How to Teach Your Toddler the Days of the Week

Teach your toddler the days of the week in a fun and creative way.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large Chart Paper Calendars
• Elmer's Glue-All
• Adhesive Magnets Strip
• Clear Contact Paper
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Construction Paper
• Wipe Off Markers
• Kid Stickers

1. Read. Find books that address the days of the week at your child's level of understanding. Read and talk about the days of the week. Compare some of your days with the days in the book.

2. Make or buy a large chart calendar. Have the calendar laminated so you can reuse it every month. Write special days or holidays on your calendar with colorful wipe-away markers or easy to remove stickers.

3. Make and laminate attachments to put on your calendar to mark special days that occur frequently, like playgroup days or the days Mommy or Daddy stay home from work.

4. Mark special days once a week. Count the number of days to an event everyday. Recount and remind your toddler anytime your child attends to the calendar. When the event day arrives, talk about what you will do on that day. Talk about the holiday or birthdays on that date too.

5. Make attachments for your calendar to go with books you read. Play with the calendar while you are reading the books. Let your child place the attachments on the calendar and have the attachments available for your child's independent play.

Tips & Warnings

• Be consistent and repetitious. Toddlers learn best when playing and by doing the same thing over and over.
• Make weather attachments like clouds or sun shine circles. Talk about the weather for the day and label it with your attachments.
• Buy magnetic strips and attach the calendar and pieces to the refrigerator.
• Engage your toddler in learning while you are playing. Trying to get your child to sit down and listen to a lesson on numbers will prove frustrating to you and the child.
• Consult a professional family doctor if you experience extreme frustration or anger when interacting with your child.

on 8/1/2006 When my son was two and a half, he came across a 7-day plastic pill box. He was fascinated. This became his for his daily multivitamin. Each compartment has a letter for the day of the week (S M T W T F S). Not only did this help him learn his days of the week, but it helped him with fine motor skills (opening the boxes), letters, and also with understanding that he only gets one vitamin per day. It's also a great way for his parents to keep track of his vitamins. Mom can tell when Dad has already given him one.

Also, we allow television on Fridays only. You can bet that this has been the biggest motivator for learning days of the week!

on 11/22/2005 I got my 3 year old singing the days of the week to one of the tunes you use for the alphabet. In one run through, the tune would cover the days twice - which taught him what comes after Sunday. He learned it in a few minutes. Over the next few days, we often sang it. Then I'd ask him "Today's Tuesday, what does your song say tomorrow will be?" It wasn't long before he didn't have to sing it any more.