Staying home with your toddler and fretting over what interesting activities to do? There are so many things that can keep you and your cub happily occupied without the electronic gadgets taking over all the time. Choose from one of the following tried-and-tested games and remember, the most important thing is to have fun. So, put your work, household chores, parental duties and errands aside for a while. All your baby needs is you :)
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| and the mess begins... |
1. Imitate
Imitate your child's actions or encourage him to imitate you. You can jump, talk (babble), laugh, wave, kick, clap, bow, dance, skip, scramble, turn in circles, hug or anything that both of you like. He'll love it! Recite what you are doing (clap! clap! jump! dance!) to improve his vocabulary.
2. Face game
Sit face-to-face with your child, probably on your lap/lower tummy, resting his back on your raised thighs. Do the following to each other: Pinch nose, poke ear, touch a mole, kiss hand, smell head, pinch cheeks, kiss face, kiss forehead, etc. Same thing here, recite what you are doing for an educational boost. Remember to have fun ;)
3. Play Tag (catching)
Imagine you or your child as a little monster, and this monster loves and goes after diapers, toes, belly buttons, bums, tummies, t-shirts, etc. This one is really hilarious. My son went crazily happy while running all over the house. Encourage him to shout for help. Show your child how you do it. Somebody help me pleeease!
4. Sticker game
Get some small stickers (or clean paper/sticky tape) and stick them onto each others' body parts after you call out their names. E.g. Where is our..... nose! So, your child and you stick a sticker each on each others' noses and so on. Try on fingernails, toes, ears, etc.
5. Kick a ball
Simply just throw or kick a cotton soft or plastic ball all over the house - it's free play!
6. Draw and scribble
Prepare some colour pencils or crayons and place a sketch book or some blank papers on the floor. Encourage your child to draw and scribble (for easier cleaning, do this on tiled floor instead of wooden ones). Advice: Your child may first end up tearing the papers! It's ok as tearing trains his eye-hand coordination and finger dexterity. Perhaps you want to try a week or two later. And when he is ready, you can encourage him by showing him how you draw. E.g. draw the outline of some of his smaller toys, like a car. Or draw the outline of your child's and your feet and hands.
7. Sing and dance
Turn on the music, whether on the radio or TV, let the music take over and dance yourselves silly-happy. That day, my son was moving so suavely to the beat of an X-factor (Season 3) contestant's self-composed song and I seriously think he's got mommy's grooves already! You'd better ask me to dance, you'd better ask me to dance.
8. Play snack
Anytime can be a playtime for a toddler, even during mealtimes. Exploration of the world shouldn't be prohibited at the dinner table. Well, at least you can make exceptions for snack time, yes? If he doesn't eat his snack, you can always load up at lunch or dinner time.
So here, you can prepare your child's snacks and watch him explore and eat his food with his fingers or baby fork and spoon. Prepare to clean up as this can be the messiest of all the other 'games', so do it when you've had a good night's sleep. I used to put him up on a high chair which sits on a pile of newspapers underneath and I do it just before his usual morning bath. Schedule uninterrupted. Snacks can be: small and soft pieces of fruits, bread, cheese, nuts, cheerios.
9. Read and explore a book
Get hold of age-appropriate books and cards for your toddler to read and explore. Teach him how to turn pages, flip cards, read from left to right, recognise letters and so on. Pronounce words purposefully or even exaggerate as you read. Your child may look at the shape of your lips and tries to say a word or two. You may want to try with cloth books first if your child kept tearing up the book's pages.
10. Gadgets
These should be the final choice as it can be very anti-social. They inhibit real-life human interaction which is what your child really needs. It's easy to fall into the trap of letting electronic gadgets babysit your child while you do the important chores, but gadgets can be a great educational aid if your child is playing with the right games, so choose wisely. My son learnt his primary colours through ipad. One day, he just began to point to anything in blue and said Blue! And try to limit the playtime [rest 15 mins after every 45 mins] and play it with him as much as possible to prevent the early onset of myopia and to retain the human factor respectively.
Imitate your child's actions or encourage him to imitate you. You can jump, talk (babble), laugh, wave, kick, clap, bow, dance, skip, scramble, turn in circles, hug or anything that both of you like. He'll love it! Recite what you are doing (clap! clap! jump! dance!) to improve his vocabulary.
2. Face game
Sit face-to-face with your child, probably on your lap/lower tummy, resting his back on your raised thighs. Do the following to each other: Pinch nose, poke ear, touch a mole, kiss hand, smell head, pinch cheeks, kiss face, kiss forehead, etc. Same thing here, recite what you are doing for an educational boost. Remember to have fun ;)
3. Play Tag (catching)
Imagine you or your child as a little monster, and this monster loves and goes after diapers, toes, belly buttons, bums, tummies, t-shirts, etc. This one is really hilarious. My son went crazily happy while running all over the house. Encourage him to shout for help. Show your child how you do it. Somebody help me pleeease!
4. Sticker game
Get some small stickers (or clean paper/sticky tape) and stick them onto each others' body parts after you call out their names. E.g. Where is our..... nose! So, your child and you stick a sticker each on each others' noses and so on. Try on fingernails, toes, ears, etc.
5. Kick a ball
Simply just throw or kick a cotton soft or plastic ball all over the house - it's free play!
6. Draw and scribble
Prepare some colour pencils or crayons and place a sketch book or some blank papers on the floor. Encourage your child to draw and scribble (for easier cleaning, do this on tiled floor instead of wooden ones). Advice: Your child may first end up tearing the papers! It's ok as tearing trains his eye-hand coordination and finger dexterity. Perhaps you want to try a week or two later. And when he is ready, you can encourage him by showing him how you draw. E.g. draw the outline of some of his smaller toys, like a car. Or draw the outline of your child's and your feet and hands.
7. Sing and dance
Turn on the music, whether on the radio or TV, let the music take over and dance yourselves silly-happy. That day, my son was moving so suavely to the beat of an X-factor (Season 3) contestant's self-composed song and I seriously think he's got mommy's grooves already! You'd better ask me to dance, you'd better ask me to dance.
8. Play snack
Anytime can be a playtime for a toddler, even during mealtimes. Exploration of the world shouldn't be prohibited at the dinner table. Well, at least you can make exceptions for snack time, yes? If he doesn't eat his snack, you can always load up at lunch or dinner time.
So here, you can prepare your child's snacks and watch him explore and eat his food with his fingers or baby fork and spoon. Prepare to clean up as this can be the messiest of all the other 'games', so do it when you've had a good night's sleep. I used to put him up on a high chair which sits on a pile of newspapers underneath and I do it just before his usual morning bath. Schedule uninterrupted. Snacks can be: small and soft pieces of fruits, bread, cheese, nuts, cheerios.
9. Read and explore a book
Get hold of age-appropriate books and cards for your toddler to read and explore. Teach him how to turn pages, flip cards, read from left to right, recognise letters and so on. Pronounce words purposefully or even exaggerate as you read. Your child may look at the shape of your lips and tries to say a word or two. You may want to try with cloth books first if your child kept tearing up the book's pages.
10. Gadgets
These should be the final choice as it can be very anti-social. They inhibit real-life human interaction which is what your child really needs. It's easy to fall into the trap of letting electronic gadgets babysit your child while you do the important chores, but gadgets can be a great educational aid if your child is playing with the right games, so choose wisely. My son learnt his primary colours through ipad. One day, he just began to point to anything in blue and said Blue! And try to limit the playtime [rest 15 mins after every 45 mins] and play it with him as much as possible to prevent the early onset of myopia and to retain the human factor respectively.