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Thursday, 13 April 2017

EYFS Toddler Activities Roundup 2 - Learning Through Play

EYFS Toddler Activities Roundup - learning through play

Welcome to part 2 of my Toddler Activities Roundup - following on from Part 1 in the Learning Through Play Series here.



 Memory Matching Activity

You will need:

  1. Memory game from Flying Tiger Copenhagen

Set up: 

 Place these memory discs the right way up rather than upside down on a surface at child height. Try to place some matching discs next to each other or close to each other and see if your child notices
Activity:

 I chose these memory cards for their interesting shape and design. The round discs with the hole in the middle are really tactile for little hands to explore and the patterns and shapes are interesting yet challenging for little learners. Allow your child to hold and look the discs for a while and observe what they say and do. You can work alongside your child by discussing the following:

  1.  shapes and patterns you can see
  2. discs that look the same or similar
  3. finding discs that 'match'
  4. talk about 'how many' are the same 
  5. ask your child to find a particular colour/pattern/shape

Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • Sorting and counting the discs
  • using language of 'one more' and 'one less' by taking one away or giving one to them
  • Threading
  • Selecting a few set patterns and turning them over to introduce the 'memory' element of the game 

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, Physical Development, Mathematics, The World, Exploring and using media and materials



 Shape Recognition Activity

You will need:

  1. Shapes beanbags available to buy through the Amazon link (af) here or here

Set up: Lay all of the shapes on the floor. Make sure you have talked about these shapes and named them previously for your child before attempting this activity.
Activity:

 If your child's language skills are still developing, ask them to find a particular shape for you from the arrangement on the floor - this allows them to identify the shapes without the pressure of naming them. Once they have mastered this activity, you can ask them to pick a shape out of the bag and name it for you as a next step. NB - make sure you talk about and point out shapes elsewhere in your environment so that they don't just associate the beanbags with being shapes.

Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • Throw a beanbag to your child and ask them to catch the beanbag and then name the shape
  • Repeat as above but this time use a sandtimer - how many can you get through before the sand runs out?
  • Hide all of the shapes in the bag and feel for one - describe the shape to your child (Like in my anticipation box activity here) such as 'it has 3 sides' and ask them to guess what it could be
  • Ask them to describe a shape to you for you to guess
NB: Remember to check beanbags regularly for holes

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:

Physical Development, Communication &Language, Mathematics


Shape recognition for toddlers: I used these beanbag shapes with my reception class as they are really tactile, fun and interesting to play with. I recently ordered some for Arthur at home and he loves them! Touch and name the shapes with your child to help them learn. Whilst language skills are still developing, asking them to find a shape allows you to see how much they understand without requiring them to name the shape themselves, before helping them to say the shape names themselves as another activity. Make sure you point out the different shapes that you can see in the environment or within picture books too so that your child does not just associate the shapes with the beanbags! For older children, up the challenge by throwing them a beanbag and asking them to 'catch' and name the shape whilst using a sand timer - how many can you get through before the sand runs out?? Another activity for older children is to hide all of the shapes in the bag and describe a shape (such as - it has 3 sides etc) and ask them to guess which shape you have chosen. You can buy the shapes directly from the 'shop' page on my blog:http://www.arthurwears.com/p/shop.html?m=0 #EYFS #toddleractivities #toddleractivity #shapes #shapebeanbags #shapegame #shapeactivity #learningisfun #learningthroughplay #playingtolearn #mathematics #earlylearning #eyfsactivity #maths #teach #learn #video #toddlervideo #eyfsideas #mblogger #mbloggers #pblogger
A video posted by Sarah - Arthurwears (@arthurwears) on



 Shape Matching Activity


You will need:

  1. Shapes beanbags available to buy through the Amazon link (af) here or here
  2. Coloured Washi Tape available to buy here

Set up:

 Place the washi tape on the floor around each shape (corresponding colours) to create an outline 'template' of each shape. Remove the shapes once finished and lay them on the floor next to the outlines.
Activity:

 Challenge your child to match the shapes/colours of the beanbags to the corresponding outlines. Ask them to name the shape as they do so.
Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • Increase the challenge by using the same colour for every outline
  • increase the challenge by using different coloured tape which DOESN'T correspond to its matching shape
NB: washi tape is low tack and easily removeable

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, Mathematics


Shape matching activity-more washi tape fun! These shapes are brilliant for creating lots of different activities and are easy to pack in a suitcase if you are going away (like us!). Here, I have used different colour washi tape to make shape templates on the floor which match the shape bean bags. Initial activity for toddlers is to match the shapes and colours by placing the bean bags on the correct template. Make sure to name the shapes for your child as they find them - or ask them to do this if they are already aware of shape names! Extend this activity by using one colour tape and seeing if your child is still able to match the shapes without the aid of the colours! Make it trickier still by using different colours but make sure they don't match the original bean bags! So many different directions you can take this one. Lots of fun and perfect for creating a temporary learning experience away from home. You can shop for the bean bag shapes directly from my 'shop' page on the website here: http://www.arthurwears.com/p/shop.html?m=0 #learningthroughplay #eyfs #eyfsideas #eyfsteacher #eyfsactivities #eyfsactivity #playingtolearn #toddleractivities #toddleractivity #toddlersofinstagram #toddlersofig #mblogger #mbloggers #pblogger
A photo posted by Sarah - Arthurwears (@arthurwears) on


 Water Balloon Activity


You will need:


Set up:

 Part of the fun of this activity is having a container large enough for your child to climb in - fill a large baby bath or flexi tub with water balloons and leave them outside for your child to fine and explore
Activity:

 This activity is very child led in that the equipment is set up and left for your child to explore as they choose.

 Whilst they are playing, you can give them language and information such as:

 "This balloon feels soft/cold/squidgy/heavy"
" This balloon is blue/pink/red/green etc"
"The water inside the balloon is moving"
" the balloon is stretching"
" The balloon has popped/burst"
" You are inside the tub"
Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
NB: Remember that popped balloons are a choking hazard, please don't leave your child unsupervised and don't leave the remnants outside for small animals to find

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:

 characteristics of effective learning, communication and language, mathematics





 Letter Recognition Activity


You will need:


Set up:

 We used the Uppercase letters for this activity as we linked the letter 'sounds' (not names) to the names of special people, which always begin with a capital letter.
Activity:

 Allow your child to play with and investigate the plastic letters. Start to point out letters which correspond with the names of themselves and people who are special to them....such as "A for Arthur" , "M for Mummy" etc

 Do not use the letter name, but the sound. For example "mmmm for Mummy" NOT "em for Mummy"

 Ask them to find and pick out certain letter sounds from a larger set.

Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • Introduce the lower case letters to correspond so that your child is aware that the sound can be written both ways
  • If your child follows a phonics scheme at nursery, such as Jolly Phonics, you can use these letters at home to go alongside the actions and songs. 

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 & Literacy, Literacy



This morning we have been playing with letters! Although it may seem early to introduce literacy activities in this way - children have the ability to recognise the letter shapes in the same way that they can recognise shapes or pictures. The trick is to make it personal and meaningful to them, so I have been showing Arthur the letters for the names of special people (this also ties in with the letters all being upper case as the start of a name would be!) he is now able to pick out certain letters such as " C for Claire", "G for Grandpa", "M for Mummy", "D for Daddy" etc. If I hold the letter up he will usually name the person associated with the letter. Aside from this, they are lovely and tactile and and great for tracing along with little fingers and just aiding language and discussions! IMPORTANT POINT to note: I am not teaching Arthur the letter names, but the letter 'sounds' to tie in with phonics and early reading. I will expand on what this means in a blog post soon (with examples) but one of the key things to remember when teaching letter sounds is not to add an "uh" sound at the end. For example: 'P' is not pronounced "p-uh" just the initial sound at the start. This makes it so much easier for children when it comes to blending the sounds together for reading at a later stage. #Learningathome #learningthroughplay #earlyyearsideas #eyfsideas
A photo posted by Sarah - Arthurwears (@arthurwears) on


 Letter Stamping Activity

 You will need:

  1. Plastic letter stampers
  2. coloured paper

Set up:

 This works best using a large area on the floor, using big rolls of paper, or by doing as I have here and sellotaping different colours together.
Activity:

 Mark making in any form is a really important process for young children, and this doesn't always have to be as cut and dry as using pencils and crayons. Allowing children to investigate mark making materials, how they work and the marks they make can aid so may learning processes including language of shape and colour with these stampers here. 

 I linked this activity in with the letter recognition activity above as Arthur was able to find a particular named stamp and then make marks on the paper.

 If you would like some more ideas of how to encourage mark making in younger children you can read my post on mark making activity boxes for emergent writers here.
Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • Depending on the age/stage of your child, link this activity to their phonics
  • encourage them to pick out and identify the letter sounds
  • encourage them to find the letter stamps to form their name

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, physical development, literacy, expressive arts and design




 Vital Baby swim rings


You will need:

  1. Vital Baby swim rings
  2. Vital Baby float and slide

Set up:

 This activity is designed for use in water, either place these in the bath for your child to play with, or in a water tray.

 The swim rings by Vital Baby simply clip together to create a chain or a circle of six different coloured floating rings - each with a corresponding 'squashy' sea creature who sits on top of the floating rings and can also squirt water. 

 The float and slide activity by Vital Baby requires a very quick assembly before first use, clipping the slide to the floating base at each end and attaching the squashable, water squirting ducks to a water ski in order to slide down.
Activity:

 The swim rings are great for hand/eye co-ordination as your child attempts to clip the rings together (or more accurately in our case, pull them apart!) Encourage your child to name and recognise the different colours whilst matching the sea creatures to the corresponding ring. As well as counting and 1;1 correspondence, this activity allows for lots of language around colours, shapes and names of different sea creatures, talking about their similiarities and differences whilst also engaging in imaginative role play. Helps to aid introductory discussions around sinking and floating.

 The float and slide offers a fun way to introduce language of speed, for example, fast/faster, slow/slower depending on whether the ducks use the slide with or without the water skis. Introduce the idea of objects sinking or floating and encourage your child to think about 'turn taking' in their imaginative role play between the two ducks...for example, 'your turn now', ' your turn next'

Extend:

Depending on the age and stage of your child, you can extend this activity in a number of ways:
  • These resources would aid the start of an investigation into floating and sinking and how this can depend on the weight of the objects placed on top of the float.
NB: 

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:

characteristics of effective learning, personal social and emotional development, physical development, communication & language, mathematics, understanding the world, expressive arts and design.


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! 

 If you are looking for activities specifically for 2 year olds, have a look at my friend Emma Reed's post on home play ideas for 2 year olds.

 Disclosure - the Vital Baby products were sent in return for an honest review.

You may also like my post 19 tuff tray activities for open ended play