Educational Games to Play With Toddlers
Toddlers have a natural curiosity about the world around them and like being active. Games are an excellent resource not only for recreation but for teaching. Recognition of colors, shapes, letters and numbers are some aptitudes they need as prerequisites for other skills learned later on. Educational games will grab a toddler's attention, and since children love to play, they will have a hands-on experience that they will find pleasurable.
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Beanbag Shapes Throw
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A beanbag shapes throw is good for young children to play and learn. At this age, children's motor skills are not fully developed, but grabbing a beanbag is easy for them. Cut some large shapes of tagboard like a square, star, circle, heart, rectangle and a diamond. Tape these to the floor with clear tape. Call out a shape and have each child throw a beanbag to the corresponding shape. For a large group, several sets of the shapes can be set up so that more than one child can go at the same time.
Ice Cream Color Matching Game
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Color matching games are a fast way to teach children about colors. Since most children like ice cream, your child will enjoy matching ice cream colors. Print out some different colored scoops of ice cream. Use easy-to-recognize colors like red, green, blue, yellow, orange, white, black, purple, pink and a brown triangle shape for the cone. Make up one set of each of the colors for yourself and for each child. Start by making a cone with one scoop of your choice of color and call the color out. The children will make theirs and call out the color. Repeat this activity to make cones with several scoops at a time on them. Call out the color while placing each scoop on the top.
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Board Games
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Board games like Hi Ho Cherri O, Chutes and Ladders, and Numbers Bingo are all good beginning board games for preschoolers. In addition, children's dominoes come in sets that go up only to double sixes, which are good for younger players. These games help the child learn number recognition and counting, and they encourage cooperative play.
Musical Letter Recognition
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This is similar to musical chairs but uses letters of the alphabet. Write one letter of the alphabet on an 8-by-11-inch sheet of tagboard per student. Tape the letters in a circle leaving 6 inches of space in between. Have the children each stand on a letter. Play some music for a while and have them walk around the circle. When you stop the music, write the name of one of the letters on a chalkboard or dry erase board. Have the children say the letter name. The student who is on the corresponding letter will be out. Start the music again. When it stops, the child who was out will choose a new letter and have it written for them if they cannot write yet. The game continues until there is one child left.
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References
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