The Ages and Stages (ASQ) activities include games and other fun events for parents and caregivers and their young children.
Select your child’s age range from the list below:
Activities for Infants 1 – 4 Months Old
- Talk softly to your baby when feeding them, changing their diapers, and holding them. They may not understand every word, but they will know your voice and be comforted by it.
- When you see your baby responding to your voice, praise and cuddle them. Talk back to them and see if they responds again.
- Take turns with your baby when they make cooing and gurgling sounds. Have a “conversation” back and forth with simple sounds that they can make.
- Sing to your baby (even if you don’t do it well). Repetition of songs and lullabies helps your baby to learn and listen.
- With your baby securely in your arms or in a front pack, gently swing and sway to music that you are singing or playing on the radio.
- Place a shatterproof mirror close to your baby where they can see it. Start talking, and tap the mirror
to get them to look. The mirror will provide visual stimulation. Eventually your baby will understand their reflection. - Rock your baby gently in your arms and sing “Rock-a-bye Baby” or another lullaby. Sing your lullaby and swing your baby to the gentle rhythm.
- Put a puppet or small sock on your finger. Say your baby’s name while moving the puppet or sock up and down. See whether they follows the movement. Now move your finger in a circle. Each time your baby is able to follow the puppet, try a new movement.
- With your baby on their back, hold a brightly coloured stuffed animal above their head, in their line of vision. See if they watch the stuffed animal as you move it slowly back and forth.
- Make sure your baby is positioned so that you can touch their feet. Gently play with their toes and feet, tickling lightly. Add the “This Little Piggy Went to Market” rhyme, touching a different toe with each verse.
- Rest your baby, tummy down, on your arm, with your hand on their chest. Use your other hand
to secure your baby—support their head and neck. Gently swing their back and forth. As they get older, walk around to give them different views. - Hold your baby in your lap and softly shake a rattle on one side of their head, then the other side. Shake slowly at first, then faster. Your baby will search for the noise with their eyes.
- Place your baby on their tummy with head to one side, on a blanket/towel on carpeted floor. Lie next to them to provide encouragement. Until they have the strength, have them spend equal time facing left and right. Make “tummy time” a little longer each day. Closely watch your baby in case they rest their face on the floor, which could restrict breathing. As their strength grows, they will be able to lift their head and push up on their arms, leading to rolling and crawling.
- Lay your baby on their back and touch their arms and legs in different places. Make a “whooping” sound with each touch. Your baby may smile and anticipate the next touch by watching your hand. When you make each sound, you can also name the part of the body you touch.
- In nice weather, take your baby on a nature walk through a park or neighbourhood. Talk about everything you see. Even though they might not understand everything, they will like being outside and hearing your voice.
- Read simple books to your baby. Even if they do not understand the story, they will enjoy being close and listening to you read.
- With white paper and a black marker, create several easy-to-recognize images on each piece of paper. Start with simple patterns (diagonal stripes, bull’s eyes, checkerboards, triangles). Place the pictures so that your baby can see them (8″–12” inches from their face). Tape these pictures next to their car seat or crib.
- Lay your baby on their back on a soft, flat surface such as a bed or a blanket. Gently tap or rub your baby’s hands and fingers while singing “Pat-a-Cake” or another nursery rhyme.
- Gently shake a rattle or another baby toy that makes a noise. Put it in your baby’s hand. See if they
take it, even for a brief moment. - Hold your baby closely, or lay them down on a soft, flat surface. Be close enough (8″–12″) so that they can see you. Face to face, start with small movements (stick out your tongue, open your mouth with a wide grin). If you are patient, your baby may try to imitate you. As they get older, you can try larger body movements with your head, hands, and arms. You can also try to imitate your baby.
Activities for Infants 4 – 8 Months Old
- Put a windup toy beside or behind your baby. Watch to see if your baby searches for the sound.
- Give your baby a spoon to grasp and chew on. It’s easy to hold and feels good in the mouth. It’s also great for banging, swiping, and dropping.
- While sitting on the floor, place your baby in a sitting position inside your legs. Use your legs and chest to provide only as much support as your baby needs. This allows you to play with your baby while encouraging independent sitting.
- Gently rub your baby with a soft cloth, a paper towel, or nylon. Talk about how things feel (soft,
rough, slippery). Lotion feels good, too. - Let your baby see themself in a mirror. Place an unbreakable mirror on the side of your baby’s crib or changing table so that they can watch. Look in the mirror with your baby, too. Smile and wave at your baby.
- Common household items such as measuring spoons and measuring cups make toys with interesting
sounds and shapes. Gently dangle and shake a set of measuring spoons or measuring cups where your baby can reach or kick at them. Let your baby hold them to explore and shake, too. - Play voice games. Talk with a high or low voice. Click your tongue. Whisper. Take turns with your baby. Repeat any sounds made by them. Place your baby so that you are face to face—your baby will watch as you make sounds.
- Fill a small plastic bottle (empty medicine bottle with child-proof cap) with beans or rice. Let your baby shake it to make noise.
- Make another shaker using bells. Encourage your baby to hold one in each hand and shake them both. Watch to see if your baby likes one sound better than another.
- Place your baby on their tummy with favourite toys or objects around but just slightly out of reach. Encourage your baby to reach out for toys and move toward them.
- Fill an empty tissue box with strips of paper. Your baby will love pulling them out. (Do not use coloured newsprint or magazines; they are toxic. Never use plastic bags or wrap.)
- Safely attach a favourite toy to a side of your baby’s crib, swing, or cradle chair for them to reach and grasp. Change toys frequently to give them new things to see and do.
- Place your baby in a chair or car seat, or prop them up with pillows. Bounce and play with a flowing scarf or a large bouncing ball. Move it slowly up, then down or to the side, so that your baby can follow movement with their eyes.
- With your baby lying on their back, place a toy within sight but out of reach, or move a toy across your baby’s visual range. Encourage them to roll to get the toy.
- Play Peekaboo with hands, cloth, or a diaper. Put the cloth over your face first. Then let your baby hide. Pull the cloth off if your baby can’t. Encourage them to play. Take turns.
- Place your baby in a chair or car seat to watch everyday activities. Tell your baby what you are doing. Let your baby see, hear, and touch common objects. You can give your baby attention while getting things done.
- Place your baby on your knee facing you. Bounce them to the rhythm of a nursery rhyme. Sing
and rock with the rhythm. Help your baby bring their hands together to clap to the rhythm. - Your baby will like to throw toys to the floor. Take a little time to play this “go and fetch” game. It helps your baby to learn to release objects. Give baby a box or pan to practice dropping toys into.
- Once your baby starts rolling or crawling on their tummy, play “come and get me.” Let your baby move, then chase after them and hug them when you catch them.
- Place your baby facing you. Your baby can watch you change facial expressions (big smile, poking
out tongue, widening eyes, raising eyebrows, puffing or blowing). Give your baby a turn. Do what your baby does.
Activities for Infants 8 – 12 Months Old
- Let your baby feed themself. This gives your baby practice picking up small objects (cereal, cooked
peas) and also gives them experience with textures in their hands and mouth. Soon your baby will
be able to finger feed an entire meal. - Your baby will be interested in banging objects to make noise. Give your baby blocks to bang, rattles to shake, or wooden spoons to bang on containers. Show your baby how to bang objects together.
- A good pastime is putting objects in and out of containers. Give your baby plastic containers with large beads or blocks. Your baby may enjoy putting socks in and out of the sock drawer or small cartons (Jell-O, tuna or soup cans) on and off shelves.
- Mirrors are exciting at this age. Let your baby pat and poke at themself in the mirror. Smile and make faces together in the mirror.
- Your baby will begin using their index fingers to poke. Let your baby poke at a play telephone or busy box. Your baby will want to poke at faces. Name the body parts as your baby touches your face.
- Put toys on a sofa or sturdy table so that your baby can practice standing while playing with the toys.
- Find a big box that your baby can crawl in and out of. Stay close by and talk to your baby about what they doing. “You went in! Now you are out!”
- Read baby books or colourful magazines by pointing and telling your baby what is in the picture. Let your baby pat pictures in the book.
- Play hide-and-seek games with objects. Let your baby see you hide an object under a blanket, diaper, or pillow. If your baby doesn’t uncover the object, just cover part of it. Help your baby find the object.
- Play ball games. Roll a ball to your baby. Help your baby, or have a partner help them roll the ball back to you. Your baby may even throw the ball, so beach balls or Nerf balls are great for this game.
- Turn on a radio or stereo. Hold your baby in a standing position and let your baby bounce and dance. If your baby can stand with a little support, hold their hands and dance like partners.
- Play imitation games like Peekaboo and So Big. Show pleasure at your baby’s imitations of movements and sounds. Babies enjoy playing the same games over and over.
- Let your baby play with plastic measuring cups, cups with handles, sieves and strainers, sponges, and balls that float in the bathtub. Bath time is a great learning time.
- Play Pat-a-Cake with your baby. Clap his hands together or take turns. Wait and see if your baby signals you to start the game again. Try the game using blocks or spoons to clap and bang with.
- Your baby will play more with different sounds like “la-la” and “da-da.” Copy the sounds your baby makes. Add a new one and see if your baby tries it, too. Enjoy your baby’s early attempts at talking.
- Make a simple puzzle for your baby by putting blocks or Ping-Pong balls inside a muffin pan or egg carton.
- You can make a simple toy by cutting a round hole in the plastic lid of a coffee can. Give your baby wooden clothes pins or Ping-Pong balls to drop inside.
- Say “hi” and wave when entering a room with your baby. Encourage your baby to imitate. Help your baby wave to greet others. Waving “hi” and “bye” are early gestures.
- Let your baby make choices. Offer two toys or foods and see which one your baby picks. Encourage
your baby to reach or point to the chosen object. Babies have definite likes and dislikes! - New places and people are good experiences for your baby, but these can be frightening. Let your baby watch and listen and move at their own speed. Go slowly. Your baby will tell you when they are ready for more.
Activities for Infants 12 – 16 Months Old
- Babies love games at this age (Pat-a-Cake, This Little Piggy). Try different ways of playing the games and see if your baby will try it with you. Hide behind furniture or doors for Peekaboo; clap blocks or pan lids for Pat-a-cake.
- Make puppets out of a sock or paper bag—one for you and one for your baby. Have your puppet talk to your baby or your baby’s puppet. Encourage your baby to “talk” back.
- To encourage your baby’s first steps, hold your baby in standing position, facing another person. Have your baby step toward the other person to get a favourite toy or treat.
- Give your baby containers with lids or different compartments filled with blocks or other small toys. Let your baby open and dump. Play “putting things back.” This will help your baby learn how to release objects where he wants them.
- Loosely wrap a small toy in a paper towel or facial tissue without tape. Your baby can unwrap it and find a surprise. Use tissue paper or wrapping paper, too. It’s brightly coloured and noisy.
- Babies enjoy push and pull toys. Make your own pull toy by threading yogurt cartons, spools, or small boxes on a piece of yarn or soft string (about 2 feet long). Tie a bead or plastic stacking ring on one
end for a handle. - Tape a large piece of drawing paper to a table. Show your baby how to scribble with large nontoxic crayons. Take turns making marks on the paper. It’s also fun to paint with water.
- Arrange furniture so that your baby can work their way around a room by stepping across gaps between furniture. This encourages balance in walking.
- Babies continue to love making noise. Make sound shakers by stringing canning rims together or filling medicine bottles (with child-proof caps) with different sounding objects like marbles, rice, salt, bolts, and so forth. Be careful to secure lids tightly.
- This is the time your baby learns that adults can be useful! When your baby “asks” for something by vocalising or pointing, respond to their signal. Name the object your baby wants and encourage them to communicate again—taking turns with each other in a “conversation.”
- Play the naming game. Name body parts, common objects, and people. This lets your baby know that everything has a name and helps them begin to learn these names.
- Make an obstacle course with boxes or furniture so that your baby can climb in, on, over, under, and through. A big box can be a great place to sit and play.
- Let your baby help you clean up. Play “feed the wastebasket” or “give it to Mummy or Daddy.”
- Make a surprise bag for your baby to find in the morning. Fill a paper or cloth bag with a soft toy, something to make a sound, a little plastic jar with a screw-top lid, or a book with cardboard pages.
- Play “pretend” with a stuffed animal or doll. Show and tell your baby what the doll is doing (walking, going to bed, eating, dancing across a table). See if your baby will make the doll move and do things as you request. Take turns.
- Cut up safe finger foods (do not use foods that pose a danger of your baby’s choking) in small pieces and allow your baby to feed themself. It is good practice to pick up small things and feel different textures (bananas, soft crackers, berries).
- Let your baby “help” during daily routines. Encourage your baby to “get” the cup and spoon for mealtime, to “find” shoes and coat for dressing, and to “bring” the pants or diaper for changing. Following directions is an important skill for your baby to learn. Your baby is learning that different
toys do different things. Give your baby a lot of things to roll, push, pull, hug, shake, poke, turn, stack, spin, and stir. - Most babies enjoy music. Clap and dance to the music. Encourage your baby to practice balance
by moving forward, around, and back. Hold their hands for support, if needed. Prepare your baby for a future activity or trip by talking about it beforehand. Your baby will feel like a part of what is going on rather than being just an observer. It may also help reduce some fear of being “left behind.”
Activities for Toddlers 16 – 20 Months Old
- Toddlers love to play in water. Put squeezable objects in the bathtub, such as sponges or squeeze bottles, along with dump-and-pour toys (cups, bowls).
- Toddlers are excited about bubbles. Let your toddler try to blow bubbles or watch you blow bubbles through a straw. Bubbles are fun to pop and chase, too.
- Pretend play becomes even more fun at this age. Encourage your toddler to have a doll or stuffed toy do what they do – walk, go to bed, dance, eat, and jump. Include the doll in daily activities or games.
- Make instant pudding together. Let your toddler “help” by dumping pudding, pouring milk, and stirring. The results are good to eat or can be used for finger painting.
- Use boxes or buckets for your toddler to throw bean bags or balls into. Practice overhand release of the ball or bean bag.
- Play Hide and Seek. Your toddler can hide with another person or by themself for you to find. Then take your turn to hide and let your toddler find you.
- Toddlers love movement. Take them to the park to ride on rocking toys, swings, and small slides. You may want to hold your toddler in your lap on the swing and on the slide at first.
- Sing action songs together such as “Ring Around the Rosy,” “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” and “This Is the Way We Wash Our Hands.” Do actions together. Move with the rhythm. Wait for your toddler to anticipate the action.
- Put favourite toys in a laundry basket slightly out of reach of your toddler or in a clear container with a tight lid. Wait for your toddler to request the objects, giving them a reason to communicate. Respond to their requests.
- Your toddler may become interested in “art activities.” Use large non-toxic crayons and a large pad of paper. Felt-tip markers are more exciting with their bright colours. Let your toddler scribble their own picture as you make one.
- A favourite pull toy often is a small wagon or an old purse for collecting things. Your toddler can practice putting objects in and out of it. It can also be used to store favourite items.
- Make a picture book by putting common, simple pictures cut from magazines into a photo album. Your toddler will enjoy photos of themself and family members. Pictures of pets are favourites, too.
- Toddlers are interested in playing with balls. Use a beach ball to roll, throw, and kick.
- Play the “What’s that?” game by pointing to clothing, toys, body parts, objects, or pictures and asking your toddler to name them. If your toddler doesn’t respond, name it for them and encourage imitation of the words.
- Fill a plastic tub with cornmeal or oatmeal. Put in kitchen spoons, strainers, measuring cups, funnels, or plastic containers. Toddlers can fill, dump, pour, and learn about textures and use of objects as tools. Tasting won’t be harmful.
- Toddlers will begin putting objects together. Simple puzzles (separate pieces) with knobs are great. Putting keys into locks and letters into mailbox slots is fun, too.
- Get two containers (coffee cups or cereal bowls) that look the same and a small toy. Hide the toy under one container while your toddler watches. Ask them, “Where did it go?” Eventually you can play the old shell game (moving the containers after you hide the toy).
- Help your toddler sort objects into piles. They can help you sort laundry (put socks in one pile and shirts in another). Play “clean up” games. Have your toddler put toys on specified shelves or boxes.
- Save milk cartons or gelatine or pudding boxes. Your toddler can stack them to make towers. You can also stuff grocery bags with newspapers and tape them shut to make big blocks.
- Lay out your toddler’s clothes on the bed before dressing. Ask them to give you a shirt, pants, shoes, and socks. This is an easy way to learn the names of common items.
Activities for Toddlers 20 – 24 Months Old
- Toddlers enjoy looking at old pictures of themselves. Tell simple stories about them as you look at the pictures. Talk about what was happening when the picture was taken.
- Cut a rectangular hole in the top of a shoebox. Let your toddler insert an old deck of playing cards or used envelopes. The box is easy storage for your toddler’s “mail.”
- Set up your own bowling game using plastic tumblers, tennis ball cans, or empty plastic bottles
for bowling pins. Show your toddler how to roll the ball to knock down the pins. Then let your toddler try. - Many everyday items (socks, spoons, shoes, mittens) can help your toddler learn about matching.
Hold up an object, and ask if they can find one like yours. Name the objects while playing the game. - Hide a loudly ticking clock or a softly playing transistor radio in a room and have your child find it. Take turns by letting them hide and you find.
- A good body parts song is “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” Get more detailed with body parts by naming teeth, eyebrows, fingernails, and so forth.
- Make your toddler an outdoor “paint” set by using a large wide paint brush and a bowl or bucket of water. Your toddler will have fun “painting” the side of the house, a fence, or the front porch.
- Turn objects upside down (books, cups, shoes) and see if your toddler notices they’re wrong and turns them back the right way. Your toddler will begin to enjoy playing “silly” games.
- Give your toddler some of your old clothes (hats, shirts, scarves, purses, necklaces, sunglasses) to
use for dress up. Make sure your toddler sees themself in the mirror. Ask them to tell you who is all
dressed up. - Use plastic farm animals or stuffed animals to tell the Old McDonald story. Use sound effects!
- Make grocery sack blocks by filling large paper grocery sacks about half full with shredded or crumpled newspaper. Fold the top of the sack over and tape it shut. Your toddler will enjoy tearing and crumpling the paper and stuffing the sacks. The blocks are great for stacking and building. Avoid newsprint contact with mouth. Wash hands after this activity.
- “Dress up” clothes offer extra practice for putting on and taking off shirts, pants, shoes, and socks. Toddlers can fasten big zippers and buttons.
- Put small containers, spoons, measuring cups, funnels, a bucket, shovels, and a colander into a sandbox. Don’t forget to include cars and trucks to drive on sand roads.
- Rhymes and songs with actions are popular at this age. “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” “I’m a Little Teapot,” and “Where Is Thumbkin?” are usual favourites. Make up your own using your toddler’s name in the song.
- Make your own playdough by mixing 2 cups flour and 3/4 cup salt. Add 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons oil. Knead well until it’s smooth; add food colouring, and knead until colour is fully blended. Toddlers will love squishing, squeezing, and pounding the dough.
- Playing beside or around other children the same age is fun but usually requires adult supervision.
Trips to the park are good ways to begin practicing interacting with other children. - Play the “show me” game when looking at books. Ask your toddler to find an object in a picture. Take turns. Let your toddler ask you to find an object in a picture. Let them turn the pages.
- Add a few Ping-Pong balls to your toddler’s bath toys. Play a “pop up” game by showing your toddler how balls pop back up after holding them under the water and letting go.
- Clean plastic containers with push or screw-on lids are great places to “hide” a favourite object or treat. Toddlers will practice pulling and twisting them to solve the “problem” of getting the object. Watch to see if your toddler asks you to help.
- Make a book by pasting different textures on each page. Materials such as sandpaper, feathers, cotton balls, nylon, silk, and buttons lend themselves to words such as rough, smooth, hard, and soft.
Activities for Children 24 – 30 Months Old
- Add actions to your child’s favourite nursery rhymes. Easy action rhymes include “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush,” “Jack Be Nimble,” “This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes,” “Ring Around the Rosy,” and “London Bridge.”
- Play Target Toss with a large bucket or box and bean bags or balls. Help your child count how many they get in the target. A ball of yarn or rolled-up socks also work well for an indoor target game.
- Wrap tape around one end of a piece of yarn to make it stiff like a needle and put a large knot at the other end. Have your child string large elbow macaroni, buttons, spoons, or beads. Make an edible necklace out of Cheerios.
- Children at this age love outings. One special outing can be going to the library. The librarian can help you find appropriate books. Make a special time for reading (like bedtime stories).
- Play a jumping game when you take a walk by jumping over the cracks in the sidewalk. You may have to hold your child and help them jump over at first.
- Take time to draw with your child when they want to get out paper and crayons. Draw large shapes and let your child colour them in. Take turns.
- During sandbox play, try wetting some of the sand. Show your child how to pack the container with the wet sand and turn it over to make sand structures or cakes.
- Add an old catalogue or two to your child’s library. It’s a good “picture” book for naming common
objects. - Give your child soap, a washcloth, and a dishpan of water. Let your child wash a “dirty” doll, toy dishes, or doll clothes. It’s good practice for hand washing and drying.
- Make “sound” containers using plastic Easter eggs or pantyhose eggs. Fill eggs with noisy objects
like sand, beans, or rice and tape the eggs shut. Have two eggs for each sound. Help your child match sounds and put them back in an egg carton together. - Show your child how to make snakes or balls or how to roll out pancakes with a small rolling pin
using playdough. Use large cookie cutters to make new playdough shapes. - Children at this age love to pretend and really enjoy it when you can pretend with them. Pretend
you are different animals, like a dog or cat. Make animal sounds and actions. Let your child be the pet owner who pets and feeds you. - Your child will begin to be able to make choices. Help them choose what to wear each day by giving a choice between two pairs of socks, two shirts, and so forth. Give choices at other times like snack or mealtime (two kinds of drink, cracker, etc.).
- Enhance listening skills by playing compact discs or cassettes with both slow and fast music. Songs with speed changes are great. Show your child how to move fast or slow with the music. (You might find children’s cassettes at your local library.)
- Children can find endless uses for boxes. A box big enough for your child to fit in can become a car. An appliance box with holes cut for windows and a door can become your child’s playhouse. Decorating the boxes with crayons, markers, or paints can be a fun activity to do together. Play “Follow the Leader.” Walk on tiptoes, walk backward, and walk slow or fast with big steps and little steps.
- Try a new twist to finger-painting. Use whipping cream on a washable surface (cookie sheet, Formica table). Help your child spread it around and draw pictures with your fingers. Add food colouring to give it some colour.
- Action is an important part of a child’s life. Play a game with a ball where you give directions and your child does the actions, such as “Roll the ball.” Kick, throw, push, bounce, and catch are other good actions. Take turns giving the directions.
- Make an obstacle course using chairs, pillows, or large cartons. Tell your child to crawl over, under, through, behind, in front of, or between the objects. Be careful arranging so that the pieces won’t tip and hurt your child.
- Make an obstacle course using chairs, pillows, or large cartons. Tell your child to crawl over, under, through, behind, in front of, or between the objects. Be careful arranging so that the pieces won’t tip and hurt your child.
Activities for Children 30 – 36 Months Old
- Tell or read a familiar story and pause frequently to leave out a word, asking your child to “fill it
in.” For example, Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandmother, what big ________ you have.” - Teach somersaults by doing one yourself first. Then help your child do one. Let them try it alone. Make sure furniture is out of the way. You may want to put some pillows on the floor for safety.
- Give a cup to your child. Use bits of cereal or fruit and place one in your child’s cup (“one for you”) and one in your cup (“one for me”). Take turns. Dump out your child’s cup and help count the pieces. This is good practice for early math skills.
- Put an old blanket over a table to make a tent or house. Pack a “picnic” sack for your camper. Have your child take along a pillow on the “camp out” for a nap. Flashlights are especially fun.
- Get a piece of butcher paper large enough for your child to lie on. Draw around your child’s body to
make an outline. Don’t forget fingers and toes. Talk about body parts and print the words on the paper. Let your child colour the poster. Hang the poster on a wall in your child’s room. - Children at this age may be interested in creating art in different ways. Try cutting a potato in half and carving a simple shape or design for your child to dip in paint and then stamp onto paper.
- Add water to tempera paint to make it runny. Drop some paint on a paper and blow through a straw to move the paint around the paper, or fill an old roll-on deodorant bottle with watered down paint. Your child can roll colour onto the paper.
- A good activity to learn location words is to build roads and bridges with blocks. Use toy cars to go on the road, under or over a bridge, between the houses, and so forth.
- Trace around simple objects with your child. Use cups of different sizes, blocks, or your child’s and your hands. Using felt-tip markers or crayons of different colours makes it even more fun.
- Have your child help you set the table. First, have your child place the plates, then cups, and then napkins. By placing one at each place, he will learn one-to-one correspondence. Show your child where the utensils should be placed.
- Collect empty boxes (cereal, TV dinners, egg cartons) and help your child set up her own grocery
store. - Help your child learn new words to describe objects in everyday conversations. Describe by colour, size, and shape (the blue cup, the big ball). Also, describe how things move (a car goes fast, a turtle moves slowly) and how they feel (ice cream is cold, soup is hot).
- Make your own puzzles by cutting out magazine pictures of whole people. Have your child help glue pictures onto cardboard. Cut pictures into three pieces by cutting curvy lines. Head, trunk, and legs make good pieces for your child to put together.
- Dribble different colours of paint in the middle or on one side of a paper. Fold the paper in half. Let your child open the paper to see the design it makes.
- A good game for trips in the car is to play a matching game with a set of Old Maid cards. Place a few different cards in front of your child. Give him a card that matches one displayed and ask him to find the card like the one you gave him.
- Cut pictures out of magazines to make two groups such as dogs, food, toys, or clothes. Have two boxes ready and put a picture of a dog in one and of food in the other. Have your child put additional pictures in the right box, helping her learn about categories.
- Cut a stiff paper plate to make a hand paddle and show your child how to use it to hit a balloon. See
how long your child can keep the balloon in the air or how many times he can hit it back to you. This activity helps develop large body and eye–hand coordination. Always carefully supervise when playing with balloons. - To improve coordination and balance, show your child the “bear walk” by walking on hands and feet, keeping the legs and arms straight. Try the “rabbit hop” by crouching down and then jumping forward.
- Encourage your child to try the “elephant walk,” bending forward at the waist and letting your arms (hands clasped together) swing freely while taking slow and heavy steps. This is great to do with music.
- Make a poster of your child’s favourite things using pictures from old magazines. Use safety scissors
and paste or a glue stick to allow your child to do it independently, yet safely.
Activities for Children 36 – 48 Months Old
- Make a book “about me” for your child. Save family pictures, leaves, magazine pictures of a favourite food, and drawings your child makes. Put them in a photo album, or glue onto sheets of paper and staple together to make a book.
- Make a bird feeder using peanut butter and bird seed. Help your child find a pine cone or a piece of
wood to spread peanut butter on. Roll in or sprinkle with seeds and hang in a tree or outside a window. While your child watches the birds, ask her about the number, size, and colour of the different birds that visit. - Grow a plant. Choose seeds that sprout quickly (beans or peas), and together with your child place the
seeds in a paper cup, filling almost to the top with dirt. Place the seeds 1/2 inch under the soil. Put the cup on a sunny windowsill and encourage your child to water and watch the plant grow. - Before bedtime, look at a magazine or children’s book together. Ask your child to point to pictures
as you name them, such as “Where is the truck?” Be silly and ask them to point with an elbow or foot. Ask them to show you something that is round or something that goes fast. - Play a matching game. Make two sets of 10 or more pictures. You can use pictures from two copies of the same magazine or a deck of playing cards. Lay the pictures face up and ask your child to find two that are the same. Start with two picture sets and gradually add more.
- While cooking or eating dinner, play the “more or less” game with your child. Ask who has more potatoes and who has less. Try this using same-size glasses or cups, filled with juice or milk.
- Cut out some large paper circles and show them to your child. Talk with your child about things in their world that are “round” (a ball, the moon). Cut the circle in half, and ask them if they can make
it round again. Next, cut the circle into three pieces, and so forth. - During bath time, play Simon Says to teach your child names of body parts. First, you can be “Simon” and help your child wash the part of their body that “Simon says.” Let your child have a turn to be “Simon,” too. Be sure to name each body part as it is washed and give your child a chance to wash themself.
- Talk about the number 3. Read stories that have 3 in them (The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears). Encourage your child to count to 3 using similar objects (rocks, cards, blocks). Talk about being 3 years old. After your child gets the idea, move up to the numbers 4, 5, and so forth as long as your child is interested.
- Put out several objects that are familiar to your child (brush, coat, banana, spoon, book). Ask your
child to show you which one you can eat or which one you wear outside. Help your child put the objects in groups that go together, such as “things that we eat” and “things that we wear.” - When your child is getting dressed, encourage them to practice with buttons and zippers. Play a game of Peekaboo to show them how buttons go through the holes. Pretend the zipper is a choo-choo train
going “up and down” the track. - Practice following directions. Play a silly game where you ask your child to do two or three fun or unusual things in a row. For example, ask them to “Touch your elbow and then run in a circle” or “Find a book and put it on your head.”
- Encourage your child’s “sharing skills” by making a play corner in your home. Include only two children to start (a brother, sister, or friend) and have a few of the same type of toys available so that the children don’t have to share all of the time. Puppets or blocks are good because they encourage
playing together. If needed, use an egg or oven timer with a bell to allow the children equal time with the toys. - Listen for sounds. Find a cosy spot, and sit with your child. Listen and identify all of the sounds that you hear. Ask your child if it is a loud or soft sound. Try this activity inside and outside your home.
- Make an adventure path outside. Use a garden hose, rope, or piece of chalk and make a “path” that
goes under the bench, around the tree, and along the wall. Walk your child through the path first,
using these words. After they can do it, make a new path or have your child make a path. - Find large pieces of paper or cardboard for your child to draw on. Using crayons, pencils, or markers, play a drawing game where you follow their lead by copying exactly what they draw. Next, encourage your child to copy your drawings, such as circles or straight lines.
- When reading or telling a familiar story for bedtime, stop and leave out a word. Wait for your
child to “fill in the blank.” - Make a necklace you can eat by stringing Cheerios or Froot Loops on a piece of yarn or string. Wrap a short piece of tape around the end of the string to make a firm tip for stringing.
- Listen and dance to music with your child. You can stop the music for a moment and play the “freeze” game, where everyone “freezes,” or stands perfectly still, until you start the music again. Try to “freeze” in unusual positions for fun.
- Make long scarves out of fabric scraps, old dresses, or old shirts by tearing or cutting long pieces. Use material that is lightweight. Hold on to the edge of the scarf, twirl around, run, and jump.
Activities for Children 48 – 60 Months Old
- Play the “who, what, and where” game. Ask your child who works in a school, what is in a school, and where is the school. Expand on your child’s answers by asking more questions. Ask about other topics,
like the library, bus stop, or post office. - When you are setting the table for a meal, play the “what doesn’t belong” game. Add a small toy or other object next to the plate and eating utensils. Ask your child if they can tell you what doesn’t belong here. You can try this game any time of the day. For example, while brushing your child’s hair, set out a brush, barrette, comb, and a ball.
- Let your child help prepare a picnic. Show them what they can use for the picnic (bread, peanut butter, and apples). Lay out sandwich bags and a lunch box, basket, or large paper bag. Then go have fun on the picnic.
- On a rainy day, pretend to open a shoe store. Use old shoes, paper, pencils, and a chair to sit down and try on shoes. You can be the customer. Encourage your child to “write” your order down. Then they can take a turn being the customer and practice trying on and buying shoes.
- Play the “guess what will happen” game to encourage your child’s problem-solving and thinking skills.
For example, during bath time, ask your child, “What do you think will happen if I turn on the hot and cold water at the same time?” or “What would happen if I stacked the blocks to the top of the ceiling?” - Play “bucket hoops.” Have your child stand about 6 feet away and throw a medium-size ball at a large bucket or trash can. For fun outdoors on a summer day, fill the bucket with water.
- Write your child’s name often. When your child finishes drawing a picture, be sure to put their name on it and say the letters as you write them. If your child is interested, encourage them to name and/or to copy the letters.
- Point out the letters in your child’s name throughout the day on cereal boxes, sign boards, and books.
Invite your child to play a counting game. Using a large piece of paper, make a simple game board with a straight path. Use dice to determine the count. Count with your child, and encourage them to hop the game piece to each square, counting each time the piece touches down. - Make a person with playdough or clay using sticks, buttons, toothpicks, beads, and any other small items. Start with a playdough (or clay) head and body and use the objects for arms, legs, and eyes. Ask your child questions about their person.
- Encourage your child to learn their full name, address, and telephone number. Make it into a singing or rhyming game for fun. Ask your child to repeat it back to you when you are riding in the car or on the bus.
- Cut out three small, three medium, and three large circles. Colour each set of circles a different colour (or use coloured paper for each). Your child can sort the circles by colour or by size. You can also ask your child about the different sizes. For example, ask your child, “Which one is smallest?” Try this game using buttons removed from an old shirt.
- Go on a walk and pick up things you find. Bring the items home and help your child sort them into groups. For example, groups can include rocks, paper, or leaves. Encourage your child to start a collection of special things. Find a box or special place where they can display the collection.
- Play a picture guessing game. Cover a picture in a familiar book with a sheet of paper and uncover a little at a time until your child has guessed the picture.
- Let your child help you prepare a meal. They can spread peanut butter and jelly, peel a banana, cut with a butter knife, pour cereal, and add milk (using a small container). Never give them a task involving the stove or oven without careful supervision.
- “Write” and mail a letter to a friend or relative. Provide your child with paper, crayons or pencil, and an envelope. Let your child draw, scribble, or write; or they can tell you what to write down. When
your child is finished, let them fold the letter to fit in the envelope, lick, and seal. You can write the address on the front. Be sure to let them decorate the envelope as well. After they have put the stamp on, help mail the letter. - Play “circus.” Find old, colourful clothes and help your child put on a circus show. Provide a rope on the ground for the high wire act, a sturdy box to stand on to announce the acts, fun objects for a magic act, and stuffed animals for the show. Encourage your child’s imagination and creativity in planning the show. Don’t forget to clap.
- Take a pack of playing cards and choose four or five matching sets. Lay the cards out face up, and help your child to find the pairs. Talk about what makes the pairs of cards the “same” and “different.”
- Make bubbles. Use 1⁄ 4 cup dishwashing liquid (Dawn or Joy works best) and 2 2⁄ 3 cups water. Use straws to blow bubbles on a cookie sheet. Or make a wand by stringing two pieces of a drinking straw
onto a string or piece of yarn. Tie the ends of the string together to make a circle. Holding onto the straw pieces, dip the string in the bubble mixture. Pull it out and gently move forward or backward.
You should see lovely, big bubbles. - Make a bean bag to catch and throw. Fill the toe of an old sock or pantyhose with 3/4 cup dry beans. Sew the remaining side or tie off with a rubber band. Play “hot potato” or simply play catch. Encourage your child to throw the ball overhand and underhand.
- Pretend to be an animal. Encourage your child to use their imagination and become a kitty. You can ask, “What do kitties like to eat?” or “Where do kitties live?” Play along, and see how far the game can go.
Activities for Children 60 – 66 Months Old
- Make a nature collage. Collect leaves, pebbles, and small sticks from outside and glue them on
a piece of cardboard or stiff paper. (Cereal and cracker boxes can be cut up and used as cardboard.) - Practice writing first names of friends, toys, and relatives. Your child may need to trace the letters
of these names at first. Be sure to write in large print letters. - Encourage dramatic play. Help your child act out their favourite nursery rhyme, cartoon, or story. Use large, old clothes for costumes.
- Play simple ball games such as kickball. Use a large (8”–12”) ball, and slowly roll it toward your child. See if your child can kick the ball and run to “first base.”
- When reading stories to your child, let them make up the ending, or retell favourite stories with “silly” new endings that she makes up.
- Let your child help you with simple cooking tasks such as mashing potatoes, making cheese sandwiches, and fixing a bowl of cereal. Afterward, see if they can tell you the order that you followed to cook and mash the potatoes or to get the bread out of the cupboard and put the cheese on it. Supervise carefully when your child is near a hot stove.
- Play “20 Questions.” Think of an animal. Let your child ask 20 yes/no questions about the animal until she guesses what animal it is. (You may need to help your child to ask yes/no questions at first.) Now let your child choose an animal and you ask the 20 questions. You can also use other categories such as food, toys, and people.
- You can play “license plate count up” in the car or on the bus. Look for a license plate that contains the
number 1. Then try to find other plates with 2, 3, 4, and so forth, up to 10. When your child can play
“count-up,” play “count-down,” starting with the number 9, then 8, 7, 6, and so forth, down to 1. - Practice pretend play or pantomime. Here are some things to act out: 1) eating hot pizza with stringy cheese; 2) winning a race; 3) finding a giant spider; 4) walking in thick, sticky mud; and 5) making footprints in wet sand.
- Make a simple concentration game with two or three pairs of duplicate playing cards (two king of hearts), or make your own cards out of duplicate pictures or magazine ads. Start with two or three pairs of cards. Turn them face down and mix them up. Let your child turn two cards over to see if they match. If they don’t, turn the cards face down again. You can gradually increase to playing with more pairs of cards.
- Make an obstacle course either inside or outside your home. You can use cardboard boxes for jumping over or climbing through, broomsticks for laying between chairs for “limbo” (going under), and pillows for walking around.
- Let your child help lay out the course. After a couple of practice tries, have them complete the obstacle course as quickly as possible. Then try hopping or jumping the course. After washing hands, practice writing letters and numbers in pudding or thinned mashed potatoes spread on a cookie sheet or cutting board. Licking fingers is allowed!
- Play mystery sock. Put a common household item in a sock. Tie off the top of the sock. Have your child feel the sock and guess what is inside. Take turns guessing what’s inside.
- Make colour rhymes. Take turns rhyming a colour and a word: blue, shoe; red, bed; yellow, fellow.
You can also rhyme with names (Dad, sad; Jack, sack). Take turns with the rhyming. - Make an “I can read” poster. Cut out names your child can read—fast food restaurant names, names from cereal cartons, and other foods. You can write your child’s name, names of relatives, and names of friends on pieces of paper and put them on the poster. Add to the poster as your child learns to read more names.
- Play “what doesn’t belong?” Let your child find the word that doesn’t belong in a list of six or seven spoken words. The one that doesn’t belong can be the word that doesn’t rhyme or the word that is from a different category. Some examples are 1) fly, try, by, coat, sigh, my; 2) Sam, is, ram, am, spam, ham; 3) red, orange, purple, green, yellow, beetle; 4) spoon, fork, shirt, pan, spatula, knife. Have your child give three to four words with one that doesn’t belong.
- Play the “memory” game. Put five or six familiar objects on a table. Have your child close their eyes. Remove one object, and rearrange the rest. Ask your child which object is missing. Take turns finding the missing object.
- Make puppets out of ice cream sticks, paper bags, socks, or egg carton cups. Decorate the puppets with yarn, pens, buttons, and coloured paper. Make a puppet stage by turning a coffee table or card table on its side. Be the audience while your child crouches behind the table and puts on a puppet show.
- Play the old shell game. Get four cups or glasses that you cannot see through. Find a small ball, object, or edible item such as a raisin or cracker that fits under the cups. Have your child watch as you place the object under one of the cups and move all of the cups around. Have your child try to remember which cup the object is under. Have your child take a turn moving the objects while you guess.
- Play “mystery sound.” Select household items that make distinct sounds such as a clock, cereal box, metal lid (placed on a pan), and potato chip bag. Put a blindfold on your child and have them try to guess which object made the sound. Take turns with your child.