The Everything Toddler Activities Book

BOOK: The Everything Toddler Activities Book
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THE

TODDLER ACTIVITIES
BOOK

2ND EDITION

Dear Reader,

Your toddler is at an exciting stage of their development. He is growing rapidly and gaining many new skills. You have an amazing opportunity to promote your child’s emotional, social, physical and cognitive development all while still having fun!

You don’t need to break the bank to occupy, educate and entertain your toddler. Put away the expensive toy catalogs and craft kits. Your toddler will respond to simple games and activities that keep her involved.

Your toddler is bound to keep you on the go. You will be able to use many of the ides in this book with no materials and no advanced planning. I hope that you will turn to this book again and again for ideas and inspiration!

Welcome to the
Series!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything
®
book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything
®
books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When you’re done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything
®
!

PUBLISHER
  Karen Cooper
DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION
  Paula Munier
MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING
®
SERIES
  Lisa Laing
COPY CHIEF
  Casey Ebert
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EDITOR
  Melanie Cordova
ACQUISITIONS EDITOR
  
Brett Palana-Shanahan
SENIOR DEVELOPMENT EDITOR
  
Brett Palana-Shanahan
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
  Ross Weisman
EVERYTHING
®
SERIES COVER DESIGNER
  Erin Alexander
LAYOUT DESIGNERS
  Erin Dawson, Michelle Roy Kelly, Elisabeth Lariviere, Denise Wallace

Visit the entire Everything® Series at
www.everything.com

THE

TODDLER

ACTIVITIES BOOK

2ND EDITION

Over 400 games and projects to
entertain and educate

Joni Levine, MEd

For Lizzie, the daughter I used to only
dream about. You bring me more
joy than I ever imagined.

Contents

Top 10 Materials to Have on Hand for Toddler Activities

Introduction

01 All about Toddlers

What Are Toddlers Like?

How a Toddler Learns

How Activities Help Your Child

Choosing Appropriate Activities

General Guidelines

02 Activities Throughout the Day

Morning-Time Activities

Bath-Time Activities

Calming and Rest-Time Activities

Mealtime and Cooking Activities

Transition Times

Helping Around the House

Anytime Activities

03 What to Do on a Rainy Day

Shake Out Your Sillies

When Bad Weather Threatens

Let’s Go Out

A Day at the Beach—Indoors!

Fun with a Box

Backward Upside-Down Day

Last-Minute Activities

04 Away from Home

Air-Travel Activities

Car-Travel Activities

In the Hospital

Activities to Do While Waiting

On the Spot—When Child Gets Fussy

Beach Activities

Zoo Activities

Museum Activities

05 Art and Exploration

Coloring

Painting

Sculpting

Making Collages

Other Art Media

Crafts

06 Sensory Activities

Sand Activities

Water Activities

Natural Materials

Playdough and Clay

Bubbles

Miscellaneous Materials

Music Activities

Visual Activities

07 Dance and Movement

Dancing

Action Plays

Exercise Activities

Creative Movement

Using Props

Parachute Activities

08 Let’s Pretend

Pretend Themes

Props for Pretend Play

Dolls

Block Building

Pretend Play Games

Puppets

09 Games

Traditional Games

Cooperative Games

Group Games

Games for Two

Paper Games

Create Your Own Game

Fast and Simple Games

10 Backyard and Nature Activities

Gardening Activities

Bugs!

Weather Activities

Outdoor Activities

Nature Crafts

Astronomy and Nighttime Activities

11 Literacy Activities

Skills and Readiness

Using Books

Storytelling

Verbal Games

Flannel-Board Activities

Making Books

12 All about Me

Learning-about-Family Activities

Learning-about-My-Body Activities

I Am Special

How I Grow

Five-Senses Activities

Learning to Be Safe and Healthy

13 For Special Needs Toddlers

For Children with Sensory Disabilities

For Children with Autism

For Children with Mobility Disabilities

For Children with Cognitive Disabilities

For Children with Language Disabilities

14 Exploring Themes

Animal Activities

Community Helpers

Transportation

Dinosaurs

The Ocean

Birds

Pond Life

Fairy Tales

15 Exploring Concepts

Shapes

Colors

Numbers

Letters

Time

Spatial Concepts

16 Seasonal Activities

Harvest-Time Fun

Leaves Are Changing

Scary Things

Let It Snow!

Arctic Animals and Hibernation

Springtime

Summer Activities

17 Holiday Activities

New Year’s Day

Valentine’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day

Passover and Purim

Earth Day

Easter

Fourth of July

Thanksgiving

Chanukah

Christmas

Kwanzaa

18 Party Time

Theme Parties

Birthday Parties for Two-Year-Olds

Birthday Parties for Three-Year-Olds

Group Craft Projects

More Party Games

Party Preparation and Props

Appendix A: Recipes for Activity Materials

Appendix B: Recommended Resources

Index

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