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Interesting Learning Activities

4 replies

ladybirdm · 07/01/2013 23:06

Hey I have 20 month old twins and can't afford nursery. I have thought that children that attend nursery might have an advantage as everything is geared towards learning. Whereas I am juggling the daily chores with intermittent spells of entertainment.

Does anyone have any ideas of what and how they learn eg activities I could do or a website showing good activities.

:)

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Rockchick1984 · 08/01/2013 00:37

Hi, I can't offer you any specific website geared towards what nurseries do with the kids but can tell you some of the activities I do with my DS (21 months).

We do baking together about once a week - he mixes things together, fills cake cases / loaf tin etc which is excellent for his motor skills. I always try to include something he can count out while doing it eg chocolate buttons onto fairy cakes, handfuls of chocolate chips or raisins into flapjacks etc. He counts to 7 by himself now (don't know why 7!) then starts back to one :)

We do an art activity once or twice a week so this will either be crayons, outdoor chalk if the weather is dry, salt dough (I got some cheap cookie cutters which he loves using to make things out of salt dough) so this is helping fine motor skills and learning his colours - he knows most of the main colours now although still doesn't distinguish between similar colours like yellow/orange.

We do a leisurely shopping trip once a week where I let him help with getting foods in the supermarket eg we go to the fruit and veg section and (when I know we are near the right section) I'll ask him to find me the apples or something. He learns the names of everyday items this way, and as he enjoys doing it he behaves far better than if I put him in the trolley / pram and dash around. I also take him to a cafe while we are out shopping - have done this from when he was tiny and it's one of the only times I'm strict on his behaviour as I want him to know how to behave when out in a cafe / restaurant - so far he's almost always well behaved there and we don't have any tantrums they are mostly just at home Grin

We also attend toddler groups between 2 and 4 times a week or see friends with children so he's getting the social interaction - the groups are either Surestart or church hall types so if I go to all 4 it costs me £2 total per week!

I try to allocate my time very specifically each day so will spend (for example) an hour of just non-stop interaction with him, followed by leaving him to play with some of his toys (his favourites at the moment are cars, books, and a happyland zoo set) while I do some household jobs. We eat lunch together then go out for the afternoon. Depending on times this may be in a different order but I always try to have proper time playing with him as otherwise he's wanting my attention while I'm doing jobs, I'm distracted when playing feeling like there's other things I need to be doing etc and nothing gets my full attention!

Oh, and he's now at the stage of 'helping' me around the house so giving him a dustpan and brush if I'm cleaning the floor, letting him load the washer if I sort a load out for him etc all keep him entertained while I'm getting jobs done! It was so much easier before he dropped his daytime nap... :)

Summersbee · 08/01/2013 17:07

My children loved playing in a camp I used to set up out of things around the house. I also kept a little tricycle indoors which one would peddle whilst the other would sit in the back - fond memories of that!
Washing up was a messy favourite with tons of oddly-shaped plastic containers and bubbles.

How about planting a bulb or growing a bean on a bit of damp cotton wool and watching it grow with them.
And download some green mouse songs. Put them on in the background, starting with the translation tracks, and you'll be surprised how quickly you will all pick them up - great for developing listening skills.

Summersbee · 08/01/2013 17:14

A teeny bit early, but something to bear in mind ... Look up 'Counting to 10 in French with monkey'

LittlePandaBear · 08/01/2013 20:52

Sticker activity books are great, usually a few pounds in the supermarket.

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