Category: 18 to 24 months

Spice Painting

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Spice Painting (5)

Having recently enjoyed a sensory game where she smelled items from the pantry, I thought Veronika might like marrying that game to another favorite: Painting!

To set up, I set out white paint and then chose spices with scents across the board, from spicy to sweet to earthy and back again. Our lineup included:

  • cinnamon
  • black pepper
  • turmeric
  • paprika
  • ginger

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For each spice, I poured a little white paint into a paper cup and then tapped in some of the spice. It was hard to get the mixtures to turn out exactly as I wanted. Too little spice and they just looked like flecks in the white paint. Too much and it became too dry to spread.

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Of course Veronika wasn’t bothered about the consistency! I held each cup up to her nose and described what she was smelling. Cinnamon was sweet, paprika was spicy, and so on. Even though we could also smell the paint, she seemed to enjoy it!

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Then she began smearing the paints all over a piece of black paper (which I thought would look best against the white paint). Whoops, she managed to dump some spices out, too, before I screwed the lids back on tightly.

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Older kids can be more deliberate and careful with the activity, either making a guessing game out of it, or making brushstrokes of each paint on the paper and labeling them.

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It wasn’t long before Veronika tested out some of the spicy paint on her legs, too. Which meant it was time for clean up!

Canned Food Blocks for Toddlers

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Canned Food Blocks (4)

I had a rather ridiculous number of food cans after this week’s grocery shop, and when Veronika spotted them on the ground, she trotted right over. An instant toy! She immediately wanted to build with them.

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At first it was simply a matter of building towers up and I loved watching her carefully balance the cans. There were two single-serve oatmeal containers as well, along with a smaller tomato paste can, and she zeroed in on these as perfect for the top of the tower.

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Her expression was so intent and serious as she worked.

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Then she took everything apart and started over.

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This kept her busy for a while, until one of the towers fell over and she realized that the cans could…roll!

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Well then of course we needed to go “bowling”. I grabbed a few empty plastic bottles from the recycle bin to be our pins, and our cans went rolling towards them.

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Honestly though, she was less interested in knocking pins down and more interested in just chasing around a rolling can or two.

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Soon this involved throwing. She was very proud of herself, so I didn’t stop her right away. Definitely only allow this part of the game over a padded surface, if you don’t want heavy cans thrown on your floor.

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One note of caution: From the moment she started building, I was worried about her little toes, and yes, one can did fall on her. In retrospect, I would have put shoes on at the beginning!

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Luckily we only had a brief moment of tears before Veronika was up and building again.

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Bubble Wrap Roads and Runways

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Bubble Wrap Fun (11)

Having recently made a tape road, today’s giant road for Veronika was made out of bubble wrap instead! First, I taped a long rectangle of bubble wrap to the kitchen floor, securing it with painter’s tape.

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I encouraged Veronika to stomp on it with her feet to pop the bubbles, but she doesn’t weigh quite enough. Thinking quickly, we pulled out her heavy doll carriage.

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Now she got to enjoy hearing that pop pop pop! She zoomed the carriage back and forth a few times.

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Since we had moved on to vehicles, I pulled out additional cars and trucks for her to roll over the bubble road.

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Then, to add to her “city”, I cut a cardboard box into several pieces so we could make it into more of a parking garage, including a ramp along one side.

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She loved vrooming her cars off the road and into this garage. The empty roll from the painter’s tape made a great tunnel!

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If you want to get really creative, add additional boxes and have the bubble wrap road go right up and over them!

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When the car play was done, we went back to using the bubble wrap as a runway for our bodies. I showed Veronika how to crawl on it, and her little knees were rewarded with bubble pops.

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Next she sat down and tried popping individual bubbles with her fingertips. This is great for muscle strengthening!

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Big brother Travis wanted a turn running along our runway, too!

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I taped down a second rectangle, thinking the kids might want to race side by side. If your kids are close in age, you could even turn this into a competition to see who pops all their bubbles first, or whose runway is the loudest.

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However you play, bubble wrap is a great way to get out some energy inside!

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Fun with Balls

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Fun with Balls (3)

Today I gave Veronika a game with the easiest set up ever: balls + an empty muffin pan.

Having recently played with pom poms in a muffin tin, I knew she would like the concept. This time, I filled the tins of a standard 12 cup muffin pan with balls of various sizes. I included golf balls, tennis balls, and a few toy sensory balls.

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I deliberately left some of the compartments empty so she could transfer from one to another, making this almost like toddler whack-a-mole. She immediately got busy!

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I also placed a small box to the side so she could gather up the balls if she wanted to, but she preferred moving them either from tin to tin or directly onto the floor.

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She has never really played with tennis balls before, making these the most novel part of the game, and was delighted when she realized they bounce. So after that it became a game of chasing tennis balls all around the first floor of our apartment.

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What simple but pure fun!

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Lotion Smelling Sensory Activity

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Reuse Lotion (4)

Veronika has a current obsession with… lotion! I laugh when I think I might wind up with a girly girl, since she is certainly trending that way. Instead of saying no today to her requests for my lotions and creams, I gave her a few nearly empty bottles and let her go to town.

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There were several “learning” elements to this game. First, squeezing the tubes was great for strengthening her hands and fingers. I gave her a little container to aim for as she squeezed out the leftover lotion, though of course her aim wasn’t always spot on.

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Then there was the sensory element, both for smell and touch. We talked about the different scents, and I described each to her as I held a dab of up to her nose.

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Meanwhile she loves the way that lotion feels, busily rubbing it on her own arms and legs.

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Finally, there was the pure fun of making a mess. So before you toss a nearly empty bottle of lotion, consider building up a little collection for your toddler’s sensory play.

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Ring Fun

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Ring Fun (4)

Need a way to keep your toddler busy for a short while? Look no further than a few items you probably have in your kitchen cabinets: a wooden spoon, an empty container (or plastic bowl), and canning rings.

For set up, I cut a hole in the lid of a big yogurt container so the handle of the wooden spoon could fit through it. Press play dough into the bottom of the container and wedge in the spoon so it doesn’t wobble around, then secure the lid.

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I presented this apparatus to Veronika with the canning rings already piled on. So her first task was to slip one off!

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She loved this, and immediately pulled up the top three or four. She discovered that if she slid up one from lower in the pile, the ones above it toppled off the handle at the same time and made a spectacularly loud crash! This was a delight.

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Then she turned her focus to putting them back on the handle.

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“Circle!” she said, recognizing the shape, and started counting them as she slid them on or off.

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Like so many projects at this age, the game then veered in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. But sometimes toddlers know best! When she reached the bottom of the ring pile and could peer down into the container, she noticed the play dough holding the spoon in place.

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Well now she needed the lid off! She loved squishing the spoon into the play dough.

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Then it became a game of toddler field hockey, whacking the blob of play dough around the room.

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She was so proud when she could scoop the play dough up and drop it back into the container. Goal! So really, we got two games for the price of one.

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Guess the Scent

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Guess the Scent (2)

Veronika is at that age where she’s a bit of a nuisance while I prep dinner, so I needed a quick activity to keep her busy. I decided to involve her in a culinary way tonight, instead of simply distracting her. This game is not only great for building vocabulary about different foods, but doubles as sensory play.

I set out little paper cups full of strongly scented items, including the following: cinnamon, black pepper, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and popcorn. I also included a cut lemon.

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I held each one to Veronika’s nose and encouraged her to smell, telling her the name of each food as I did so. The cinnamon got a grin.

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The black pepper was immediately pushed back. “No!” she told me.

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Older toddlers can make this more of a guessing game, closing their eyes and telling you what they smell. With younger toddlers, expect some mess. Of course Veronika wanted to dump out all the paper cups, so we soon had a strangely-scented mixture that she could mash about on the tray.

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Before I could stop her, she took a nibble.

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Oh no, I half expected tears! But then she told me, “I like it”. Well, there could be worse combinations than black pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate.

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Then she needed to lick the lemon, so this activity turned into more of a tasting experiment than I had intended. But I love watching when a toddler takes a game in their own direction.

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Next time I wouldn’t do this during dinner prep; it turned out to be quite a mess! But at least it kept her busy while food was in the oven.

Treasure Jars

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Treasure Jars (5)

Toddlers love little jars, toddlers love lids, and toddlers love surprises. This activity ticks off all 3 boxes!

I had a few old baby food jars that were rinsed and cleaned, with the labels off, and I knew they would make perfect little “treasure boxes” for Veronika.

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I filled each jar with a small item for her to discover, aiming to make them as varied as possible. Two contained small toys (a plastic dinosaur and a Duplo figure), one was more sensory (fluffy pom poms), and one was a yummy treat (cereal to snack on).

She immediately wanted the lids off. I had left them loose, so she was quite pleased to discover she could twist them off herself.

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She was well rewarded.

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“Cereal!” she declared after opening the first, and immediately began snacking.

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Her exploration continued. “Ooh, pom poms!” she said, peering deep inside. The two toys got a similar reaction. What could this be?

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A dinosaur!

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Then she discovered she could put the lids on and trap the toys, and do it all over again. Another toddler favorite: repetition!

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For added sensory fun, we shook the jars. The Duplo was loud and the pom poms were very quiet. “Shh,” she said.

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Then of course she practiced dumping everything out.

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Picking up cereal pieces and transferring them back into a jar was great for her pincer grip development. Little jars like this are fantastic, and you can leave some around for solo play any time.

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Since the baby food jars were glass, I made sure Veronika played over a padded surface. If you’re using plastic jars instead, leave them anywhere around the house! They can be “discovered” and played with over and over again.

Treasure Jars

If your toddler is older, make the containers harder to get into, like those with a zipper or buckle closure.

Yummy Edible Frozen Excavation

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Frozen Berry Excavate (3)

Travis used to love hammering into ice as a toddler, and today was Veronika’s first opportunity to do the same. This time, as a twist, I made the game edible.

The night before, I froze berries in individual compartments of an ice cube tray. I also made one larger block of ice full of berries in a Tupperware container, hoping to add some variety.

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It was a hot and humid morning to head to the patio with our icy treasures. I simply set the blocks of ice out on a shallow tray, and gave Veronika her toy hammer and screwdriver (to serve as a chisel).

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At first everything was frozen solid, so she wasn’t very interested after an exploratory tap or two.

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But thanks to the weather it all soon started to melt. This was great because it meant Veronika felt like her hammering was really making a difference, even though the sun honestly did most of the work.

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When she reached the first berry, she immediately needed to give it a try!

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Whoops! The blackberries were a little sour. Then she discovered she could mash and smoosh the berries that had been released from the ice. This was even more fun!

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The melting ice cubes became almost like paint, too, since the dark blue of the berries left swirls of color behind.

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All in all, this was a gorgeous pause in morning sunshine, part sensory play and part snack!

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Funny Song

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Funny Song (2)

No doubt your toddler has firm opinions about favorite songs; Veronika certainly does! It’s amazing how quickly kids pick up on lyrics, not just when they are correct, but also when they are slightly off. One great trick for brain development is to sing a familiar song, but make one or two words different and silly. Then see if your child notices!

So today we didn’t have wheels on the bus. We had wheels on the… plane? This got giggles. Definitely use props for added laughs. For example, “Sun, sun go away” was silly to sing when she had the rain umbrella out.

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Did Old MacDonald have a farm… or a castle?

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Did the farmer have a dog named Bingo… or a cat instead?

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Veronika enjoyed most of the silly verses, but sometimes she wanted a song to stay true to the original. Twinkle twinkle little… cookie?

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This actually earned Veronika’s grumpy face! She loves stars so much that she wasn’t ready to hear a change to the lyrics. So we quickly went back to the original.