Home activities for young children

0-2 years old

• Water play – sit in the bath or shallow tray with nappies and vests still on and let them explore with bubbles, glitter, colours, toys, ball, bath crayons…
• Jelly play – make jelly and set small items or pieces of fruit in it.
• Foam – shaving foam or bath foam (in a tub or direct on the table) and allow them to play at the table, explore texture, hide toys, items in the foam and count them as they are found.
• Emptying and filling different shape/size containers with different materials (sand, grit, water, peat) pouring and encourage them to explore the materials and how different materials move.
• Mirrors – study reflections sitting/standing in front of the mirror – naming different body parts, pulling faces
• Stacking cups, empty tubs, take away containers, counting them, colour recognition, knocking them down and start again
• Posting items into a box – tape closed the lid of boxes, make different size/shape holes in the tops to get them to work out what finds in which box
• Empty tins, containers with lids – fill empty them and put lid on/off
• Rolling sensory bottles – fill used bottles with water, food colouring and glitter or buttons or sequence etc and glue or tape closed.
• Musical instruments – pots and pans with wooden spoons, tin trays, containers with rice taped closed
• Pom pom drop – kitchen roll tubes, or inner tube from wrapping paper – drop pom poms through them, small soft balls – see how far they travel when held at different heights – they like to put them in and watch for them. Tape 2 or 3 tubes together.
• Sensory hula hoop – if you have a hula hoop, cover with various materials and textures, dangly toys etc
• Tugging box – punch holes in a box and thread ribbon, pipe cleaners, wool, string etc through the holes, tie on the inside of the box and they can pull them through
• Gloop – mix corn flour with a little water (you can also add small items for them to find) good to strengthen fine motor skills

• Cloud dough – hair conditioner and corn flour

• Non-cook play dough
• Baking
• Any gluing and sticking – cutting out or tearing form an old catalogue or magazines/comics etc. and glue shopping lists or wish lists or get them to look for things that are all the same colour
• Painting activities – using sponges, potatoes or different veg to mark make, household equipment that can be washed i.e potato masher, whisk.
• Slime - PVA glue, baking soda, contact lens solution, food colouring

• Baby yoga – can be found on Kids YouTube and is great fun

 
Pinterest is also great for searching for different ideas.

2-5 years old

• Cutting, sticking and gluing (we often use old catalogues/magazines/comics) get them to group items into colour, or make a shopping list, or put things together they would expect to see in a kitchen, or a bedroom etc.
• Make sock puppets and put on a performance with any props available– encourage imaginations as we might see a plastic jug as a plastic jug but it could be a space rocket to them.
• Numeracy related activities – ask them to find so many of a similar item (hide bits of Lego/Duplo about an area and ask them to find 3 pieces, then ask them to find 6 pieces and ask them to count them out to you when they come back with them.  (you can do the same for colour recognition, ask them to find 4 blue pieces, or 2 red pieces for example.)
• Tray with sand, peat dust, water, gravel to use and they will recreate a number of different scenarios – we have been using sand on a large tray with some stones.  This became their quarry and some have spent ages talking about going to work, who was driving the digger and what the sand was for etc.
• Wash toys with soapy water, in a basin or at the sink. They love to get their sleeves rolled up and get stuck in.
• Baking – encourage them to get the ingredients together, count out so many spoon of flour into the bowl etc, how to tidy up and keep the area clean and put away the ingredients as we try to have them involved as much as possible in tidying away when they have finished an activity before the next one.
• Painting – using sponges or potatoes for making patterns and pattern repetition, then turning it into something ie, caterpillar, rocket, planets, flowers etc.
• Chalk on the outside path to mark make – hop scotch, round zig zag patterns and make an obstacle course.
• Make a den - outside children love a den and you can use an old sheet over the washing line and have pillows or a duvet, with a bin bag on the ground. Inside, a blanket tucked under the mattress of a bed and over a clothes airier or between 2 beds for example.
• Gloop – mix corn flour with a little water (you can also add small items for them to find and count out, could get them to only use one hand or index finger and thumb) good to strengthen fine motor skills
• Slime - PVA glue, baking soda, contact lens solution, food colouring – endless fun (you can also add glitter)
• Face painting and introduce role play
• Line chairs up and sing the wheels on the bus, pretend you are on a trip and take a diversion for example to the zoo and talk about different animals and plants they eat.
• Painting rocks – different colours, once dry use them to make rock pictures and patterns.
• Card games and board games – good to teach about taking turns.
• Dancing and singing around the kitchen, make up new songs
• An element of daily outside activity – it might even be to help wash a car.
• Learn together about gardening – a couple of old car tyres make a good start for growing a couple of potatoes – wait till they have ‘eyes’ and plant them and have a competition, who’s will grow the most potatoes. Grow sunflowers – once the start to grow, keep a log of the number of leaves, check the height weekly and record in a log.
• Look for insects and count how many worms you find. What do they do? The life cycle of a butterfly.  Have a look in some wet areas around your house, you might be lucky enough to find frog spawn, keep watch over it every few days and wait to see the tadpoles hatch and grow.  

• Loose parts play – google ‘loose parts paly for early years’ and you will have access to endless ideas of what you can use to enhance playtime at home.

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Some useful websites include:

• www.twinkl.co.uk/offer - enter CVDTWINKLHELPS if you are not given a code.
• www.sparklebox.co.uk - 1000’s of free teaching resources for early years and primary
• www.go-gaelic.scot
• www.gaelic4parents.com - there are read aloud book bug story books, live chat for support for parents with Gaelic homework, songs and several other ideas for parents.