The Importance of Reading to Your Toddler & Other Daily Activities to Do

 

Reading to your toddler significantly improves their overall development and makes a big difference in their future ability to learn in a classroom. There are numerous benefits that come when you read to your toddler. I have a one year old, so getting him to sit and listen to books is a challenge. About 90% of our reading time (15-30 minutes every day) is done like in the picture above. I hold the book so he is able to see it, and he runs around playing and occasionally coming to see the pictures. The more emotion that I am able to put into the story, the more that he participates. I try to emphasize the key words I want him to work on when I read, as well as the words that he already knows and understands as well. 

    I have recently started "preschool" with my one year old, and I have narrowed down a list of activities to do every day with your toddler. These activities build brain development and are simple to incorporate, our routine takes less than one hour every day. Even if your toddler is in daycare or preschool, I strongly recommend taking an hour a day to work on these key things with your toddler, and remember- they do not need to be sitting or interacting with you to be taking in the information you are giving out. 

1. Sing a hello song! I recommend this one- my one year old even does the dances and loves seeing me dance with it: https://youtu.be/fN1Cyr0ZK9M

2. Count to 10 (or higher depending on child ability) VERY enthusiastically- use your fingers, or count a series of toys. I count with my son in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Children are born with the ability to learn any language, and learn to weed out sounds they don't often hear, that is why I try to do it in several languages. If you don't know how to count in another language, Youtube has tons of videos on it!

3. Sing the alphabet song, I prefer to sing the new tiktok version of the ABC song, which I think is fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAoAsGB5RHc but if you do not like this one you can stick with the more traditional version as well. I would also recommend having a sheet of letters so you can point to each letter as you sing, this helps your child realize lmnop is not one letter. After I sing him the alphabet song, I do a quick phonics song to help him realize the sounds letters make while still pointing at the letter board. This is the quick phonics song I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQthLMdsQak

4. Do a learning activity based on a curriculum topic, I'll provide the activities I do each day below. I try to base each day's learning activity on a monthly theme that I have in place for my son- right now we are working on body parts, last month we were focusing on animal sounds. 

*Sunday- Cooking activity- no child is too young to participate in cooking activities, even if that means you just let them chew on a spoon next to you while you cook. 

*Monday-Cognitive activity- think puzzles, sorting activities, etc. You can look on Pintrest, just search cognitive activities for (?) year-olds. 

*Tuesday- Art activity- Let them color, paint, draw, use dot markers. With younger children it can be difficult to keep the writing utensils out of their mouths, but with supervision to stop them, it is safe. I recommend markers because they make vibrant colors fairly easily. 

*Wednesday- Sensory activity- I use different types of foods- cheerios, blueberries, noodles, etc and put them in a bin, then I give him cups and spoons and bowls to practice scooping, pouring, and playing in the bins. He can eat all of the items as well, so it is really beneficial for meal times. 

*Thursday- Movement activity- We add in extra movement- go on a "field trip" or do an extra workout video. I try to use this day to get outside whenever possible, but we also have a small indoor play-set in the house and tumbling blocks to use in our extremely cold winters. 

*Friday- Music activity- Spend 15 minutes singing together, playing different types of instruments, and practicing finding the beat, rhythms, loud and quiet, fast and slow, etc. 

*Saturday- Language activity- spend extra time reading to your child or practice talking to them while playing with their toys. rather than allowing them to play alone, sit down next to them, ask questions about their toy, or just state facts about it: I see you have a ball. The ball that you are holding is small. I see that your ball is red. Would you like to play catch with your ball? We can throw it back and forth. No? Would you like to roll your ball? No? You just feel comfortable showing me your ball. Balls are fun. Etc. Just non stop ramble in complete sentences for a short period of time. 

5. Do a physical activity with your child. This enables you to bond while actively playing with your child, but also teaches them the importance of incorporating exercise in your daily routine. My son is not old enough to follow along with the Cosmic Kids yoga, or children's zumba videos that I normally recommend to parents with older children, so for us, we usually run up and down the hallway in our house, and catch each other, or go for walks outside.