Watching cartoons? There are 9 ways to play developmentally with your child at home instead of watching TV

We know very well that the best form of learning for a small child is playing. Now, when toddlers spend a lot of time at home, we make a special effort to provide them with as much education through entertainment as possible. Let’s make this time not only an opportunity to play with your loved ones, but also have a positive impact on their development. We have prepared 9 suggestions for you on how to spend time with your child, and at the same time develop the child’s imagination, motor skills and speech.

Imaginative games

Being able to solve problems, analyse and theorise helps toddlers to develop their imagination and creativity. As with other areas, these skills also need to be practised regularly with your toddler.

Sock puppet show

Preparing the little theatre is an endless mine of play ideas. You can simply make puppets out of socks or put on a show using toys. You can present favourite fairy tales, improvise or show stories invented by the toddler himself. The only limit here is your imagination!

“What if”

Abstract questions allow developing imagination and foster creative thinking. A fun activity for which you need hardly any accessories is to ask each other “What if…” questions. Try to ask (and answer) the child’s questions in a simple but engaging way, e.g. what if cows could fly, dinosaurs walked on the ground all the time, etc.

“Complete the story”

We start telling a story — completely made-up. After 2–3 sentences, we ask the child to continue the story. In this way, every few sentences the toddler swaps with the parent, creating an increasingly complex, surprising and funny story.

If you need an extra dose of inspiration, join the KIDS&Co. Online Kindergarten with your little ones. Twice a day the teachers run classes for the youngest children — in Polish and English. Participation is free for everyone.

Games to improve gross and motor skills

Gross and fina motor skills are an aspect of a child’s psychomotor development to which kindergarten teachers pay a lot of attention. Unfortunately, if a toddler spends a lot of time in front of the television or tablet from an early age, the result is that he is more clumsy, has more problems with motor skills and his muscles are stiffer. Therefore, it is also worth making efforts at home so that the child trains its dexterity as much as possible.

“Charades”

Depending on the child’s age, take turns imitating animal, cartoon or other character movements that are easy to guess. Show your toddler the big movements of birds’ wings, the heavy and sweeping movements of a bear or the graceful and leaping movements of a frog. This will help the toddler get even more involved and imitate the chosen characters as closely as possible.

Modelling something in the plasticine

A great way to develop children’s fine motor skills is to make plasticine or, if you don’t have any at home, salt dough. A bit of flour, water and salt is enough to practice with your toddler for a long time. Let him make the mass himself — already this stage will allow to exercise child’s small hands and will bring a lot of fun. Then let the toddler make his favourite cartoon character or an animal.

Dancing

All kinds of simple dance movements, choreography and games with music will not only have a positive effect on your child’s motor development, but will also bring lots of fun and laughter. You will find many ideas for dances on the Internet.

Speech development games

Exercises that allow children to exercise their articulatory organs should be repeated as often as possible. Children, convinced of the fun, will return to them eagerly, and thanks to this we can prevent possible speech defects. It is important to do the exercises together with the child — it will certainly cause even more laughter and encourage the preschooler to play together.

“Circus performer”

We try to perform different tricks together with the child using the tongue. We take turns saying what stunt the circus performer should now perform.

• Tongue tip — the tip of the tongue rests on the lower teeth, the middle bulges out.
• Tube — use your tongue to form a tube through which you can inhale or exhale.
• Horseback riding — hit the tip of the tongue against the palate and put it down. Once the horse goes slowly, it runs, snorts, laughs.
• Pendulum — move your tongue to the corners of your mouth to the right and left without touching your lips with your tongue.

“No hands!” game

All we need to play is straws and lightweight objects, such as ping-pong balls or small cards.

The game involves carrying pieces of paper or balls from one place to another using a straw. You can do the exercise on time or in a race with your child. The exercise not only helps to develop proper diaphragmatic breathing, but also increases lung capacity and exercises concentration.

“Signals”

The exercise is to train clear pronunciation of vowels in pairs. Together with your child, take turns giving the command — which car are you imitating (ambulance, police car, fire truck).

Spending time together with your child playing games can be a great way not only to practise areas important for your child’s development, but also to spend time with you in a creative way, which will have an even better effect on your relationship