Animal Themed Activities for Toddlers

My little girl loves animals so much, she's so interested about them, their names, the sounds they make (I remember how she gets stunned with cat's "meows" and dog's barks when she was around 9 months old), their habitat, and more.

So I decided to make a list of the fun activities/plays we had about learning animals so far. These were mostly an introduction on learning about animals, and didn't require a lot of time in terms of preparation. we just basically use whatever animal toys/replicas we have at that time. Of course as much as I want to recreate those bunch of wonderful homeschooling lessons that you can find on the world wide web, it's quite hard to find time. So this working Mommy's solution is to just recreate as much play as we can using whatever toys she have at the moment.

These plastic mold shape sea animals is a great tool we used in introducing her the animals that swims on the water. We had fun using them during our bath-time plays and sand play (during one of our beach trip). Aside from the fun and learning that these plays gives to her, she also acquire developmental advantages for physical, social, cognitive, sensory, and speech.

Next was this animal wooden puzzle, she loves naming each animals before fitting them in their right place. We sometimes use this on our story telling sessions if there are animals involve.

This Melissa & Doug Water Wow coloring book, also helps her in identifying different types of animals and their habitats, as this book has 4 animal-themed pages---farm animals, sea animals, pet animals and jungle animals. This book have faded pictures which shows up when the water pen rubbed over them,  she loves finding those hidden item listed on the back side of the previous page.

My little girl loves story telling so much, even more if its about animals, she always choose stories about animals every bedtime story session. And to make our story telling more exciting & fun I sometimes bought books like these. With these a simple story telling become a playful one.

She loves those big eyes of the insects.

includes a finger puppet head of the main character. 
She giggles whenever I animate the puppet while reading. 
We also have the puppy and mouse version of these books. 

"I got big eyes too, like Mr. Ant, Mommy" --she said

I was so amazed how Jashley was able to recognized all this animals in their silhouette. This was used on the animal hunting activity prepared by my cousins for the kids on our family Christmas party last December. These silhouetted animals was scattered all over the place/venue (under the tables/chairs, behind the trees/plants, etc.), We were given list of the animals we need to find. As we were hunting this cutout animals I was so surprised that she was able to identify almost all the animal we found and when I check the list it's sure does written there. Well I think the wooden animal puzzle is somehow responsible for that.

She enjoys this simple game wherein someone will show her the cutout, then she'll say the color, the name and the sound of that particular animal.

here is Papa (FIL) and her playing that game

there she was making the sound of the lion... ROAR!!!!!

and the elphants trumpet sound... EEEEEEE!!!!

This Cutout Animal Foam-sheets not only helps her in terms of expanding her vocabulary and language skills but also helps develop her cognitive skills and a great visual sensory activity.

She was recently got curious about land, water and sky animals, that she frequently checks on me whether a *insert any animal name here* walks on the land/fly in the sky/swim on the water. So to make her understand more about it I bought an animal replicas, made a land/grass sensory bin using a green colored spaghetti pasta that was break into pieces to make it look like grass and filled a basin with water and add a drop of blue food coloring to make it look like an ocean.

I asked her to sort out the animals in its respective habitats. She had fun doing this activity causing us to repeat it several times as requested by her.  

carefully bringing the animals on their respective home

"this donkey walks on the land, right Mommy?" -she asked

And this another activity that I just quickly put up when she suddenly demand for a play, I grab one of her animal book and ask her to match her animal replicas to the pictures of the animals in the book.

She's busy working with the activity when she noticed that she don't have the replicas of some of the animals in the pictures, She blurted out "Wala ako rabbit (I don't have rabbit), lets buy a rabbit Mommy, Ok?".

This may not much as compared to the overwhelming animal activity on web that I wanted to recreate for her, but knowing that my little girl enjoyed every single activity we did, it definitely made me happy and inspired to prepare more activities/plays for her.  

How I discover Montessori Education

When I noticed that Jashley started to get curious on things around her, when she can already identify things, when she was able to follow a simple instruction, and can speak a few words, I take that as a cue that she's now ready for some simple activities that we can enjoy together. Back then all I want is for her to enjoy, to be entertained and of course to learn, simple as that. I strongly believe in the power of learning through play, that children learn more when they are playing and develop a lot of skills through playing. Thus explains the teaching strategy I do with Jashley, I want her to associate learning as a fun thing to do not a tiring one. Little did I know that somehow I was already applying Montessori Principles on our activities and plays.

Here are some of the example activities she have done, which I just recently realized was also using in Montessori Teaching:

This Fabric Fishing Toy that I made for her. My only reason in making these back then, was because I know she will have fun playing this and because she love fishes so much. I didn't know that it's a great activity in developing physical skills such as hand and eye coordination, gross motor and fine motor skills.

Another one is this Cutting Fruit and Vegetables Set that I got from a toy store. Again when I bought these I just thought that she'll have fun cutting these foods. But beside using it to teach her about fruits and vegetables, I realized that this is also a practical life lesson on teaching her how to use knife and it helps develop fine motor skills too.

When I allow her to play sand the only purpose I have in mind was to let her to experience the sand. I didn't realize that it is actually benefiting her tactile sensory. By digging, pouring or filling the sand into bucket also helps her develop her fine motor skills, it also encourages creativity and imagination, writing letter/words in the sand offers a chance to develop language skills as well.

Even some of the stuffs I have featured on this post were not only helped her learn alphabets, shapes and colors but also develop some essential life skills.

Like the Shape Sorter that develops fine motor skills and helps improved problem solving skills.

As well as Puzzles that develops cognitive skills, helps enhance child's memory, also builds self steem and gives sense of achievement and pride within themselves after completing the Puzzle.

While the Movable Magnetic Letters, Alphabet Charts and Books helps in developing language skills.

Magnetic Sketchboard doesn't only help her practice her three-finger grip in preparation for writing but also helps in honing her creative skills, even encourage hand and eye coordination.

And when I let her engaged in some of the household chores or let her involved in kitchen activities all I know is, it will be fun for her as she gets to play with water, or she'll be able to experience preparing her own snack. What I didn't realize is she was practicing more skills in doing those. It helps refine her movement, provide sense of accomplishment, and most of all its gains independence and confidence.

I didn't realize how much of a skills my little have been acquiring on those activities until I learn about Montessori. Before Whenever I hear that word Montessori the only thing that registers on my mind is a school, because I always thought that "Montessori" is just a name of a school. And then one day while I was looking for activity ideas for toddlers on the internet, the "Montessori" word kept on appearing on my result searches. Thus makes me curious about Montessori education. From then on I fell in love with its principle. And that's how my love affair with Montessori started.

Playful Parenting Is My Solution

Eversince I found out that I am having a baby girl, I already envisioned "us" doing and enjoying a lot of things together, and one of those is this. When I started working again, one of my worry wss that Jashley will become more attached to her lolo and lola than to me because they are the one who is taking care of her while we're on our job. So thus playful parenting became my solution.

I always make sure that during weekends or holidays we have a precious time together doing fun & enjoyable things that allow her to learn and us to bond. And because I love crafts it meant fun for me too and also become an outlet for my DIY fantasies.

Here are some of the activities we had during the recent APEC holidays. 

I let her stick stickers on the door and some on my arms & legs. 

Next is these colorful Popsicle sticks. I just trace a Popsicle stick on a plain paper to make some shape patterns and color them in different colors that will be a guide on what Popsicle color she have to use. After completing the shape, I explain to her the attributes of that particular shape. All you need are some popsicle sticks, a paper and a crayons or a markers. 

Then she discover another activity she can do with these colorful sticks. I left her for awhile and came back to this busy little bug. 

I asked her what she's doing, her reply was "I'm building a castle". Afterwards she tries to fit herself in but found out that only her favorite bear can fit in, 

so she decided to rebuild it and made sure that she will fit in this time. 

The next day I made this container out of an empty milk carton, I put a colorful construction paper on top and a slot on each color that will correspond into what Popsicle stick she have to insert. 

This will not only make her master her color recognition but it is also a great fine motor ability exercise using her pincer grasp to pick up the sticks and push them through the slot. 

This was a hit for her since she kept on asking for this the entire day. 

If the previous activity was a hit, this next one is a little miss for her, after inserting the shoelace for about 2-3 holes in each shape, she already gave up and don't want to touch the activity again or maybe she's just not yet ready for that kind of activity. 

I'll keep this for now and wait until she become ready.

But among all those activities we did, I bet that her favorite was this. This is actually not part of the activities planned for that holiday, the original plan was to bring her in the play area at the mall since she was recently bugging us that she wanted to swim on balls. But unfortunately we wasn't able to bring her to the mall for some reasons. I am just lucky that I was able to squeeze-in those playtime in between. Anyway, in order to fulfill the promise that we made to her, Hubby brought out her inflatable pool and bought those toys at the nearby market, but since the price of the ball were too expensive for 10 pesos each compare to the one that I saw at the toy store which sold in bulk, Hubby decided to just buy a few pieces and will just fill it up next time. 

My little girl was so happy and keep on hugging and kissing and saying thank you to her Daddy.

This style of parenting maybe time consuming in terms of preparation but I like it that way, its my way of making her feel that I love her and I enjoy playing with her. 

Snack time

My Babybear love eating snacks, that's why I always make sure to stock up snacks at home. I actually disagrre with some people who thinks that snack is unhealthy because for me its is a way to combat hunger in between meals. plus you can get extra energy and nutrients that your body needs, you just have to pick the right snack. That is why I'm always on the look-out for different snacks on the groceries, Before, whenever she likes a particular snack I hoard them and stock up at home, then I noticed she gets "umay" on those snacks because I repeatedly offer it to her for like twice a day in 2 to 3 days (thinking that she likes that snack so much). But now what I do is I buy a piece or two of different snacks, and let her choose what she wants whenever she ask for something to eat. In that way I will not be force to eat those snacks she wasn't able to consume, and able to lessen also our food wastage.I'm glad that most of snacks that can be found at the groceries are on single packs.

These are Jashley's supply of snacks for two weeks. We do our grocery shopping every 2 weeks, I make sure to replenish them every 2 weeks, those snacks that she wan't able to consume I bring them in the office to snack on them if they still fit to consume otherwise we throw them away.

Snacking wouldn't be complete without a refreshing drinks. And here are her favorites yakult and dutchmill and her favorite jelly pudding, I hide them on those plastic containers. because eversince she learned how to open the refrigerator on her own, she can easily sneak out those snacks. When it's near meal time na kasi we don't allow her to eat snacks anymore so she's able to eat her meal.

I sometimes let her indulge on these sweet treats also. I know these are not healthy at all but I don't want her to deprive on this kind of treats naman, after all she's a kid so she deserves to experience this from time to time. I just have to control her intake of these and always make sure that she brushes her teeth after she take those sweets.

I also don't forget to bring some of those snacks whenever were out for a trip or going to church, I always bring extra because my little girl loves sharing her food with her friends on church, then lately some of her friend's Mommies also started bringing extra snacks so their kids can share also, It's so nice that the kids is learning how to share their foods to each other.

How about you Mommies, care to share your kids favorite snacks?

Ang Tagapagtanggol

Is it only me or every Mommies out there is experiencing the same dilemma I have with my  toddler right now. These past few weeks I noticed that Jashley is becoming a little bratty and pasaway. If she cannont get what she wants she'll have tantrums, if you make her saway she'll whine. And just recently I don't know where she learned this "ikaw kasi huh" phrase that she always says anytime someone saway her or disturbed her on whatever she is doing. Like for example, I made her saway, she will say "si Mommy kasi huh" complete with pagkunot ng noo and a hand gesture that looks like she'll gonna hit you. If you accidentally bumped into her, or you interrupted her while she's watching, or you said no to her request, she will say "Mommy/Daddy kasi huh" as if she's blaming you.  I don't know where she learned that, we don't allow her to watch naman mga palabas sa TV, mostly educational lang pinapanood nya. She seldom plays outside din para matutunan nya yan sa labas.

Then last night while she's holding a hanger, I heard her ask Mama (my MIL) "gusto mo palo?", this one I know she got it from us because I asked her that same question kapag sobrang pasaway na siya, though I don't hit her naman, more on "amba" lang except on some occasions na super bad yung ginawa niya. I talked to her after that,

Me: Jashley, I don't like what you did to Mama awhile ago, that's not nice, don't do that again ok?
Jashley: Opo
Me: Promise me you will not hit someone again ok?
Jashley: Yes

I have been practicing this kind of conversation even before she turned one everytime she did something wrong, pero last night lang ako naka-receive ng ganyang reply from her. Usualy when i talk to her she will cry and make tantrums or she'll hug me or she'll run to her Daddy. So nagulat talaga ako sa sagot nya, well thats good though, I hope lang na sana she really understand me when she said yes, anyway uulit ulitin ko yan sa kanya unti she finally understand it. Good thing din siguro that when I talked to her dalawa lang kami, so she cannot run to anyone for help.

I also talked to Hubby last night on how we will discipline Jashley about this, He spoiled her kasi, same with my parents in law, they don't want to make saway Jashley because she's too young pa daw to be scolded and understand that what she's doing is not right, masayadong spoiled palibhasa nagiisang apo, ayan tuloy akala nung bata it's ok to hit someone, na laro laro lang ang paluan, tatawa pa talaga yan after she hit someone. For me kasi eversince she was a baby I didn't allow her to do that to me. If you will instruct her to hit me, titingin lang yan sakin and tititigan ko lang din siya, then she will say "No", she knows kasi that I will get mad if she hit me. When she asked my MIL last night, "gusto mo palo?", my MIL replied "Sige itanong mo yan sa Mommy mo kung gusto nya palo", when she saw me, she immediately said "No" , I asked her to give the hangerto me but she said "No, Mommy please" and put the hanger back to where she got it.

I told that story to Hubby, and explain to him that maybe Jashley got confused with how we disciplined her, that we were sending a wrong signal to her, that we should be on the same side always in disciplining her, for me lasi it looks like Jashley thought that It's ok to hit anyone except Mommy because I'm the only one who gets mad whenever she does that. And from now on when one of us is scolding her, wag aamuhin ng isa ung bata, yan kasi si "eto na ang  tagapagtanggol", as in when I'm scolding Jashley, he will shout that tapos lalapitan yung bata at aamuhin. Hay pasaway, dapat siguro si Hubby muna ang disiplinahin ano? Watcha think Mommies?