Winter Break Activities For Your Little Ones
Holiday break and impending winter weather may have us parents with littles ones nervous for all the time stuck inside. Instead of letting your little ones rip into their presents early, try these fun ideas to entertain them while promoting language. Most of the materials needed for these activities can be found around the house! Each activity provides different ideas on how caregivers can model language. Tailor the modeling of language to your child’s current language abilities.
Keep in mind your little one may not play with these activities as you intended. Take their lead while modeling play. It’s the experience that counts!
Snow bin
Might as well use what we’ll have plenty of! Put a towel under a bucket of snow and throw in some spoons and cups. You can make snowballs and turn them into snowmen or build a snow castle fit for Queen Elsa.
Language Ideas to model: labeling snowman’s face, words (e.g., “burr,” “cold,”), phrases (e.g., “That’s cold,” “put it in,” “stack it high”).
Bathe toy animals
Use the melted snow in the bin to give toy animals a bath, or grab some warm soapy water. It is fun for little ones to have the roles reversed as they give something a bath.
Language Ideas to model: sing “Scrub-A-Dub-Dub” song, labeling body parts, making animal noises, other words (e.g.. “Splash,” “hot/cold” “bubbles”).
Couch cushion ramp
You can use couch cushions or pillows up against your couch to make a ramp for animals or cars to go up and down.
Language Ideas to model: Car noises (e.g., “vroom,” “beep,” “wee,” “crash”), animals noises, phrases (e.g., “go up,” “let’s drive,” “go fast/slow”), “ready, set, go”
Pom poms into empty plastic container
Cut a small hole in the lid of a plastic container that would already be recycled and have your little one put pom poms into it. Our occupational therapists love the fine motor skills required by this activity. Your little one will like or dislike this activity due to the dexterity required for this game. Regardless, encourage your little one to try it by modeling what to do several times and using “you can” statements (e.g., “you can do this,” “I know this is hard but you can try”).
Language Ideas to model: descriptive comments (e.g., fuzzy, soft, little), spatial concepts (e.g., in, out, on, under).
Bubbles
Blowing bubbles is a great activity because it encourages face-to-face interaction and your little one will be drawn naturally to your face. Giving your child the opportunity to blow the bubble is an excellent oral-motor skill for them to practice.
Language Ideas to model: size concepts (e.g., big/little), words (e.g., “pop,” “up,” “wow“), phrases (e.g., “go up,” “got it”).
Scavenger Hunt with Easter eggs
Grab those old Easter eggs from the storage bin and hide little objects inside of them!
Language Ideas to model: concepts (open/close), phrases (e.g., “Where did it go?” “Let’s look,” “I see an egg,” “found it!”).
Drawing on a paper towel roll
All you need is a paper towel roll (or anything else from the recycle bin) and markers/crayons. This is an excellent activity to target ‘descriptive’ words. Arts and crafts can keep a little entertained for a while.
Language Ideas to model: descriptive words (pretty, beautiful, colorful), other words (e.g., “I like that,” “wow,”).
Books
Books are my favorite activity to promote language. Books can be read in engaging ways. Remember, you don’t have to read all the words in a book, especially if your child has difficulty attending to the entire book. Keep it fun by pointing out different objects in the pages, moving the book around, and modeling actions or gesutres. Check out the blog posts listed below for more ideas on how to engage your child during book reading.
How to read to your child: 0 to 24 months
https://www.proactivepediatrictherapy.com/new-blog/how-to-read-to-your-child-0-24-months?rq=reading
How to read to your child: 2-3 years
How to read to your child: 3-4 years
https://www.proactivepediatrictherapy.com/new-blog/how-to-read-to-your-child-4-5-years?rq=reading
We’d love to hear from you! Let us know how these activities went with your little ones or if you have any additional activities you and your littles love to do. Share them with us by commenting below!
Additional ideas can be found on Busy Toddler’s website at www.busytoddler.com.
We hope you have a warm and joyful holiday with your loved ones!