The Best Free Activity for Your Toddler or Young Preschooler
If there is one practical life activity both toddlers and preschoolers love doing, it is opening and closing! As simple as this activity sounds, it's an instant hit among most children. The best thing about it? You can probably put it together in a few minutes using stuff you have in your own home. How convenient is that in this time of lockdowns and quarantine?
How to set up the activity?
You’ll need:
A basket or a tray
A variety of child-sized containers and other small items that can be opened and closed.
3 things are enough for toddlers; preschoolers can handle 5 items.
When to introduce this activity?
You can introduce this activity as soon as you see that your child is interested in opening and closing. This usually comes quite early because they see us opening and closing things all the time. In our house, Emma’s interest in this activity showed in several ways. She would climb up on her learning tower to collect food containers from the drying rack. Then she found lids and started putting them together with the containers. She also started pointing to things she wanted to open, such as her toothpaste, and said: “Emma do it.” Once your toddler starts using this phrase, it’s over. You gotta let them try.
I introduced this activity to Emma when she was 18 months old. She was working with it almost every day for several weeks. Once she didn't show interest in it anymore, I put it away. I’ve rotated it back recently. She is 23 months old now. I can clearly see how differently she is using the material now. Her movements are more coordinated. She is interested in opening the containers to see if there is something inside. Sometimes she tries to put one of her little Schleich farm animals in the containers.
How to introduce opening and closing?
Ideally, this activity will be done on your child’s table.
If your child already knows how to carry a basket with things, you can invite her to bring it to her table. Is it her first time having an activity in a basket? Show her how to carry the basket (the tray) to her table. Then let her have a turn.
At a table, tell her that you’ll show her how to open and close these items.
Slowly place all objects on the table from left to right without making any sound.
Take the first container and show your child how to open and close it. Use slow movements (practice this first before showing your child). Make sure your child can see each step of the process.
Continue with the other two objects. Then invite your child to do that. If your child is a preschooler, you can ask him to have a turn after showing him each item.
After showing your child, let him explore.
Notes
Always handle one object at a time.
You can rotate objects in the basket to introduce a variety of containers.
On the next occasion, you can use these items to introduce new vocabulary to the child. For example, say: “This is a drawstring bag” or “drawstring bag” while holding it in your hands.
Have you introduced this activity to your toddler? Let me know in the comments if they liked it.
You could also enjoy: