How to Create Toddler Activity Centers in the Classroom
Toddlers are at a developmental stage where everything is new. Two- and three-year-old children learn from doing and experimenting. Setting up toddler-friendly activity centers in a preschool classroom is imperative for the intellectual growth and motor skills advancement of young children. Creating toddler activity centers is easy when you remember that toddlers like things simple and fun.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Large and small manipulatives
- Storage containers
- Art supplies
- Bookshelves
- Books
- Pillows and blankets
- Puppet theater and puppets
- Play kitchen area
- Dress up clothes
- Variety of safe household items
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1
Pick a few spots in the classroom for use as activity centers. These areas should be easy to get to and flow with the natural setup of the classroom.
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2
Choose the kinds of activity centers you want in your classroom. Toddlers will enjoy sensory centers, art centers, reading centers, pretend centers or even "anything goes" centers. Match the materials provided in the center so they reinforce whatever theme you're working on that week or month.
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3
Provide a variety of textures for toddlers to feel and manipulate in the sensory center. Cotton balls, wood chips, small blocks, water, sand, pebbles, corn kernels, pumpkin seeds, crushed leaves and soft dough are some ideas for an interesting sensory center. Store each different texture in a covered container to avoid manipulatives from becoming a mess.
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4
Fill an art center with paper, crayons, washable markers and paint, and a couple of child-sized easels. Hang smocks close to the art center for the toddlers and provide a variety of paintbrushes and sponges. Have a drying rack available in the classroom so kids can hang up their papers for quick drying.
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5
Stack a bookshelf with toddler friendly board books and picture books. Place pillows, beanbags or blankets around the book center so the kids can cozy up with a book and enjoy a quiet activity. A small puppet theater next to the book center lets the kids watch you act out certain books and become familiar with story characters.
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6
Set up a pretend play center with a small kitchen or dress up area so the toddlers can pretend to be grownups. This activity center is usually a favorite of most toddlers, so provide plenty of extra supplies for the kitchen and various clothes for dress-up.
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7
Let toddlers get creative by playing in an "anything goes" center. Provide common household items such as cardboard tubes, pie tins, blankets, carpet squares, clothespins, cotton balls and egg cartons. Toddlers can experiment to come up with their own games and imaginative play.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Change the supplies in the activity centers every month so the kids don't get bored.
Introduce a new activity center in the middle of the year, such as a science center, to keep things fresh and exciting.
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