Teaching your 1 year old

Mommy2Isabella wrote: What do I teach her? lol

I mean other than the things that are "givens".
What kind of activities should we be doing? Coloring, learing colors, stuff of that nature? Counting ... Im at a loss as for knowing what to do ...

AlexsPajamaMama replied: You could do a google search to find out what things she should know at her age
I used to get milestone emails from babycenter

julesmom replied: Do you have a library nearby? Our library has programs for kids from 3mths and up. It's free and is good for socialization!

Kentuckychick replied: I think it's important to remember that in order for your daughter to learn you don't necessarily have to sit down with her and 'teach' her. The most important thing at this age are the experiences, and the ones you share together can be the most rewarding.

I think many people would be amazed at how much a child can learn just by going outside on a walk, or on a trip to the grocery store. Just remember as you're doing these things to always talk to her. Point out things in nature, letters that you see (Connor's favorite game outside is finding all of the water meters on our walks... then we have to stop and he tells us all of the letters, when we first started this, we would tell him the letters) He also loves sidewalk chalk, collecting acorns, crunching leaves, etc...

Inside he colors, we have magnetic letters for the fridge, we have loads of books scattered everywhere that we're reading constantly and his toys that he plays with.

He's a little bit older though. With Caydee (his sister) and the one year old I nanny for they play a lot, we take walks outside (again pointing things out, letting them pick up and feel the safe stuff) and they color -- but it's not that fun yet. They both love the sidewalk chalk, it's messy but so much fun.

The library is a great idea!

Boo&BugsMom replied: Google "toddler activities" and you'll get a bunch of ideas for arts and crafts, math, letters, small motor, etc.

Mommy2Isabella replied: I get the milestone emails and she is AHEAD.

We read books CONSTANTLY, she is always bringing me another book as soon as we finish reading one. We take walks daily and I ALWAYS talk to her. We have never used baby talk and I think that is one of the reasons that she is where she is as far as developments go.

I just wonder what kind of activities we can do together. I am going to get her a coloring pad and some of those cute kiddie markers and let her start doing that. But I just feel like there has got to be something more than what I am doing... I am going to make flash cards for her letters this week, and we will start those soon as well.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Pudding and Jello painting....place a picture underneath....the jello and pudding stain the paper. Any kind of edible painting. Shaving cream on the table and let her go for it. Building with blocks or legos is great small motor. Gluing things on paper like macaroni, trix (go over colors while you glue them), etc. Of course, with supervision.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Thanks Jennie for the GREAT IDEAS! can't wait to try some out!

Boo&BugsMom replied: Oh, two more things....sticker collages. Show her how to place stickers (you'll probably have to peel them) on paper. Also, at her age you can do a lot of handprint art. Around Christmas time you can make a hand into a Christmas tree or Santa and a footprint into a Rudolf!

kit_kats_mom replied: also a largish plastic bin filled with dried rice and/or beans is great! My kids loved that. Scooping it using measuring cups etc. big fun

Balls, books, blocks etc are all great toys for this age.

I think pampers.com and fischerprice.com both have age by age guides for activities. If she's already "over" the stuff for her age, you can introduce the stuff for older kids.

My girls loved chasing flashlight beams at that age.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Oh...one more...LOL...you can make a letter book...have her color a letter and place it into a binger then when she has all the letter she'll have a letter book.

Kentuckychick replied:
Well this is awesome!

She sounds about like Connor at this age. I think the best thing is to keep up what you're doing for one. Personally I hate the flash card idea (it's a pretty big ick in the child development world just because there are so many wonderful ways to incorporate letters into play)
Some other ideas (in the areas of infant/toddler development) are;

For sensory play;
- Get a water bottle and put glitter in with water and food coloring, or water and oil and Duct tape the top. You can buy those type of sensory tubes at the store too.
- Let her play in water or soap suds (if she doesn't eat them) either outside or at her highchair
- Mirrors

For manipulative play;
- Lots of blocks -- the letter blocks are a wonderful way for learning the alphabet
- Magnet letters, shapes, numbers
- the knob puzzles that have only a few pieces (they have animals, fruits, veggies, colors, etc...)

Imaginative play;
- phones
- dress-up (for babies this age we do purses with items like a wallet and library card in them) hats are great

Music and Movement
- Play music lots -- fun, fast, slow anything. Dance and sing and make a fool of yourself, it's great for development
- Instruments -- homemade or store bought, you can get bells, drums, shakers, anything. Toddlers typically love them.

Art;
- Finger painting
- stickers
- larger crayons
- play dough (you can make your own with flour/salt/oil and kool aid that won't hurt if it get's eaten)

You'd be surprised the amount the pick up so quickly and how much fun each new activity brings.

The Parent teacher store is a great place to get items too if you have one nearby and I use the website Lakeshore.com )

Boo&BugsMom replied: Our local teacher resource store is www.learningshop.com, but I am unsure as to where they will ship to. It's a great store though.

Kentuckychick replied:
That first part came across a little harsher than I would have liked... I wanted to edit that to explain a little that the reason for the dislike of flashcards for this age group is the lack of reward. Unlike with building with blocks or putting together a puzzle with letters they don't really get anything out of getting the letters right on the flashcards. If you could come up with a fun age appropriate game or something to make it rewarding (I've seen some parents accomplish this) then that would be okay. Otherwise I think flashcards are better for the preschool/kindergarten age *I still like them used in a game even at that age*


And the website I listed was wrong,
It's Lakeshorelearning.com

Boo&BugsMom replied: To me it depends on the child's learning style. Tanner learned all his letters, upper and lower, by the time he was 2.5...ALL from flashcards. He is a VERY good visual learner and pretty much took an interest to flashcards right away. Every day he'd get them out and want to go over them. If a child is not a good visual learner though, and more the hands-on kinesthetic learner, then flashcards wont do much good even with an older child. They can reinforce the concept, but wont be the main tool in getting that type of child to retain the concept. I agree though, at this age fun games and manipulatives are a really great way to learn letters, and numerals as well. They are playing and learning at the same time! It will hold their attention longer too.

Kentuckychick replied:
Very true... I think it's just hard for to think of the little bitties doing flashcards

I know Connor actually enjoys the flashcard type games now that he's three, like Tanner he seems to be a very visual learner. Although he also seems to be an audio learner because I swear that child can hear a book or song once and then know every single word. I wish I could have had that kind of brain as a child. I was definitely the "hands on" child. I hate lectures and I detest research (though I do love to read). I much prefered the lab work.

wcs40110 replied: The developmental people told me now is a good time to do sign language and to POINT. POINT at everything and say what it is.