Seven Fun Games for Your Baby and Toddler

During this pandemic we have learned many lessons.  As parents, one of those lessons, is that our bag of tricks needs to be a lot bigger to handle our kids who have been sequestered indoors.  Since, we are spending more time working from home, our creativity side has to be on point. 

What to do to balance things out?

Below are seven games that we can play with our babies or toddlers and that are very simple.  Some of them can be played independently and others need you as a player too. 

1. Erase the alphabet.

This game is very simple to play.  You will need: washable markers, dry erase markers or an easy to remove ink marker. In addition, a flat surface from any room or space. For example: a slide glass window, a dry board, or any other surface that they can use while you complete your chores in the same room. After selecting the surface, write the whole alphabet. Then, call out any letter and ask them to erase it.  Example: "find letter S and erase"

This game can help with letter recognition, sounds, and to identify the alphabet letters. 

https://busytoddler.com/2016/11/easy-alphabet-activity/

2.  Create your own puzzle.  

This game is so much fun.  You'll need: a large light colored construction paper and 8 objects. Find 8 objects in the house (you can also have your toddler help you choose the objects) that you can trace in the paper. After tracing the objects, your little one is ready to play the game.  All they need is to match the objects with the shapes! 

Some of the skills your child will develop with this game are fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and spatial vocabulary (flip, turn, rotate, above, below, beside)

https://toddlerapproved.com/?s=puzzle

3.  Sort and Drop Color with Lego Bricks.  

To play this game you'll need: Legos, easel paper or white construction paper, markers, box, and tape (Either one is fine).

Tape the paper to the top side of the box (size doesn't matter, as big as you want). Then, draw five squares big enough to fit the Lego bricks. Cut square openings, outline the squares with different colors, and your game is ready. Once the box is completed, find all your Lego bricks and ask your little one to sort and drop bricks by colors.  While your toddler is finding the pieces you can talk about colors and shapes! Have fun. This game can also help with organizing Legos.  

This game helps with patterns and relationships.  Classifying helps with numbers. 

https://toddlerapproved.com/2013/09/sort-and-drop-color-activity-with-lego.html

 4. Block Patterns

For this game you will need: blocks or Lego bricks.

Build a pattern with blocks or Legos and have your toddler copy the pattern. 

For example: a red and blue pattern.  Connect a red Lego brick with a blue brick and have your little one follows the exact pattern repetitively as long as you want. 

You can also change the degree of difficulty of this pattern activity by having them do different patterns as soon as they feel comfortable with the concept. 

Feel free to consider using other patterns: abb pattern, abba, and so forth.  

This game helps with math skills, problem-solving skills, reasoning, and cause and effect. Among others: to observe and develop patience. 

 5. Create Shapes with Clay

To play this game you'll need non-toxic clay.  

Create some shapes with the clay: triangles, rectangles, squares, and circles. Ask your toddler to make the same shapes with the clay after you model the process first.  

You toddler can learn math concepts, thinking and creativity skills, and to develop fine motor skills. 

 6. Opposites Game

To play this game you will need: magazine pictures of anything that represents the opposite of something. For example: tall and short; big and small, hard and soft; outside and inside; near and far.  

Create square cards from sturdy paper. Find a serial of images that represent opposites within the magazines.  Cut these pictures of opposites and glue them onto cards. Have your child match the opposites.  

This game can help your toddler with language skills, creativity, math and observational skills.

7. Sort Toys by Color 

For this game you'll need: random toys and three colorful baskets or containers. Choose any three colors: blue, red, and green (or any other colors you'll like). You can also use this game as a strategy to teach your child how to organize their toys.  

Ask your child to find the red car and place it in the corresponding container.  Continue until all the toys are sorted and start again. 

This game can help your child to develop classification, patterns and to enhance vocabulary or language development. 

Have fun playing these games with your toddler. Enjoy!