 to 30 months

  Kids love to hear their own voices. They like to listen to recordings of the family ea
ting dinner, traveling in the car, playing a game, or any familiar sounds. Buy tapes with recording lengths of three, five, or ten minutes. That way you won’t have to be continually trying to find the recording you’re looking for. Sing songs, read stories, make messages for friends, and tape-record your phone conversations to play before naptime. Growth of a child’s vocabulary is directly related to the words and conversations he hears, so talk it up, and when you aren’t around to talk, play a tape of your voice.

  37

  My Picture Flash Cards

  Age Range: 30 to 36 months

  Take clear and simple photos of family members, the child’s room and belongings, the backyard, play equipment, pets, and friends. Use them as flash cards. Point to the item in the picture and tell your child what it is, who it is, or what the child does with it. Once he can name what is in each picture, take another set of pictures to include action shots, such as feeding the dog, eating breakfast, playing in the sand, or kissing Mom. Show him the cards again, but this time add the action words to the description using a total of three words or less per card. Make it fun by clapping with each response, saying the words with him, or making up a funny story about the picture once he says the correct word.