Activities

[HeavenLeigh]

I'm trying to come up w/ something E and I can do together. He gets bored, so do I. We do counting, reading, playing, colors, and I'm trying to teach him the names of his body parts right now. The only thing he remembers is "bird" boys!!!!
What are some things you do with your kids that is fun and a learning experience for them?
He tries to eat crayons, is he still too young to "write" on a big poster board?

[jana]

Everything is a learning experience for them at this age. Just being with you while you go about your daily life is what grounds them and teaches them so many things.

Sure, give him 1 crayon or washable marker and let him tap and scribble all over a piece of poster board.

At that age, ds liked to play with anything we used. Cell phone (we gave him an old one without a battery), remote control (same thing), water bottle, silverware, etc. He would "help" me wash dishes standing at a stepstool at the kitchen sink....he loved to stir bowls of water with a wooden spoon while I washed in the other side of the sink. He liked to help me push the vacuum, sweep, put laundry in the dryer, whatever I did around the house.

[shan]

I would tape paper to the kitchen table and let K color while I cleaned the kitchen. I bought washable crayons and markers. She has a blast!! Have you thought of getting him a shape ball? K loves hers. I also started letting K hand me dirty clothes to put in the washer at that age. It made her feel like a big girl and I didn't have to bend down to pick up the laundry.

[Deana]

I agree with Jana that everything is a learning experience for him right now, even a trip to the grocery store.

Some things at home.... pots and pans with utensils are great fun, going through the tupperware cabinet (you can practice "open/closed"), playing with empty cardboard boxes (like cereal and cracker boxes) just to bang around or look at colors, shapes, etc.

If you have any old fabric (even old clothes) with different textures -- you could show him "soft vs rough" In the bathtub you can fill up a cup and do "full/empty".

We also pass along a lot of old cell phones, remote controls, computer mouse, etc. Good way to redirect too - if you are on the phone, let him talk on 'his' phone, etc.

Another fun thing might be to start teaching him some sign language. This is a great website that demonstrates American Sign Language (ASL) signs: ASL Browser

[jana]

Good idea about the sign language, D! Ds LOVED learning new signs, and it really helped him communicate before he could talk.

Some of the first signs we used were: eat, more, water, wash, hot, cold, potty, help, and all done.

Once at about E's age I told him he cracked me up, and he said "cracker" and signed "eat."

[IUgrad02]

Ok, question about the sign language.

C used the sign for "please" about 902384029384902 times a day when he was E's age.... and he still uses it. Now the only problem is, he won't SAY please. He will only sign it, still! I know this will eventually go away b/c he's not going to be signing "please" at 19, but I am wondering how to get him to understand what I'm trying to tell him when I ask him to 'SAY please'. When I say to him, 'Can you say please?" he rubs his chest. When I say, "Good, but can you SAY please? p-p-p please? "(trying to get him to realize that I'm SAYING IT by sounding it out)... he rubs his tiny chest even more furiously, looking at me like, "I AM saying it, lady". I just go ahead and give him whatever we're talking about b/c I feel bad making him frustrated, but good LORD! He's talking quite a bit now, so I'm trying to get it thru to him that he can use a word for that action now, and it's just not working. Any advice?

I told DH he's going to be 16 and saying to some girl, "Will you go out with me?" and then rub his chest freakishly fast.

[Deana]

Originally Posted by IUgrad02

he rubs his tiny chest even more furiously, looking at me like, "I AM saying it, lady"

I am lol at that! That is just about the most precious thing - I can just imagine him rubbing his chest even harder!

I don't have any great advice, other than that he will stop (which you already know). Even Nicole, who is 4, will sometimes use signs (while speaking) for fun.

[HeavenLeigh]

at C rubbing the heck out of his chest....too freakin' cute!!

Thanks for the tips girls. It is so hard to remember what I use to do w/ Darek...especially what age I taught him certain things.

E is such a smart boy, just as D was/is. Everything I done with D was all about teaching him something like colors, numbers, letters, etc... I love the idea about signing....thanks for the site! That is perfect for E right now, he is starting to point at things he wants. Sometimes I have NO clue what he wants. Signing will be fun for us BOTH to learn.
I will def. invest in the crayola magic paper thingy.

Does anyone do flash cards? I had a ton of them for D and he loved them. It helped him learn alot of letters and numbers.

[Deana]

Originally Posted by HeavenLeigh

Does anyone do flash cards?

We have some for Ella that we love - they are Baby Einstein, and they have pictures on one side and the "parent tips" on the other side. She loves them and is starting to use the words now. Sometimes we just put "like" things together (all the fruit, all things that move, etc). When I do the cards with both girls, ella and I talk about the object and then Nicole and I go through the spelling of the object. So they are great for all ages

[jana]

We didn't do flash cards, but when ds turned 2, he was very excited about the letter magnets on our fridge. He was obsessed with them for about 2 or 3 weeks, and once he had mastered all the letters & their sounds, he chilled out on them for a bit. We just followed his lead and answered his questions about each letter and what it says.

Megan, that cracks me up, too! I remember A doing stuff like that. If we didn't get him "more" fast enough, he would sign even harder and BANG his little hands together. It was like he was yelling at us in sign language! The only thing I can think of is maybe to tell C to say "please" with his mouth. "Yes, that's how you say please with your hands. Now can you make your MOUTH say please? p..p..."