Reasons why toddlers need to 🎨paint

Painting helps your toddler to communicate their emotions or feelings. Through the use of different colors, they  express themselves without the use of words. Painting allows toddlers an educational opportunity that is also fun and exciting.

The use of fingers and hands also provides them with concentration, balance, control, and strength which helps develop good motor skills, that enables a smoother transition into writing. It helps toddlers to explore their creativity and imagination in a stress free environment. 

I was amazed to watch bunny paint away and enjoy himself, it's a bit messsy but we mommies are used to it and we know that when there is a mess, there is loads of fun and learning happening.

7 reasons why toddlers need to paint

🎨Finger Painting is one of the most loved methods of painting for toddlers as it is not only easy for them to do but is also super fun, (it is slightly messy).

 🎨Toddlers gain many sensory benefits from this super fun way of painting, as they feel, smell, and touch the paint which directly enhances their senses. Toddlers enjoy mixing colours, teaching them how to explore the creation of new ones,  stimulates their intellectual development.

🎨 Painting helps develop muscle control.  Working with a brush or small tool helps develop fine motor skills  While working on large sheets of paper or at the easel helps develop large muscle control (Gross Motor skills).  Painting also helps develop toddlers hand eye coordination.

🎨The need of the hour - Painting helps relieve stress. Just like adults, toddlers get stressed too. Painting is one way your child can de-stress and a healthy way to express their feelings.

🎨Toddlers learns how to express their own feelings by transforming their own ideas and feelings onto paper.

🎨Painting  provides opportunity for toddlers to experience cause and effect. While painting, your child is also experimenting and thinking like a scientist. Allow your child to mix colors together to try new combinations and explore with the paint and color.

🎨Painting can help your toddler to learn colours faster and in a more practical and fun way.

It's cost effective and you can make your own paints at home as well. 

KINETIC SAND SENSORY PLAY

BENEFITS OF KINETIC SAND

Kinetic Sand Sensory play

Toddlers love to explore and playing with kinetic sand helps them explore a different texture and build objects which demolish again and again. This builds their curiosity and patience. They want to know how something is being formed and then broken so easily. I live to watch his expressions when he makes it and then it disappears, he thinks it's something like magic and this cause makes him want to play more and more keeping him occupied and wanting to learn the effect. It's excellent for cause and effect learning for curious little minds. 

Kinetic sand has so many benefits for toddlers, it is beneficial in supporting the physical development such as fine motor skills. Social and emotional development can be supported by engaging with the kinetic sand as toddlers find it calming and relaxing. Kinetic sand provides a range of sensory experiences for toddlers. Feel free to introduce digger toys and scoops for longer hours of engaged play. I give him scoops, diggers and few clay moulding toys and he is occupied for around an hour. I supervise him since he takes things in his mouth but he didn't try tasting the kinetic sand. He did smell it a couple of times since it has a sweet fragrance. 

Toddlers practise so much and this enhances their fine motor skills, the scoopingis of objects, shaping of the sand in different shapes and sizes, squeezing the kinetic sand with their hands and palms, and also digging away in a kinetic sand sensory bin. This is excellent for proprioceptive sensory feedback.

Never keep your toddler unattended while playing with kinetic sand specially when they like taking things in their mouth. 

Kinetic sand is available on flipkart and Amazon and few toy shops as well. They come in a variety of colors and it's beneficial to teach colors as well. 

Let them play, let them explore, let them keep learning. 

POURING WATER - A TODDLER BUSY ACTIVITY

POURING WATER

When we give our toddlers to pour water, our fear is they will spill it. Yes, they will spill it and only when they spill, it they learn how not to spill. So it's a learning process. 

Set up time is less than two minutes with the material that's available at home. I like to add a little food color in the water to regain interest and teach colors too. 

 

A simple pouring activity helps in so many ways 

💧pouring helps improve their fine motor skills and hard - eye coordination

💦increases their ability to concentrate on one activity when presented as a tranquil and repetitive activity (scooping, pouring and running their hands through the water)

💧Gentle water play allows toddlers to unwind, order their thoughts and relax.

💦Pouring encourages them to use their imagination, develops creative thinking which plays an important role in problem-solving.

💦Develop the understanding of cause and effect. 

Pouring water develops Motor skills

Water Play gives many opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills. Toddlers increase their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination through actions like pouring, squirting, scrubbing, stirring and squeezing.

Problem solving skills 

Water play allows toddlers to explore a substance and make discoveries about it.

Observing a toy or paper float or sink will teach them, in a very practical way, how and why things happen.It encourages them to use their imagination, develops creative thinking which plays an important role in problem-solving.

Science and mathematics learning 

Water Play builds the foundation for understanding various scientific concepts.  It will introduce children to terms such as Full, Empty, Half, Less. We will measure, compare volumes and observe motion which is the basic foundation for Math.

At home, encourage to take buckets, cups, sifters, empty bottles … in a shaded area out in the garden or on the balcony and participate with your children to their pretend play, they are learning as well as enjoying our participation! 

Never leave children unattended during Water Play.

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.So let our children enjoy and learn the magic of water. We also need to teach them the importance of water and not waste water.

Learning to count

Importance of learning to count

Counting is important because the key conceptual idea on which all other number concepts are based.  Toddlers need to learn the meaning of counting by using counting skills in a different and a huge variety of meaningful different situations. At home you can start with counting small numbers, up to three objects. Once you feel your toddler has understood the concept of counting to three, move up to counting 5 objects. We are not in a hurry and it's not a race. The toddler must understand the concept of counting objects. 

My toddler is 3 years and I'm teaching him counting upto 3 objects and I'm happy he can count 3 objects. I'm in no hurry

Between the ages of two and four, children's ability to understand the l concept of numbers and counting improves dramatically. Most children are counting up to ten, or even beyond, by the age four.

Its a matter of time and I'm teaching one number a day. Sometime we count till number 10.learn the concept of big and small, few and many. 

Introducing creativity and learning to count will accelerate the learning process. 

It's important to let them enjoy, let them have fun and let them learn.

Here are some fun, easy, and exciting ways to teach numbers to toddlers and preschool children.

❤Number songs. 

❤Counting objects from the kitchen. 

❤Counting while climbing up and down the steps

⛱️Matching numbers with the correct number of objects

⛱️ Wrinting numbers on the sand 

⛱️ craft and getting creative with numbers

BEACH TIME FUN

After 7 long months of lockdown we took bunny to the beach and bunny was totally out of words with but his smile and expressions said it all. 

The Ocean Sound is calming.

Walking and playing in sand improves body awareness.

The salt air boosts learning.

Water play builds thinking skills.

In addition to general enjoyment, there are also major health benefits to spending time at the beach.

🏖️Getting rid of stress, even children are stressed and a trip to the beach helps them de-stress

🏖️Soaking up tons of natural Vitamin D which is very much required for growing children

🏖️The Beach offers exercise and walking on the sand improves a child's sense of balance

🏖️Sand Is A Natural Exfoliant and this makes your child enjoy sound sleep at night.

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Benefits of Sand sensory play

SAND SENSORY PLAY FOR TODDLERS

Bunny is really fond of sensory play and I really have to explore so much with him. He is never disappointed with sensory play and knowing the oodles of benefits I cant seem to stop. We go as often as thrice a week to the park where he gets time to play in the sand.

Close supervision is required so they don't put things in their mouth.

The toddler benefits in so many ways with sand play and the main benefits are

🐣Cognitive development - using multiple senses strengthens neural pathways that are being formed in the toddler thus enhancing the memory.

🐣Fine motor skill development - sensory play exercises the small muscles of the hands and fingers

🐣 Pincer grip development - an activity like this helps improve the toddlers pincer grip which later will help him hold crayons and pencils more comfortably.

🐣 Language development - sensory play introduces new vocabulary thus stimulates conversation and curiosity

🐣Curiosity and problem solving skills - sensory play  encourages the toddler to explore and persist in these explorations .

#everydayplayhacks #playislearning 

Benefits of Outdoor play for toddlers

Toddlers learn and explore during outdoor play

It's so much fun watching your toddler explore outdoor play.  Bunny is extremely active and loves exploring everything around him. He loves to be alone and wants to explore things by himself.

This short video in the garden shows how he wants to explore the sea saw . He doesn't want to sit on it but wants to know how it goes up and down.  If you observe carefully he us holding a pebble in one hand. He picks up one thing from the garden that he treasures the entire time he is out and sometimes even brings it home. It may be a leaf, a flower or even a pebble.

Exploring though play helps
🌴 the toddler learn through experience
🌴develop the gross and fine motor skills
🌴improve the hand and eye coordination
🌴the toddler connect with nature and care for people and things around them
🌴Cognitive development - increased neural pathways are formed when toddlers explore their world through concrete materials