What to Do Wednesday: Fruit Kebabs

Target Age:
Late Four-Year Old

Materials You Will Need: 

• toothpicks or wooden skewers
• variety of fruits 

What To Do:
Let your child choose several new fruits at the grocery store, (or stick with old favorites).

Invite your child to help you wash, peel, and cut the fruits into bite sized chunks or slices.

Show your child how to skewer the fruit onto the toothpicks in a variety of patterns.

Share your healthy snack with friends or family members.

Skills Learned:

• Fine Motor 
• Eye Hand Coordination 
• Vocabulary Enrichment  

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Performing Star

Target Age:
Early Three-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• props
• costumes 

What To Do:
Children love making make believe stories seem real through play.

Choose one of your child's favorite storybooks, then create costume props for the book's characters. Read the story then get out the props and dress yourself as well as your child as the characters.

Act out the story together!

Variations:
Use puppets to act out the story.

Skills Learned:

• Creative Expression 
• Creative Movement 
• Emotional Development 
• Role Play  

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Mixing Colors

Target Age:
Middle One-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• paint
• brushes
• large sheet of paper 

What To Do:
Children love to paint and create new colors! Weather permitting, place construction paper on the driveway or large piece of vinyl on an easel, (if you are indoors.)

Choose two primary colors your child has not worked with.

Example: Red and blue or red and yellow.

Let your child paint.

When the colors merge point out that, "You made purple!" or "You made orange!"

Variations: 
Label the picture: RED + BLUE = PURPLE.
RED + YELLOW = ORANGE

Skills Learned: 

• Concept Development  

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Key Shake

Target Age:
Early Infant

Materials You Will Need:

• keys or a rattle 

What To Do:
Visual tracking is an important exercise for your child. Place your child on a soft blanket. Use a set of keys (or rattle). Shake the keys and move them from left to right, from your child's chin down to the stomach and up to the crown of the head.

Move the keys to the back of the head. Observe your child's eyes tracking.

Skills Learned:

• Visual Tracking
• Visual Stimulation  

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Feet Fishing

Target Age:
Late Two-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• wading pool
• soap bubbles
• plastic toys 

What To Do: 
Fill a small wading pool with water, then add lots of dish soap and toys that don't float. Have your child sit in a chair and use his/her feet to locate the treasures and guessing what they are before pulling them out feet first.

Variations:
Fill the bath tub and enjoy the activity.

Skills Learned:

• Eye Foot Coordination 
• Tactile Stimulation  

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Yarn Path

Target Age:
Middle One-Year-Old

Materials You Will Need:

• long piece of string 

What To Do:
Children love to explore!

Make a path for your child, using string.

Secure one end of the string to a piece of furniture. Have your child enjoy following the path around the house, by walking on the string.

You may want to have a surprise treat waiting for your child at the end of the path!

Skills Learned:

• Visual Development 

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Finger Paint Practice

Target Age:
Middle Three-Year-Old

Materials You Will Need:

• paper
• tray
• finger paint 

What To Do:
This fun activity will provide an opportunity for your child to practice handwriting with finger paint.

Place some finger paint on a tray or piece of paper. Have your child make letters, numbers, or his/her name in the finger paint.

Encourage your child to practice handwriting using two fingers.

Variations: If your child makes a particularly good representation of his/her name or letters, you can make a print by pressing a large piece of paper over the painting, then lifting it off. This will be much easier to display on the refrigerator than the heavy paintings typically created with finger paint.

Skills Learned:

• Language Development
• Fine Motor
• Pre-Writing 

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Painting the Driveway

Target Age:
Late Infant

Materials You Will Need:

• washable paint
• toddler brushes 

What To Do:
Provide two containers of washable paint and toddler paint brushes.
Let your child enjoy painting the driveway.

The rain or a hose will wash it off. Your child will enjoy the large space for painting.  

Variations: ''Paint'' the driveway using water.

Skills Learned:

• Creative Expression
• Gross Motor 

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Worms

Target Age:
Early Two-Year-Old

Materials You Will Need:

• soil
• container 

What To Do:
Children love to explore nature!

After the next rainfall, take your child on a nature walk to look for worms. Show your child how to gently pick up a worm and put it in the container.

Collect two or more worms.

Put the worms in a terrarium or other container. Put soil, leaves, sticks, rocks, and plant a few small plants.

Ask your child,
"How did the worm feel on your hand?" 
"What does it look like?"
"Where does it live?"
"How does it move?" 

Skills Learned:

• Sensory Development 
• Language Development 
• Concept Development 

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Aim and Spray

 
Target Age:
Late Four-Year-Old

Materials You Will Need:

• water bottles
• hose 

What To Do: 
On the next warm day outside, place 5 - 6 partially filled water bottles in a line on a table or on the ground.

Have your child stand behind the line and try to spray the bottles over with a hose.

Encourage your child to stand back further to increase the challenge.

Variations: Do this in the bathtub with a spray bottle and empty water bottles lined up at the back edge of the tub.

Count together as the sprayed bottles fall.

Skills Learned:

• Coordination
• Visual Tracking 

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.  

What to Do Wednesday: Dice Addition

Target Age:
Late Four-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• paper
• pencil
• pennies
• pair of dice

What To Do:

Introduce your child to this fun number game: "Dice Addition." Have your child roll one die and count the objects. If the die indicates 4, have your child count out 4 pennies.

Have your child roll the second die and again count out that many pennies, (or other objects).

Combine both sets and count them all to get the total number of pennies, (or other objects). If your child seems interested, you may want to write the problem 4+3=7.

Variations:
You can also make your own large dice with boxes covered in white craft paper with dots indicating the numbers.

Skills Learned:

• Visual Discrimination
• Counting Concepts
• Concept Development

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities. 

What to Do Wednesday: Food Coloring Mix

Target Age:
Early Three-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• yellow, red, blue food colors
• 3 empty containers
• 3 water containers

What To Do:

Mix 3 separate containers of water with each of the following: red, blue, and yellow food coloring. Have your child pick the following colors to mix: (red and blue/ red and yellow/ blue and yellow).

Have your child pour equal amounts of each into an empty container. Continue until your child makes purple, and orange, and green. Experiment with different amounts of the primary colors to see the variations in color produced.

Variations:
Write out a key for color mixing, using crayons and paper. It will say red + blue= purple, etc. Use colored circles instead of words.

Let your child experiment with color mixing when painting at the easel or a table.

Skills Learned:

• Visual Discrimination
• Concept Development
• Cause and Effect

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to Do Wednesday: Pack Your Bag

Target Age:
Late Two-Year Old

Materials You Will Need:

• tote bag
• clothes
• toothbrush
• comb
• brush

What To Do:
Pretend you are going on a trip! "Let's pretend we are going on a trip. We have to pack your suitcase. What do we have to put in the suitcase?" Let your child make decisions about what to put in the suitcase. You can ask questions such as, "Do you think you will need socks?"

Variations:
Put a tote bag or small suitcase in your child's play area with clothes in it for your child to pack and unpack.

Skills Learned:

• Problem Solving
• Self Concept
• Language Development

 Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to Do Wednesday: Scrub a Rock

Target Age:
Middle One-Year Old


Materials You Will Need:

• towel
• scrub brush
• soap
• large rock
• container of water

What To Do:
Scrubbing will help develop your child's upper body strength and eye/hand coordination. Some children scrub for long periods of time. Show your child how to put the scrub brush in the soapy water and scrub a muddy rock. Observe the time your child spends on this activity. Towel it off afterwards.

Skills Learned:

• Upper Body Strength
• Eye Hand Coordination
• Attention Span
• Gross Motor

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to Do Wednesday: Silly Stickers

Target Age:
Middle Infant

Materials You Will Need:

• sticker

What To Do:

Children love to play silly games with you. Place your child in an infant seat, wearing only a diaper. Place a sticker somewhere on the body, when your child is not watching. Ask your child,"Where is the sticker?" Check each body part saying, "No, it's not on your tummy,"... until you find it and say,"Here it is!"

Variations:
You may want to place dots on your child's body with a water based marker. "Where is the dot?"

Skills Learned:

• Visual Stimulation

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to do Wednesday: Cornmeal Play

Materials You Will Need:

• plastic container
• cornmeal

What To Do:
Children learn by using the sense of touch. Your child develops hand muscles needed for fine motor skills while participating in this and similar activities.

Your child will experience a 'new feel' using cornmeal today!

Fill a large plastic container with cornmeal. Put measuring cups and scoops in the container.

Enjoy observing your child play. If you are brave, add some water to the cornmeal!

Skills Learned:

• Tactile Stimulation
• Sensory Development
• Fine Motor

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to do Wednesday: Pan Scrub

Materials You Will Need:

• small amount of soapy water
• large pot
• scrubber with a handle
• bath mat

What To Do:
Your child enjoys helping you in the kitchen. The next time you have a dirty pan, let your child clean it!

Sit next to your child on a bath mat and demonstrate how to scrub the pan.

Move away and let your child become engaged in this activity.

Praise your child's effort! Your child will love pleasing you.

Skills Learned:

• Self Concept
• Upper Body Strength
• Gross Motor
• Eye Hand Coordination

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to do Wednesday: Veterinarian's Office

Materials You Will Need:

• leashes
• boxes
• store-bought doctor kit
• stuffed animals

What To Do:
Have your child gather stuffed animals and create a veterinarian's office. Your child can design the carriers or leashes for the animals as well as the waiting room.

You or your child can come up with the reason that each animal needs to be examined, but let your child come up with a diagnosis and remedy.

Skills Learned:

• Imagination
• Concept Development

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to Do Wednesday: Mirror Play

Materials You Will Need:

• Large non-breakable mirror

What To Do:
Children love seeing themselves! Hang a non-breakable mirror on the wall at floor level in your child's room.

Place your child in front of the mirror. Observe your child's reaction. How does your child respond?

Variations:
Lay next to your child and talk about what you see in the mirror.

Skills Learned:

• Visual Development
• Body Awareness

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.

What to Do Wednesday: Weather Forecast

What to Do:
Your child may enjoy being the weather forecaster for your family! Invite your child to be responsible for sharing the weather with your family each morning for a week.

Let your child go outside to check for temperature and precipitation, then suggest the appropriate clothes that should be worn.

Skills Learned

• Problem Solving
• Concept Development

Visit http://www.productiveparenting.com for more fun, free activities.