Toddler Learning: DIY Activities
There are so many great resources for learning activities online. Some of them are super simple while others require a little more planning ahead. As a former teacher, I not only love finding great resources online, but also creating resources of my own. I’ve included two quick and easy activities that I love doing with Elani and that hopefully you and your toddler will love as well.
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I’ve raved about my laminator before, but you definitely do not need one for this activity. I had been doing this with Elani for months and recently decided to start laminating some of the construction paper strips.
What You Need:
– Construction Paper (to match pom pom colors)
– Pom Poms (to match construction paper colors)
– Scissors
– Tape or Glue
That’s it! The benefit of laminating is that they last longer. Also, if you use tape, you can take the tape off and store them flat.
I cut across the shorter end of the construction paper to make smaller circles, but it is up to you. Once you have cut your strips of paper, simply connect and secure (tape or glue) the ends. Though I have many different colors of pom poms, I was just focusing on these three colors with Elani. That is another thing that I love about DIY activities. You can adjust them to meet the specific needs of your child.
This can be a quiet activity that your toddler completes on their own, or this can be something that you guide and talk through. Sometimes I ask Elani the colors or name them as she is picking them up. Other times we count the poms as she places them. There are many ways to approach this activity. She also enjoys just working on her own, which allows me time to do other things.
Another easy activity that we love to do uses stickers, which is a favorite of many young children. I have these fun neon dot stickers that I previously talked about in my post about traveling with a toddler. They work perfectly for us because I have a ton of Astrobrights paper from when I as teaching, but regular construction paper works just fine.
What You Need:
– Construction Paper (to match dot sticker colors)
– Dot Stickers (to match the construction paper colors)
– Scissors
I like to cut the paper in quarters, but it really just depends on how many stickers you plan to give your little one. Again, I love that this can easily be an independent activity, but you can also be very involved if you choose to be. I also really like to switch up what I write on the stickers.
This time around, I chose to spell out Elani’s name and have her match the stickers to the letters that I wrote on the paper. This is definitely not the only way to use these! You can choose to leave them blank for color matching, you can write uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, shapes, or I’ve even done smiley faces just to make the color matching more appealing. There are so many ways to get creative with this activity!
These are just two super simple activities that Elani enjoys. I love that she can work independently, the activities can be easily adjusted, and they are play-based. I hope that your toddler has a ton of fun with these, as well!
