What to Do with a 19Mo. Old?

try nick jr.com! Its great! I have been on there a lot & I know they have songs! also, its never too early to start introducing anything educational. my son is just over 2 and knows a lot of his letters, most of his colors & like every animal on the planet! I call him my little biologist! LOL! I hope this helps!

Young children learn so much from playing. Give her the opportunity to play and work on her motor skills and her logic and reasoning.

If she enjoys music, I would recommend taking her to a music class, some libraries do them, other park districts...

I love the Signing Time videos. She may not watch them much, but you could and start signing with her. (available at the library)

When you can attend playgroups and visit other places, you can see what she is interested in (toys, books, etc. that you don't have), that gives great ideas as well.

Good luck.

My son is 21 months old, and for several months now we have been working on colors and shapes. We do puzzles. I draw pictures and ask him to find different combinations (example...find the yellow circle,) and he loves this. He has gotten very good. Now he likes to associate colors with everything. He'll say things like Mamma...yellow ball or...blue shoes...it's a lot of fun. We also read a lot and play number games. He can count to 10 in English and he can count to 5 in Spanish. Paint, chalk and playdough are always fun. And one of his favorite games is a memory game we have. The cards have to be facing up (the game is really for kids 5 and up), but he loves matching them. Because of this game, he can say and identify animals like peacocks, iguanas, dragonflys etc...EEBOO makes a lot of great educational games. Hope this helps and good luck!

There are a couple software programs out there by Disney for Infants and Toddlers. She can sit on your lap and you could do it together. There are versions with Mickey Mouse and with Winnie the Pooh. My boys loved them.

V-Tech toys are the best for curious toddlers. They even have large refridgerator magnets with a reader that tells them the letter and the sounds it makes. That gives them something to play with in the kitchen other than the pots!

I always purchased toys that were for learning and made sure they were available at all times.

You can also sit her, with safe chunky crayons and paper in her high chair to "color". Just sit close 'cause she may try to eat them!

Dora is a favorite of a lot of little kids. You may also try video's of "Nature" the narrator's voice always got my boys attention and they would watch it. They also loved National Geographic Geo Kids videos. They may have some of these at your local library or on E-bay.

Just remember if she's interested in it, she's old enough for it! Kid's learn at their own pace. If she pays attention go for it. If not try it in a few weeks or months later. Good Luck!

There is a really great company called Brighter Vision that sends you an activity book, activity, book to read, and a CD every month that is targeted to your child's age. I did it with my daughter for about a year starting when she was about 18 months, and am now doing it with my son who's 21 mos. THe first month is free, then every kit after that is about $15. Definitely worth it for what you get! Here's their site:
www.brightervision.com
Hope that helps!

Hi J.! I saw that Lori posted here about a program called Kindermusik. We LOVED Kindermusik so much when we started that I began teaching it. It's an amazing curriculum and one of the things I like best about it is that you take home a kit including CDs, instruments, books, and a activity guide that gives you lots more ideas of things to do at home. This kept my son busy for quite a while. He loved the very first class he took, which is the same classes they are offering now! If you have any questions about it, you can email me. Our program is through the Urbana Park District and we are currently taking registrations. I hope you won't be offended if I post the website. It's www.urbana.kindermusik.net Just let me know if you have any questions.

Hello, J....you might want to consider a music and movement class called Kindermusik. These classes have activities geared towards the entire child. The class would be Our Time (1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years) or Family Time (newborns to 7 years, w/the activities geared towards toddlers and preschoolers). It has a great balance of movement, dancing, instruments, singing, and sitting, however, the children are not expected to stay glued to the floor or w/their parent. They are expected to move all around! I am a Licensed Kindermusik Educator in the St Louis area: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~kmwithlori/ and I hope you can find an educator in your area: http://www.kindermusik.com/locator/locator.asp
Good luck!
L.

Hey J.,
I applaud your willingness to encourage your daughter to be engaged in learning. I found a book called "Bright Start-activities to develop your child's potential" from Discovery Toys. It has activities in it that range for children from birth to age 4. In addition I agree with the posts suggesting you do as much to engage your child in sensory activities-play dough, painting, songs, dancing, reading books, etc. The early years are so important for developing your child's senses so they can better understand the world around them. I also recommend getting some time in around other children even if it's a story time at the local library or at a playgroup. (Our local COOP preschool has one on Friday mornings that provides "preschool activities" for younger children) Just be sure to enjoy what you're doing together and she will enjoy it as well!
K.

(I'm a SAHM and a part time preschool teacher/music teacher)

you might want to check out your local Parents as Teachers programs. they cancome to your home and evalulate her and give you ideas, it is a free program.

19 months is a time for safe exploration and a lot of discipline. This is the time for them to learn that it's not OK to play in the toilet, pull things off of the shelves, open up drawers etc. In order to help with these things you need to set clear expectations but she will test these boundaries often. I know you are mostly interested in the learning aspect of things. But trust me when I say that obedience must come first. It's impossible to really teach a preschooler that never learned to sit still, listen and obey. You say she can't sit still long. Of course, she can't be expected to have a long attention span. But it will be up to you to teach her that. So I suggest pulling her into your lap as often as possible and looking at books together. Keep a watch or clock nearby and try to always stretch the sessions just a little bit longer. Do the same thing with anything you do. If you are stacking blocks keep track of how long. And by all means now is the time to teach her to put her toys back. Whatever she pulls out of a toy box she puts back. Also teach her to put back the toys she is playing with before she moves onto another activity. I know it's hard to teach and a lot faster and more efficient to just do it yourself. But that's not going to teach her.

It's good to provide them with a safe and good way to do some of the things they really want to do. You can create a sensory table or little dish pan where she can play with shaving cream, soapy bubbles, finger paint etc. If you have book shelves (and of course have them bolted to the wall), give her a shelf and teach her that one and only shelf is hers to keep her own stuff on. Then she has one shelf she can pull things off of. But then she has to learn to put them back too.

I've had a lot of kids at her age that could learn some letters, most of their colors and simple counting. But I really believe that the most important thing you can do at this stage of the game is to work on creating routines in your life with her for instance, never have a snack or eat a meal without picking up any toys laying around the house first. It's not a scheduled activity necessarily. You may not always have your snacks and meals at set times. But once you set the rule of cleaning up first it becomes something your daughter can count on. It's just like learning to wash hands before meals and where she's allowed to drink etc. Now would be the time to teach her she only eats and drinks in the appointed place and that food and drinks shouldn't be carried around the house. Hopefully, you never started that.

You can turn everyday chores into teaching. When setting the table, count the plates, cups, spoons etc. Ask her what these items are and then you are working on vocabulary and talking.

When you are doing laundry put a few socks in front of her and have her help you sort them out. If some of them are colored talk about the colors.

The attention span concept is a bit of a pet peeve with me. Running a daycare as I do I get a lot of time to play with the ideas. I've always heard you can count on 5 minutes per year of life. So following that line of reasoning you can count on 5 minutes and no more for any activity. But I've stretched these limits quite far with most of my kids.

One way I work on that is by setting times where I want to read or need to do something that ordinarily I'd need to do when the kids were asleep. So I'll have them wherever I am and I'll put out a rug or blanket and a set of blocks, box of toys, books etc.. I'll require them to stay on the rug while I do whatever it is. I'll tell them going into it what I need to get done and how long they will be there. When they get up they get put back. Once they learn that they will play right there during that time they turn their attention to occupying themselves. At 19 months it is a real chore to teach them to stay. But by just over 2 my kiddos can occupy themselves for 30 minutes at least. Once they can do that then they can sit at the table and draw or play with building blocks for a reasonable period of time.

One reason I'm such a stickler on this is because as a teacher with several kids, it's annoying to spend more time setting up an activity than the actual time the kids spend on an activity. Before I realized how important this was I'd spend 20 minutes setting up an activity for them to get bored and want to move on 5 minutes into it. Then they are playing freely while I'm cleaning up which may take another 10 minutes. So I've invested 30 minutes into something that only lasted 5 minutes. Ummm NO. That's not efficient use of my time and it's certainly not efficient use of a Kindergarten teachers time.

As a daycare provider I consider it my highest priority to deliver happy, intelligent, obedient and compliant kids into the hands of the degreed professionals. They should not be wasting their teaching time in school dealing with kids that were not taught properly at home and daycare.

I hope some or any of this helps :)

Suzi

HI-What a fun age!! My four children are 8,10,12 and 14 and I sure miss the toddler stage. I have worked in Early Childhood Education for 15 years with the Parents As Teachers program and now as a preschool teacher. Here are a few ideas that may be appropriate. This is a great age for playdough. We love homemade and you can find the recipe online or I would be happy to e-mail it to you. This builds fine motor skills(model rolling into balls, snakes and pulling it apart for now), keeps the hands busy and is a great activity that helps children focus their energy and/or frustration as many children this age do not yet have the vocabulary to express themselves in a way we can understand. This is also a great age for colors. There are 3 steps to learning colors-sorting, pointing to or showing you the color named -then lastly, being able to name the color when asked. Start by sorting everything(m and m's, cereal, blocks, crayons, plastic cups). Finding colored stacking cups or bowls to drop the objects in works great. Also, coloring the inside of paper plates the colors you need and then showing her how to place the red piece on the red plate is a lot of fun. Start with 3 or 4 colors and name them for her as you're playing and sorting and as you see she is able to sort you can begin asking her to show you the red blocks etc. With a bright child this may go quickly and it is amazing to watch the process. It could also be a little challenging as it is an activity usually introduced around age 2, however, it sounds like she is ready. Wrap up a phone book with duct tape and let her step up and down or hop off of it. It is a safe way for children to do a little climbing and jumping-which is quite popular for this age group!! This will probably entertain her longer than you would expect. This is the age when children just do not spend much time on any acitivity and it is developmentally appropriate. Depending on the child, it may be closer to 2 1/2 before you will see a change in attention span. The Discovery Toys line has wonderful CD's that are educational and fun. Also, visit the teaching stores(you can find them online, too) or have a magazine sent to you that has age appropriate music and activities. It sounds like you understand how important music is in development. Not only does it teach the vocabulary, music actually helps form connections in the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and math skills. Count everything(up to 10 for now), name letters and numbers for her. Repetition is the key. Show her her name-she will be able to recognize her name in print before she will be able to print it. Magna Doodles are an excellent toy for this age. Circles and lines are the basis of a lot of letters. Look for circles that have lines extending from them resembling a sun. This is a pre-writing skill and a sign of readiness to begin forming some simple letters. Use a very large piece of blank paper(or use the backside of extra wrapping paper) and tape it to the floor so it doesn't move around and let her create with crayons or large child size stamps. Of course, all of these activities are dependent upon each child's independent stage of development and the activities involving crayons, smaller pieces and playdough would not yet be appropriate for a child who is still exploring with their mouth. This is the very first time I have responded or used the message board and it seems like a way to network. Over the last few years I have been very drawn to and interested in the nursing field. One of my close friends is a nurse practitioner and she is encouraging me quite a bit. I hope you find some of the ideas helpful!! Have fun with your little one!! J. P.

Hi there - There are these books out there called Busy Books. There are three, I think, divided by age. The first one is 1-3 1/2. Its called the Toddlers Busy Book. It is PACKED with activities, etc. I used mine constantly. Most of the sctivities are using items that you already have in your house!

You should check out some homeschool books/catalogs. Even if you aren't planning on homeschooling eventually, they have some great ideas for toddler/preschool age. Look in your library's homeschool section. Here are some links for catalogs:

http://www.timberdoodle.com
http://www.rainbowresource.com/
http://www.abeka.com/
http://www.rocksolidinc.com/
http://www.aceministries.com

Hope this helps. Wish I could give you some specific titles to look for, but it's been a few years since I've had a pre-schooler.

J. W

My daughter is 2 and she has enjoyed being outdoors since she was just a few months old. I see it as a great opportunity to learn and play. With few things that are breakable or dangerous she is free to explore without me constantly interrupting to prevent damage or injury. There are great opportunities for learning...talk about all the things you see, all the things you hear, how everything feels, what things smell like (rain, flowers, soil, grass). I know that it is difficult to get out when it is cold, but I've learned that for my daughter it is best if I just bundle us up and take her out in the yard or for a walk at the local park. It is always fun to see how exciting the world is to a toddler.

Other than going out to keep her busy, I also include her in as much as I can. She helps pick up, make the bed, fold the laundry, dry the unbreakable dishes, etc. When she just needs play time I sit down on the floor with her and ask her what she wants to do. I have to remember that I'm not sitting there to guide her play. I'm sitting there to join in it. I think that she benefits from this sort of interaction because it helps me to understand her and it shows her that she is important and that I respect her.

I hope that you find some ideas that work for your family. Your daughter is so fortunate to have a mother that is willing to put in the extra effort to help her learn and develop to her fullest.

T.

Go to Huggies.com they have alot of activities for kids of all different ages.

have you looked into montessori's or a daycare? i know that they can be expensive but it was the best investment putting my oldest in a daycare setting. at home we did alot of outdoor stuff weather permitting of course, we did alot of playgroups and mommy and me things. you can check with the local daycares and ymca's and community centers, they should be able to give you some tips on play groups.

Get the book "You Are Your Child's First Teacher" by Rahima Baldwin! This is one of the very best books available for ideas on how to teach your child in a nurturing way. She doesn't need to be learning numbers and letters yet. She is learning everything she needs by imitating what YOU do, so be sure you are doing things you want her to imitate. Give her lost of rhythm and repetition in her life. Give her lots of stories--especially ones you tell yourself. If you get CD's, learn the songs and stories yourself, and share them with her. Put the TV in the closet, and bring it out only for special family shared viewing (or forget it altogether!). For learning colors, buy some good watercolor paper and red, yellow, and blue watercolors which you mix up in water to make a wash. Get a big fat brush, soak the paper in water, and giving her one color at a time, let her experience the joy of placing color on the wet paper. Start by introducing only one color (make a yellow painting), then make a blue painting, then a red one. Then the next time, give her two colors, and she will discover how a third color is produced when the two colors dance together on the paper. After several sessions with one and two colors, let her experience the interaction of all three. You do it, too, so she has a model to imitate. You'll love it, and so will she! These painting sessions will only last about 5 minutes at first. Be sure to put on a smock to protect clothing.

J. Wynhausen (former Waldorf kindergarten teacher)

Activities: storytime at the libraries, Barnes & Noble, check your local community center for Open Gym time for toddlers. Mission (Sylvester Powell), Lenexa, and Blue Valley all offer times for them to run around and get their ya-yas out.

She's not too young to start learning her ABCs but you'd have to do it in a fun environment, like getting some foam ABC bath toys and start introducing her to each letter there. A friend bought a set of cookie cutters at Michaels for all the alphabet and numbers and let her paint or cut play-doh out with them.

Crayola makes easy to grip, ball-shaped paints and colors for 18-mon old toddler hands. About $5 for 3. Totally worth it. Also, for about age 24 mos, they have triangle-shaped crayons to start working on the right grip for a pencil.

Websites: Noggin and PBS for kids are good for games.
Music: I had to buy some CDs so I could learn the words to the songs. But my friend also has Sesame Street CD and her kids like that music, too, for the car.

Books: take her to the library and get her engaged in some new books. lift the flap ones are fun. We just bought Tails over the weekend--each tale is the book has a different texture, so it's very experiential.

Hope that helps!

You didn't mention day care or school. Thats what I had to do with my son- into everything. Find a good program that teaches and nurtures two or three days a week.

Just incorporate learning into everyday activities--count the stairs as you go up and down them, while you're cooking, sit her up at the counter and let her play in the sink with some cups and the water-she's learning while scooping and pouring, while you're shopping, talk about all the things your seeing, have her look for the milk, etc. Get out some playdough and have her put straws in it-my kids sat forever in their high chairs putting straws in and out of playdough.
If you live in Missouri, definately check out Parents as Teachers. It's a free program that sends parent educators to your home to give you ideas of activities to do with your children. They also do screenings and provide lots of free workshops. Just call your local school district's early childhood center.