EYFS 'learning through play' toddler activities
Those of you who follow me on social media:
will no doubt have noticed that I LOVE to come up with interesting 'learning through play' activities for Arthur to try at home. Play is the best way for children ( and arguably adults too) to learn! If it is fun, we are more likely to remember it aren't we?? Over the coming weeks I am going expand on some of my social media posts in more detail, should you wish to give some of these a go yourself...
Edible Fine Motor Skills Activity:
You will need:
- A banana
- Cereal hoops ( we used cheerios)
- Raw spaghetti
Set up:
The photo here (below) is fairly self explanatory - stick the raw spaghetti into the banana to create 'posts' to thread the cereals onto. Try not to put them too close together otherwise it can be a little more tricky! Vary the height of the different pieces of spaghetti. Thread a few cheerios onto some of the sticks of spaghetti as a reminder of what the activity is, and leave a handful of the rest on the plate for your child to have a go themselves.
Activity:
Show your little one how to do this a few times before letting them have a try. Make sure you talk about and explain what you are doing ( in simple terms) as you show them. For example, I repeated "put the hoop on the spaghetti", to Arthur as I did just that. This helps to build understanding of language.
Extend:
Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
- Use different colour hoops ( coco hoops, honey hoops, cheerios etc) to encourage colour sorting onto different sticks of spaghetti, pattern making etc
- Counting - count the hoops as you / your child puts them on or takes them off. Count how many are on a particular stick etc, how many of a particular colour.
- Addition/Subtraction - find a total number of hoops on the banana. Remove a stick of hoops and talk about how many 'less'
NB: The ends of the spaghetti can be sharp - watch out for eyes and of course, if your child wants to eat the banana after, you will probably have to remove pieces of broken spaghetti from inside the banana first.
EYFS links: For those looking to link this activity to the EYFS, here are the main strands to look out for and link to depending on how you used the activity:
Communication & Language ( L&A, U, S), Physical Development (M&H), Maths ( N, SSM), CofL.
Emptying and Filling activity:
You will need:
- A selection of dried beans/peas
- A selection of containers for emptying/pouring into
- Scoops or spoons
- Helping Hands tools (amazon link below)
Activity:
As with most activities, the most important thing is to model (demonstrate) using the resources to your child. I actually started this activity with just the scoops and containers, showing Arthur how to scoop up the beans and then transfer from one container to another, using appropriate language whilst doing so such as "scoop", "empty" etc.
After he had a good few goes with this, I slowly introduced the helping hands tools (link above), again, demonstrating how to use them and offering support as needed. Dont worry if they find this tricky - just let them explore.
Extend:
For older children encourage one to one correspondence with counting by touching and counting the beans and also counting them as you take them in and out of the containers. Ask for 'one more' or 'one less' and find out the new total.
EYFS links: For those looking to link this activity to the EYFS, here are the main strands to look out for and link to depending on how you used the activity:
Communication & Language ( L&A, U, S), Physical Development (M&H), Maths ( N, SSM), Understanding the world (TW), Expressive Arts and Design (UMM), CofL.
Fish Investigation Activity:
You will need:
- A whole fish ( from the seafood counter)
- Any other seafood as appropriate - I have undertaken this activity in school in the past with a selection, including fish, oyster, langoustine, mackerel, sprats
- Magnifying glass (optional)
- Crushed ice for the fish to lay on (optional)
Activity:
For older children, you could cover the fish up with a newspaper and let them have a guess first as to what could be underneath.
Give clues such as: it is wet, cold, belongs in the sea, begins with /f/
Focus on the use of senses - what can you smell, look, feel (not taste for this one!)
Reveal the fish and allow your child to investigate. This activity gives you some really good opportunities to develop language by offering vocabulary as they explore for example:
Verbs: ( add verbs in when speaking to children to give them additional language)
Hold, touch, stroke, poke, prod, lay, put, look, see, feel, touch, smell,
Vocab: (Use vocab in comments to children to give them the language)
Sea, water, cold, ice, fish, mussel, langoustine, sprat, mackerel, trout, slippy, slimy, sharp, heavy, light, long, short, longer, shorter, fin, scales, tongue, teeth, eye, tail, bones, gills
Extend:
For younger children, extend their thinking and their understanding of vocabulary by adding the vocab mentioned above into the following phrases:
I can see that you are…
That….is very…..
You have …..it is very……
That… is bigger/smaller than……
I like how you are……
This feels…..
I think that……
Your (creature) has …..
For older or more able children, extend their thinking with the following questions:
How did you...
Can you...Estimate...
One more...
One less...
How many...
Compare...
What can you see/feel/smell...
total...
EYFS links: For those looking to link this activity to the EYFS, here are the main strands to look out for and link to depending on how you used the activity:
Communication & Language ( L&A, U, S), Physical Development (M&H), Maths ( N, SSM), Understanding the World (TW), CofL.
Sensory Water Play Activity:
You will need:
- Water tray
- fresh water
- Lemons/limes - sliced
- mint leaves
- containers for filling and emptying
- Pipette ( from the helping hands set)
- rose petals (optional)
Activity:
This was a very open ended 'set up and go' activity. I modelled to Arthur how to empty and fill the containers and how to touch, feel and smell the leaves and lemons by just getting in there and playing myself (alongside him). Getting involved and playing with your children is one of the best ways for them to learn - don't ever feel embarrassed, or worry that others will look at you and think you are 'just playing' - they may not understand the value of play, so show them!
As with the activity above, this is a great one for building language, with vocab such as:
Lemon, lime, mint, leaf/leaves, rose, petal, flower, water, splash, pour, fill, empty, drops, squeeze, pipette, wet, dry, cold, warm, sour, touch, feel, smell, fruity, minty etc etc
Extend:
For younger children, extend their thinking and their understanding of vocabulary by adding the vocab mentioned above into the following phrases:
I can see that you are…
That….is very…..
You have …..it is very……
That… is bigger/smaller than……
I like how you are……
This feels…..
I think that……
Your (petal) has …..
For older or more able children, extend their thinking with the following questions:
How did you...
Can you...Estimate...
One more...
One less...
How many...
Compare...
What can you see/feel/smell...
total...
EYFS links: For those looking to link this activity to the EYFS, here are the main strands to look out for and link to depending on how you used the activity:
Communication & Language ( L&A, U, S), Physical Development (M&H), Maths ( N, SSM), Understanding the World (TW), CofL.Edible Building Activity:
You will need:
- Hoola Hoops
- Cheddars
- Squirty cream
- equipment for spreading, such as a toddler knife etc
Activity:
I decided to keep this one entirely edible as I knew the crisps would be far too tempting!!
An alternative option to this activity is to use building blocks and shaving foam, if your child is old enough to understand that they should not eat the shaving foam!
Again, this is a great activity for exploring different senses ( including the sense of taste this time!) I demonstrated sticking the hoola hoops together and building a tower, before allowing Arthur to just take control and do what he wanted with this one....obviously that was going to be 'eating!'
The cream is great for early mark making and Arthur really enjoyed spreading it around with his hands and making marks with his fingers.
Lots of vocab available to introduce in a meaningful context:
Spread/spreading, soft, cold, build, stick, tall/taller, long/longer, one more, one less, taste, feel, crunch, lick, etc.
You can use the same type of questions as in the activities above to extend their level of thinking (if you aren't losing your mind by this point and trying to remove squirty cream from walls and floors!
Have fun!! I will be posting more of our activities in more detail over the next few weeks - if you enjoyed reading this please share the post with others so that they can have a go at the activities too!
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I'm really rubbish at knowing how to entertain my 3 year old when she is home and usually end up doing jigsaws or Duplo but these activities look like lots of fun!! Thanks for sharing! #ablogginggoodtime
ReplyDeleteBrilliant play ideas for little sensory seekers! Love this post, as a teacher it would be great to have a lot of kids turn up who have had these sorts of experiences. Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime 🎉
ReplyDeleteWow, I love all of them apart from the fish, as that would freak me out a little i think. thanks for sharing some fabulous ideas, can't wait to try the banana and hoops! #ablogginggoodtime
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing these - I love the water one, especially as we can do it outdoors. I'm rubbish at sensory play but I really must try harder as you make it sound so easy, with bits that are around the house anyway. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWhat great ideas! And not costing the earth! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness one-year old Baby Munch would love all of the edible activities! I will have to try some with her at home. Time to get messy! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteLots of neat ideas! I'm a firm believer that playing is learning and intitute that into our homeschool routine. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are great, I love the fish-ew! What did he think of the texture? My son (14yr old) wanted to know how you stabbed the banana without breaking the spaghetti. I guess we have some exploring of our own to do. :) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteSome great ideas here. Maybe a bit too much mess for me though *shudder* #kcacols
ReplyDeleteSo many amazing ideas!! I love the look of the banana one and the water play and edible building activity. I must admit I'm not to keen on the fish one though! Fab ideas, thanks for sharing them xx #kcacols
ReplyDeleteLoads of amazing ideas! Good to see so many different activities all in one place.
ReplyDeleteMainy
#KCACOLS
What fantastic ideas! I love the film of Arthur investigating the fish. It is really great to get them learning about their food early on :-) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. The fish one made me laugh, I can just imagine my two freaking out when they realise it's a fish, I'm tempted to do it just for the comedy value! x #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are some great activities. I love that they are simple and you can do them at home without too much trouble.
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
Wow! such clever ideas here... I always run out of ideas on how to entertain the kids at home, it's great to know these activities, looks fun and educational too. Arthur looks like he really enjoyed every activity. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOh wow what great activities to do! Fantastic post! I especially love that first one.
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
Our girls are older now but this is such a useful resource for those with younger children. This post must have taken ages to write, research...As well as the practical play with Arthur. Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. I'm going save this for when Edith is older. I can't wait to do activities like this with her.
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
Wow, lots of things here and I live that it's no problem if some of it is eaten. Very handy! Play is soo important, whatever type of play it is. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteLovely imaginative and cheap fun learning. Some great tips there for parents.
ReplyDeleteAmanda. #kcacols
This is great! I'm going to try the banana and cherrio's on the 'little one' tmrw! Thanks for sharing x
ReplyDelete2 Travelling Tots :)
Love the fish idea. :-) My daughter is almost 4 now so kind of missed some of these toddler ideas, but I remember she loved tactile activities and still loves pouring things into different containers. Great post! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWow, these are all great ideas. I'm always looking for new things to do with Clem. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are great ideas! Too advanced with Piglet yet but I'll have to remember some of them for when I'm babysitting my nephews #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteI shall definitely be trying some of these out except for the banana one can't stand them lol! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteSome brilliant ideas! I'll definitely save them to try when my daughter is older, thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWhat fantastic ideas! And they're all so simple and accessible to everybody. Now I need to go grab a small person to try them out. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWhat a great set of ideas! I have to admit that I've struggled with getting my son interested in things like this as he used to have lots of issues with sensory type activities and he also didn't like to copy what you were doing, but he's starting to get much better so I'm going to try out some of these and see how we go. Love the ideas to extend the activities too! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeletewow such creative and clever ideas, mine are older now, but I love this! #Kcacols
ReplyDeleteReally great ideas. So creative. It's a struggle to entertain little ones so thanks for some fab ideas linked to EYFS #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOhhh these are great ideas. My nearly 4 year old is quite behind with both gross motor skills and fine, in relation to his autism so there are loads of creative ideas to try with him here :) #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! We did similar ones when Mia was little and she absolutely loved them! She thrives when she's doing creative things and I reckon she's going to be extremely creative when she's older!
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
I keep meaning to do things like this with my eldest. Thanks for the inspiration. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOoo I love the banana and cheerios idea! I'll keep that in mind for when baby is older. I'd be scared of her poking her eyes out at the moment! :D #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteSome great ideas. Don't think I could cope with the fish though! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are great ideas! I'll definitely be doing some of these this weekend. I'm featuring this post on my blogging best series on Thursday :) I'll tweet you! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these learning activities! Will definitely be pinning for later~ :D
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
Tori @ The Mama Nurse
Such clever ideas! Not sure about the fish though! LOL!
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
These are all such fantastic ideas! I love the banana, spaghetti and cheerios one! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas, fab mummy coming up with all of these ideas :) #TwinklyTuesday
ReplyDeleteOh some lovely little activites here! The banana one is my fav! xx
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS
Hats off to you - I'm useless at this sort of thing and all the preparation/mess/clearing up involved...although we do bake! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are some great ideas! I especially think that my little bear would enjoy the banana and water sensory activities. Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely activity ideas. My children are older now, but I remeber enjoying this kind of activity. #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post, so many great ideas! I used to do so much more of this sort of activity when my son was little, his poor little sister is quite hard done by in comparison! But these ideas all look really quick and easy to set up so I really have no excuses! x #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOh what great ideas for those so hard to entertain toddlers! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful ideas! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWow these are awesome suggestions! Thanks for such a helpful post, I'll be trying some of these when I'm at home with SB! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are fun and great ideas. I would have to skip the fish though! Fish freaks me out & I find it hard enough preparing it to cook - couldn't cope with my kids poking fish! :D #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese look like great ideas, I would have never thought to do something like this with Olivia when she was a baby (or even now to be honest lol) 'kcacols
ReplyDeleteGreat activities , I wonder what my two year old would make of the fish! She loves playing with water, and her food! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteThese are really amazing ideas! I'll have to revisit this post and try some of these out with my almost 2 year old :)
ReplyDelete#KCACOLS