Zoo Train!
Your toddler and the train make a natural match—always on the move. Bring your own stuffed animals for the petting zoo. Wear long white socks on your hands for polar bear paws. Sing songs for clapping time and use music to help children regulate emotions.
At Home Materials include: Hardcover book, funky chunky animal shaker—in elephant or giraffe shapes (these will be chosen at random). CD also includes the slip-in lyric book. Home activities poster.
Creatures in My Backyard
Give your child something to talk about in her own backyard. Be the flower
from the "seed's perspective." Run and jump in rain puddles made from hula
hoops. Snack on whole wheat mini-waffles dipped in honey, just like a real
honeycomb. Shoo real flies and sing "Shoo Fly."
At Home Materials include: Picture Folders (set of 5), Home CD, Ladybug Jingle, and Plush Bunny Hand Puppet.
Creatures at the Ocean
Sing sailor songs and make the ocean count. "Five little seashells lying
on the shore: Swish! Went the waves and then there were four." Make
homemade kites and your own fish sandwiches using fish-shaped bread and
P.B. and J.
At Home Materials include: Five full-color picture folders each depicting a different theme, Story Cards, Home CD, and a pair of Seashell Castanets.
Sample Music Clip from the Creatures at the Ocean Home CD
Sand in My Sandals
toddler—1.5 to 3 years
Listening is a learned skill, one that develops when you draw attention to
sound. "What was that? Did you hear that?" Immersing your toddler in the
sound, making the sound and the movement internalizes the listening and
the learning, and improves his ability to learn new things.
Everybody loves a monkey
(this activity is from
the Kindermusik toddler's camp: Zoo Train!)
Practice listening and learning skills when you play this sound clip of a
baby monkey talking with a mama monkey.
- Click here for the sound clip and test your computer's sound levels, first.
- Tell your toddler that you're going to play the sound of a baby and a mama monkey talking.
- Play the first clip of a baby monkey.
- Ask your toddler if he can make that sound. Ask more questions like, "What do you think the monkey is saying?"
- Play the second clip of a momma monkey.
- Ask your toddler if he can make that sound.
- Finally, "Can you move like a monkey?" When you can make the sound, move together like a baby and a mama monkey.