Social-Emotional Development
Piggy Sandwiches
Offer your child a rice cake or large round cracker. Mix a small amount of cherry juice or red food colouring with cream cheese to make it pink. Invite your child to spread the pink cream cheese onto the rice cake. Help your child place a banana slice on the cracker to make a pig snout. Use 2 strawberry slices for ears. Give your child two mini chocolate chips or raisins to use for eyes.
Cognitive Development
Mud Pies
Invite your child to make mud pies for pigs using a tub of water, a tub of dirt and pie tins. Explore the mud with your child and describe what you feel. “The mud is squishy in my fingers.” “This feels cold.”
Language Development
Three Little Pigs
Read or tell the story, “The Three Little Pigs” to your child or watch online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGFjzp8wl1E. Pause while reading the story and discuss with your child. “What did the wolf say to the pigs when he wanted in their house?” “What did the first two pigs do after the wolf blew down their homes?”
Physical Literacy
Stacking Cups
On the floor or carpet, invite your child to help you build. Using beverage cups, demonstrate how they can be stacked to build a structure. Encourage your child to try and problem solve how to build with the cups. Model squatting down to start the structure and then reaching up to complete a larger structure. Can you get your structure high up over your child’s height? Are they able to reach up, up and up?
Creative Activity
Playdough Structures
Gather straws, tube pasta and playdough. Encourage your child to use the materials provided to create a structure that allows them to thread the pasta onto the straw, using the playdough as a base. Your child may have other ideas on how to use the materials. Their creativity will foster a brand-new masterpiece.
Additional Resources:
Try this website for budget-friendly Montessori activities to do with your child. The site includes motor skills, practical life skills, play activities, fine motor skills, language and math activities and arts, craft and music ideas.
https://www.mylittlemoppet.com/fun-easy-and-budget-friendly-montessori-activities-for-kids/
Head to this Active for Life website to find 49 fun physical activities to do with your 2 to 4-year old. You can also find some resources for parents and articles to read. A couple of titles that might be of interest at this time, “42 Easy Activities to Keep Kids Busy While Parents Work at Home” and “School’s Cancelled—What Now? Here Are 200+ Activities You Can Do with Kids at Home”.
https://activeforlife.com/49-fun-physical-activities-to-do-with-kids-aged-2-to-4/