Cognitive Development
Bowling
Use empty, lightweight plastic bottles (or blocks) as bowling pins. Approach this as a problem-solving game. “How can we make all the bottles fall?” Demonstrate rolling a ball to knock down the “bowling pins”. Count how many are knocked over. Add action words to your play. “I rolled the ball and the bottles fell over”
Physical Literacy
Playdough Shake
- 1 cup of water
- 1/3 cup of dish soap
- 1/6 cup of honey
Pour the ingredients into a mason jar or cup with a lid. Shake to mix them up. Encourage your child to shake the jar as well. They will need to use their arm and core muscles to shake the jar. It may look frothy, but just let it sit for a while or scrape off the top layer of bubbles.
Social-Emotional Development
Face Puzzles
Take a photo of your infant and print it to a larger size (8 ½ x 11). Cut the photo into quarters. Help your infant work on their face puzzle. Describe the facial features in the photo and correspond them to your child’s face.
Language Development
Window Talk
This is a good activity for a rainy day. Find a window that your infant can look out of or pick up your infant to look out of the window together. Describe what you see. “I see the bus driving by” “There is a bird sitting in the tree” “It’s raining today, the ground is wet” If your child can participate, ask your child to gesture to what they see. “Do you see the tree? Show me where it is?” “Do you see my blue car?”
Creative Activity
No Brush Required
Not having a paintbrush is not a deterrent to making beautiful art with your infant. You can be just as creative with the tools you use. Consider using any of the following tools for painting:
• Q-tips
• Make-up sponges
• Crumbled up paper
• Bubble wrap
• Bottle brushes
Additional Resources:
https://www.freechildrenstories.com/ - This website has a selection of free original stories for children ages 3-10 and novels for middle-grade children written by Daniel Errico.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/play-learning/learning-ideas/early-numeracy - This Australian website page gives suggestions to help your infant or toddler develop numeracy skills. But, don’t stop at just this page. This website contains loads of information, both articles and videos, on parenting for all age groups. Some of the topics covered include behaviour, communication, sleep, nutrition and fitness, play and learning, safety and more.
Learning at Home Infant Week 10
Learning at Home Infant Week 5
