Flying With A Toddler

Flying with a toddler can be a challenge. From not wanting to sit down to kicking the seat in front, many parents struggle with how to keep toddlers entertained in a small space. Dr Vivian Hill, educational psychologist from the Institute of Education, said: ‘Toys that spark the imagination and encourage creativity, rather than static toys like soft toys and dolls, are proven to keep children occupied for sustained periods.’
Here is a list of suggestions to make flying with a toddler, fun and even educational:

Stickers – Sticker books take up time and improve fine motor skills. Jazz up the pages of coloring books or plain paper too!

Books – Take advantage of the focused time with small board books that teach alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors.

Coloring Books – Get the creative juices flowing, while teaching colors and fine motor skills.

Crayons – Use the crayons with a coloring book and plain paper. Practice colors and counting too!

Plain Paper – Great for drawing letters, numbers, showing the colors of the crayons and free play.

Finger foods – Choose foods that you can count and take a long time to eat: cheerios, carrots and pretzels are perfect!

Finger Puppets – Super props for stories, songs and finger games!

Magazines – Flip through the pages and pick out letters, numbers, colors and more.

Games – Play ‘ I Spy’ with the surroundings or even magazines. Great time to practice colors and numbers!

Imagination – Create stories and use things in your bag as props and characters!

When flying with a toddler, fill a bag with lots of new or nearly new items to keep your toddler entertained and busy for the duration of the trip!

Make life simple and take one section from Teach My Toddler for on-the-go learning, when flying with a toddler. Teach My Toddler, the award winning learning kit is divided into four sections to teach a toddler The Alphabet, Numbers, Shapes and Colors. Requiring no batteries or DVDs, the kit has everything necessary for educational play and focused one-on-one time. Teach My Toddler contains fully-coordinated teaching tools such as puzzles, board books, posters and flashcards, all in one portable carrying case.

Memory Games For Kids

Build your toddler’s memory with some memory games for kids. A recent study from Concordia University showed there are long term benefits to improving your toddler’s memory skills. Unfortunately, the research showed that preschoolers who score lower on a memory task are likely to score higher on a dropout risk scale at the age of 12. Memory is also a key skill for number and letter literacy.

Working memory is the ability to remember and process information. There are two types; Auditory Memory and Visual Memory. Auditory memory includes the things we hear and visual memory is the things we see.

There are several ways to build up your child’s working memory. Try to incorporate a little working memory training into your daily routine with memory games for kids.

Here are three simple ideas to engage in memory games for kids

1. Remembering Sequences: Learning the alphabet and numbers to 5, 10 and eventually to 100 are key to building your child’s working memory. If your child can become so familiar with the alphabet and numbers that they can recite them backwards, even better! Reciting rhymes is also great for your toddler’s memory.
2. Remembering Instructions: Have you child remember instructions often. Start with a two or three and slowly increase the list over time. Remember to keep them short and simple. For example, please pick up your toy. Put it into the basket. Get your book. Put it back on to the shelf.
3. Remembering Events: Try to get into the routine of asking your child to tell you about the events of their day. What was your snack today? Who did you play with at recess? When did you have story time? By recalling the events in the correct order, you are working your child’s memory.

Play memory games for kids with the Teach My Toddler Learning Kit. The kit includes all of the tools necessary to learn the alphabet and numbers as well as shapes and colors!

Bath Toys For Toddlers

According to a survey by Johnson & Johnson, 84% of parents say bath time is some of the best quality time they get with their children. Therefore, bath toys for toddlers should be an important consideration.

“Scientists are now recognizing that everyday interactions parents have with their baby and everyday moments can be thought of as learning moments or learning opportunities,” says Andrew Meltzoff, a developmental psychologist and co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington.

Meltzoff goes on to say, “Their social-emotional, cognitive development and brain development in the first three years of life is absolutely astounding, and scientists are trying to figure out how the human brain can learn that rapidly and absorb culture that rapidly,”

When choosing bath toys for toddlers, why not pick toys that are stimulating? In our busy digital world, it is difficult to find places that are truly screen-free. The bath provides the perfect opportunity to ditch the screen and share some focused one-on-one time.

Why not teach the alphabet, numbers or colors during bath time? If you make learning fun, while in the bath, your little one will not realize they are getting the basics.

Read a great review of Teach My’s brand new line of educational bath toys for toddlers, babies and preschoolers in Sarah’s Blog of Fun.

If you are looking for educational bath toys for toddlers, check out Teach My Bathtime. Why not take advantage of the screen-free nature of the bath and teach some basics. Just 20 minutes a day, with Teach My’s new educational bath line and your little ones can master counting, ABCs and spelling. Using unique teaching tools and a creative approach to playing in the bath, Teach My’s Bathtime toys are a nice mix of learning and fun.

Names of Shapes

Teach your toddler the names of shapes using songs, crafts, books, baking and outdoor games. According to Scholastic, understanding shapes is a tool for learning many skills within math, science, language and reading. We all use shape as a way of identifying and organizing visual information. Very early, children begin to make a connection between familiar objects and their shapes.

Here are 5 ways to teach your toddler the names of shapes and shape recognition:

Song: The Shapes Song is so cute and even addresses the numbers of sides on a square, circle and triangle! Play the song and have your little one point out shapes on flashcards, in books and around the home.

Crafts: Use a pad of colored paper to cut out your own shapes. Paints are also a great way to teach shapes. Paint houses with square windows, rectangle doors and oval door mat.

Books: The library will have a wide selection of books and stories to help your toddler learn the names of shapes. We like The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns.

Baking: Here is a great website that offers a recipe for baking shapes, The Nurture Store. They suggest shape cookie cutters but you can also cut out the shapes or form them with hands.

Outside – An outdoor scavenger hunt can be fun and educational. Make a list of the basic shapes and head outside to find items that match. Keep searching until all of the shapes are checked off the list! Houses, signs and cars are great resources!

By exposing your toddler to a variety of simple activities, they can quickly master the names of shapes. They will begin to recognize them inside and outside the home. Teach My Toddler Shapes is the award winning set that teaches toddlers 9 common shapes. Just 20 minutes a day with the Teach My Toddler tools and your toddler can master the circle, triangle, square and more! Use the coordinated book, poster, puzzle and flashcards together to encourage repetition and interaction. The set has everything to give a head start.