How To Talk to Your Toddler About Coronavirus
Since mid-March, all of our lives have been drastically changed as we’ve navigated…
Learning Centers: What are they and how do I set them up at home?
Learning centers are designated spaces within an early childhood classroom that enable children to self-direct their learning and interact with play partners. Learning centers are critical in developing children’s fine and gross motor skills, social-emotional skills, cognitive skills, literacy skills, numeracy skills, and communication and language skills, all while engaging in purposeful play. Learning centers are an essential part of a high-quality early childhood learning environment and are incredibly beneficial for little ones, so you might be wondering, “How do I set up learning centers at home? Is this possible?” The answer is YES, it is possible and, with some suggestions, very feasible!
Another benefit of center time is that it helps children learn how to engage in sustained play for increased periods of time. Engaging in sustained, purposeful play is an incredibly important skill for toddlers, and one that takes time to learn. When setting up learning centers at home, you’ll want to teach your child to spend a specific amount of time in one center before moving to the next one. Start out small – begin with three minutes in each center and slowly increase the time until you’ve reached ten to fifteen minutes per center. To help your child achieve this, consider buying a large visual timer and setting it so that they aren’t surprised when it’s time to transition – my favorite timer is linked here.
There are typically six to seven learning centers in an early childhood setting and can be a combination of any of following: math and manipulatives, building/blocks, dramatic play, art, literacy, science/sensory, and music and movement. To help you set up centers at home, I will highlight each center and give examples of some items you may want to consider putting in each center. Remember that you do NOT have to set up all of these centers at once – you can set up three or four at a time (or whatever is manageable!) and change them out every couple of weeks.
Math and Manipulatives
A quality math and manipulatives center focuses on numeracy skills and fine motor skills. Some useful items for this center may include objects for sorting, simple games such as memory games or simple board games, peg boards, rubber band boards, small items to count, small numbered blocks, puzzles, lacing and tracing sets, and sequencing sets. A math and manipulatives center is a space for children to learn how to problem solve and to be exposed to early math concepts through play.
Building/Blocks
Building and blocks centers are a space for, you guessed it, building and creating! They’re a space where children can create structures, engage in pretend play with toy people and animals, and work on their fine motor and problem-solving skills. Some useful items for this center may include large wooden blocks, Magnatiles, Lego and Duplo blocks, bristle blocks, people and animals, and vehicles.
Dramatic Play
Dramatic play centers are my absolute favorite learning center! Dramatic play centers are a space for children to engage in pretend play, re-enact every day adult tasks, engage in self-expression, and explore a variety of materials. Some useful items for this center may include a play kitchen with play food, utensils, etc., pretend household items such as a toy vacuum, broom, duster, etc., dress-up clothes, dolls, doll clothes and accessories, puppets, etc., and pretend store items such as a shopping cart or a cash register.
Art/Creativity
Art centers are a space for children to explore their creativity, engage in self-expression, work on fine motor skills, and learn how to use a variety of classroom materials. Some useful items for an art center may include an easel, a small table and chairs, crayons, markers, age appropriate scissors, glue, stickers, stamps, paint, age appropriate paint brushes (thick and short is best for toddlers), beads, glitter (if you dare!), etc.
Literacy
Early literacy is such an important concept for toddlers, and a literacy center is a wonderful way to encourage your child’s literacy development. A literacy center is a space for children to work on pre-reading and pre-writing skills. Some useful items for a literacy center would include plenty of age appropriate books, pencils and paper for “writing books” (what this looks like for toddlers is scribbling/drawing a story, and then retelling that story to you – this develops their creative thinking and pre-literacy skills!), and pictures of relevant items for inspiration (for example, during the summer you may want to have pictures of the beach, pool, sun, sand toys, etc.).
Science/Sensory
A science/sensory center is a space for children to explore various age appropriate scientific and sensory concepts. This center is incredibly fascinating for toddlers, and there are endless possibilities for what you can put in it! Some useful suggestions include natural items (ex. rocks, leaves, sticks, etc.), magnifying glasses, pipettes and small dishes, magnets, a light table, and a sensory table. Sensory tables are amazing for toddlers – there are literally hundreds of items that you can put in them! Some fun examples are sand and scooping toys, water and pouring toys, dried rice, beans, or kernels, seeds, and water beads.
Music and Movement
It should come as no surprise to parents that toddlers absolutely love music and movement activities, so this center is always a big hit! A music and movement center is a place for children to explore instruments, songs, dance, and gross motor skills. Some useful items to include in a music and movement center would be instruments (such as a xylophone, age appropriate drums, symbols, hand bells, etc.), a music player, and pictures of gross motor movements such as clapping, stomping, and twisting.
Now that you’ve had a brief introduction to early childhood learning centers, I hope you feel more confident in setting up learning centers at home. The most important thing to remember is that there really is no big secret when it comes to setting up learning centers – as long as you provide useful, age-appropriate materials for your child and do your best to encourage them to engage in sustained play, you’re on the right track. Have fun!
Self-Regulation: Why is it important and how do I help my child achieve it?
Self-regulation for toddlers and children is defined as the ability to manage their behaviors and emotions appropriately. As children grow and develop, self-regulation becomes increasingly more important; some examples of self-regulation behaviors that are expected of school-aged children is waiting their turn, sharing, keeping their hands to themselves during group activities, and regulating their emotions when something doesn’t go their way. So, how do we help our children achieve this skill, and how do we help them work on it during the toddler years? The answer is not as intimidating as you think – there are many simple (and fun!) activities you can do with your child throughout the day to help them develop their self-regulation skills, and I will give you several examples.
Before I jump into giving you examples, please hear this – any and all expectations for toddlers to exhibit self-regulation should be thrown right out the window. To put it into perspective for you, children don’t even begin to develop impulse control until age three; however, that does not mean you can’t begin engaging your child in activities to help them attain this skill very early on! Be patient with them and remember that the goal is not for them to actually display self-regulation or impulse control, it’s simply for them to play with you in a way that helps them get closer to achieving self-regulation and impulse control. Let’s also be real about the fact that tantrums are inevitable with toddlers, and they’re a very normal part of child development. In addition to self-regulation games and activities, I will provide you with some simple calm-down techniques that you can begin teaching your child when they are having a meltdown; they might not actually engage in the technique, but modeling the techniques for them is beneficial in many ways. With all that being said, let’s jump right into some fun ways you can work on self-regulation at home!
Simple Board Games
Board games are an awesome way to work on self-regulation skills, mainly because they require children to wait their turn. Keep board games very simple and age appropriate, or your kiddo may become frustrated. Some of my favorite games are:
- Feed the Woozle
- Lucky Ducks
- Monkey Around
- Daniel Tiger’s Welcome to Mainstreet Game
- Duck, Duck, Dance
- Panda’s Picnic in the Park
- ThinkFun Roll and Play
- Where’s Bear?
Classic Games
Classic games that we all know and love are awesome for practicing self-regulation with your toddlers. The best part is that you need little to no materials for these games – you can play them whenever, wherever! Some of my favorites are:
- Freeze Dance!
- Have your child dance while music is playing, and freeze when the music stops.
- Red Light, Green Light
- Your child moves when you say green light, and stops when you say red light.
- Follow the Leader
- Have your child copy simple moves such as stomping, clapping, twisting, and jumping.
- Animal movements
- Model animal movements such as a bear walk, crab walk, starfish jump, and galloping horse for your child. Call out the movements and do them together.
- Popcorn kernels
- Kneel down with your child and count to ten – once you get to ten, you pop up like a popcorn kernel! Keep it fun and interesting by changing the number that you count to
- Hide and Seek
- Designate a safe space to play hide and seek with your child – the act of hiding and waiting for someone to find them is an awesome way to practice self-regulation
Calm-Down Techniques
- Belly breaths
- Teach your child to put their hands on their belly and breathe deeply
- Identify their feelings
- When your child is having a meltdown, talk to them about it and encourage them to identify their feelings. Prompt them by saying, “I can see you’re frustrated (or mad, or sad, or scared, etc.), and I’m sorry you feel that way. You can tell me that you’re feeling frustrated.”
- Sing or count
- When your child is feeling impatient or frustrated, model singing or counting as a way for them to calm themselves down
- Stretch
- Encourage your child to stand up and stretch when they are feeling uncomfortable emotions
Now that you’ve been given some helpful tools for practicing self-regulation at home, don’t wait to get started! The earlier you begin practicing these skills, the better; just remember to let go of any expectations, and be flexible. Enjoy!
How to Work on Social-Emotional Skills With Your Toddler
Toddlers…they have BIG feelings that come with BIG emotions. Tantrums, meltdowns, and tears are sometimes just part of a normal day for little ones! Toddlers often have meltdowns and tantrums because they don’t have the appropriate language to express how they’re feeling, or because they don’t quite understand the uncomfortable feelings that they’re experiencing. Doing activities with your toddler that focus on social-emotional skills helps them learn how to deal with these new, big, uncomfortable feelings – and working on these skills with your kiddo helps you (eventually) have a calmer home! Teaching social-emotional skills at home can be simple and fun! Here are some fun activities that you can do with your little one to promote social-emotional development:
- Read!
- There are a variety of books that address feelings and emotions that you can read with your child. Some of my favorites are:
- Boo Who? by Ben Clanton
- Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfeister
- What Does It Mean to Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio
- The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates
- The Feelings Book by Todd Parr
- When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang
- I Walk With Vanessa: A Story About A Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoet
- Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
- Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner
- B is for Breathe: The ABCs of Coping with Fussy and Frustrating Feelings
by Dr. Melissa Munro Boyd - The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
- All of these books are excellent, but you can talk about social-emotional skills with any book – ask your child about how the character might feel, tell him/her how situations in stories might make you feel, talk about expressions on the character’s faces, etc.
- There are a variety of books that address feelings and emotions that you can read with your child. Some of my favorites are:
- Talk to your child about identifying emotions
- You can do this by practicing with clay or playdough, drawing pictures, or looking at pictures in magazines!
- Make “emotions masks” out of paper plates
- Check in each morning about how each other is feeling
- Play games related to emotions
- Make your own “calm-down kit” for your family! Some ideas of what you can include are:
- Putty
- Water sensory bottles
- Emotions flashcards
- Breathing exercises
- Play a sharing game
- Turn-taking games are excellent for working on social-emotional skills; see my post about self-regulation skills for some suggestions of age-appropriate games for toddlers
- Model appropriate social-emotional skills for your children – they’re always watching you!
The last bullet, in my opinion, is the most important point in this whole article – YOU are your child’s best teacher. They learn how to express themselves by watching you, so do your best to model appropriate social-emotional skills for your children and talk to them about uncomfortable feelings! Most of all, remember to always validate their feelings, especially the tough ones; validating our toddler’s feelings helps them grow into adults who are compassionate and caring.