Picking the right childcare for your toddler is a big decision. It’s not only about finding a safe and stimulating environment; it’s also about your child being exposed to fun and educational activities that will help them grow. The first few years of life are essential in shaping a child’s cognitive, social and emotional development. When looking at any childcare centre, parents should seek out programs with stimulating and age-appropriate activities for their little ones. Come with us as we explore some of the best activities for this age group and how childcare centres can help development at this stage.
Sensory Play Activities
Activities for toddlers often focus on sensory play, which helps children explore and make sense of the world around them. Sensory activities engage a child’s senses — sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell — so they can explore different textures, colours, feelings, and sounds. These activities are fun and help with fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
For babies and toddlers, sensory play is more about gentle exploration. Here are some activities tailored for this age group:
- Sensory Bins: Sensory bins can be shallow trays filled with water, various pasta shapes in a tub or even ball pit balls for unique textures. These bins allow babies to touch, feel and manipulate different objects, introducing them to new textures in a safe and controlled environment.
- Textured Materials: Another great sensory activity is introducing babies to different textures. Soft and malleable materials like bubble wrap, slightly rough surfaces like toilet paper rolls and fuzzy objects like pipe cleaners provide a rich sensory experience and help babies explore the tactile world.
- Exploring Temperatures: Playing with different temperatures can be fun and educational for babies and toddlers. This might involve ice cubes, misting the air or surfaces with cold water from a spray bottle, or feeling the warmth of sun-heated pebbles under little feet. These activities introduce babies to temperature changes and help with sensory awareness.
Sensory play activities are fun, keep babies engaged, and help them focus and refine their fine motor skills, helping their development as they become more aware of the world they belong to.
Story Time and Reading
Reading and storytelling are huge activities in childcare for 1-2 year olds and important for their language development. Young children are very receptive to new words and ideas at this stage, so reading is a great way to boost vocabulary and comprehension. Here are some ways these activities are incorporated into childcare.
Engagement Techniques
For babies 12-18 months in childcare, the focus is on exposing them to language in a loving and engaging way. Even at this age, activities are designed to introduce them to the basics of language and literacy:
- Puppet Shows: Stories about animals or characters are brought to life with puppets and help toddlers connect words to pictures and actions.
- Bright Picture Books: Books with beautiful illustrations and simple text capture toddlers’ attention and help with word-object association.
- Interactive Storytelling: Children are encouraged to point, repeat or even act out parts of the story.
- Short Story Sessions: Educators read while babies explore the pages with their fingers, looking at textured or interactive elements like flaps. The physical act of turning pages and feeling different textures adds a sensory element to the reading experience.
- Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies: Singing nursery rhymes or lullabies introduces babies to the rhythm and melody of language. These sessions calm the children and support early literacy skills.
In total, these activities support language and early literacy, help instill a love of books from the start, and lay the foundation for future learning.
Music and Movement for Toddlers
Music and movement are great ways to engage toddlers in fun and educational activities. These activities often involve singing, dancing, and playing instruments. They are fun and promote physical development, rhythm, and coordination. Toddlers love to move! Music is something that allows them to express themselves while learning the rhythm and beats.
Music is important for calm and developmental experiences for younger babies. Childcare activities involving music can include:
- Lullabies: Soft songs are sung to soothe babies and create a sense of security. Lullabies introduce babies to the rhythm and melody of language.
- Rhythmic Clapping: Simple clapping and music help babies develop a sense of rhythm. Clapping also helps with coordination and interactive play.
- Bouncing to Music: Caregivers bounce babies to the music, a fun and rhythmic experience. This helps with balance and auditory skills.
These music-based activities support auditory development and bonding between babies and their educators.
Fine Motor Skills Arts and Crafts
Creativity is important in early childhood education as it develops not only artistic expression but also important skills. In childcare settings, arts and crafts activities are carefully planned to suit different age groups and promote creativity while supporting growth in many areas.
For Toddlers (1-2 years old)
Toddlers in childcare often do arts and crafts activities that allow them to express themselves and develop fine motor skills. These activities:
- Finger Painting: Toddlers paint with their fingers, mixing colours and feeling different textures. This tactile sensory experience helps with fine motor control as they manipulate the paint with their hands.
- Drawing with Crayons: Using crayons helps toddlers learn to hold writing instruments and make deliberate movements, developing fine motor skills. It also introduces basic colour names and shapes and aids cognitive development.
- Crafting Simple Objects: Making crafts with safe, child-friendly materials like paper, glue, and recyclable items encourages imaginative thinking. Projects like assembling simple paper shapes or decorating objects help with problem-solving, cause-and-effect, and fine motor skills.
These activities help with hand-eye coordination, patience, and understanding of colours and shapes, which are important for cognitive and motor development.
For Babies (12-18 months)
Creative childcare activities for babies are more about exploration and sensory experiences than a finished product. These activities are designed to stimulate their senses and introduce basic concepts:
- Playing with Non-Toxic Playdough: Babies play with playdough, feeling its texture and malleability as a sensory experience. Squeezing, rolling and pinching the playdough helps with fine motor skills and hand strength.
- Making Handprints with Washable Paint: As babies press their hands into paint and then onto paper, they learn about cause and effect by making their handprints. Touching different textures of paint and paper is also a great sensory activity that helps with development.
These activities inspire creativity, introduce babies to basic concepts of cause and effect, and develop sensory and fine motor skills through play.
Outdoor Play and Exploration
Outdoor play is important for the physical development of young children. Whether toddlers play in the playground or babies experience nature for the first time, outdoor activities in childcare settings are designed to promote learning and fun. Outdoor play can be adapted for both toddlers and younger babies to explore their environment and develop skills.
Playground Exploration
- Toddlers: Play with safe playground equipment like slides, swings and climbing frames. These physical play activities develop gross motor skills like running, jumping and climbing and spatial awareness and coordination.
- Babies: For the youngest learners, outdoor time might be tummy time on a blanket or crawling on soft grass. This strengthens muscles and is a rich sensory experience as they touch and feel different surfaces.
Group Games and Social Interaction
- Toddlers: Do simple group games like follow-the-leader or ball games. These activities promotes social skills by encouraging cooperation, turn taking and interaction with peers.
- Babies: Babies aren’t ready for structured games but they benefit from being around other children. Watching older kids play and interacting with educators helps them start to understand social dynamics and develop early communication skills.
Nature Exploration
- Toddlers: Encourage curiosity by letting toddlers explore natural elements like plants, rocks and insects. This hands on experience develops their sense of discovery and physical activity.
- Babies: Nature exploration can be more sensory focused for babies. They might touch leaves, feel the texture of sand or grass or listen to the sounds of birds and rustling leaves. These activities develops their sensory awareness and auditory skills.
Observing and Interacting with the Environment:
- Toddlers: As toddlers walk or run in open spaces, they gain a better understanding of their physical environment and learn about space and distance.
- Babies: Outdoor time for babies also includes simple observations like watching trees sway or insects move. These experiences provide visual and auditory stimulation that supports cognitive and sensory development.
These outdoor activities provide a whole child approach to childcare so toddlers and babies get physical activity, social interaction and sensory exploration in a natural and stimulating environment.
Fun Childcare Activities at Little Zak’s!
Educational activities in childcare settings are important for toddlers and babies. From sensory play that sparks curiosity to storytelling that builds language skills, music that develops rhythm and outdoor play that develops physical and social skills, these activities are designed for 12-24 months. At Little Zak’s Academy, we tailor all our programs to each child’s age and needs so that they receive a solid early learning experience.
