When I do work as a consultant, one of the most common questions I get asked by child care professionals is, "what activities can we do with our under three's? It seems like all we do is the same stuff over and over!" It can be tricky to come up with new ideas to stimulate your child or infant, especially if you are interacting with your child based on an emergent or Reggio approach, where you offer resources and activities based on interest that you have observed from your child. Most children under the age of two are not speaking in complete sentences or are pre-verbal so it makes it even more challenging to try to figure out what they are interested in. I generally say to people, "watch, watch, watch!...and pay attention very closely to what they are trying to accomplish developmentally." Lachlan for example began on a "things that turn" kick when he was about nine months old. He wanted to get his hands and fingers on anything that could rotate; great for cognitive and fine motor development. At almost 17 months he is still fascinated by wheels, gears, knobs...you name it. I began to feed this interest by offering these items: cars, a telephone with a dial (remember those!...always remove the chord, please!), a toy stroller for his doll and "Ted," and his favourite; trains! From there 'things that turn' evolved into 'transportation vehicles.' At the moment his mind is delighted by Thomas the Tank Engine, small wooden cars, our council rubbish collection truck and airplanes. We draw pictures, use paint rollers (that turn!) sing songs and play with magnets that portray these items...and of course offer books on the topic! We never forget the books in our house! I found some Thomas books at a garage sale which Lachlan has fallen in love with. I'm not generally in to buying children a bunch of licensed character stuff but when we were out shopping Lachlan pointed to something and said "Thom, Thom." When I looked there was a tracksuit with Thomas. I couldn't resist and it was on sale (okay, that is my excuse like all good moms!) He was so excited when I bought it. He hugged the sweatshirt all the way home. When he wears it and we ask, "Where is Thomas?" he looks for him on his shirt. Thomas has definitely become a favourite in our house and it wasn't from watching him on TV. It was from books! He does now have a die-cast Thomas and a few friends which he happily chugs around the house.
We also made a box car with an medium size box. Lachlan did all the work. I handed him some plates for wheels and he coloured them and the box. I let him stick the wheels on the box where ever he wanted--this is an important element when doing any creative activity; let your child create and invent, avoid trying to manipulate them or their work to make a 'picture perfect' piece of art. There is nothing expressive or creative about that; that is just reproduction and replication, not expressive art!
Noticing what your child is doing developmentally, will be a big help in determining what activity they are ready for. When Lachlan began taking an interesting in placing pegs into his peg board, I figured that he might like trying to stick other objects into things (don't worry I didn't give him a straightened hanger and light socket, so put down the phone). Instead I took out some play-dough and popsicle sticks. He concentrated very intently on the materials. He had to learn that he need to use a certain amount of force to push the sticks down enough so that they would stay. Lachlan has always been so gentle when he plays and moves things, you could tell he really wanted to just gingerly place the sticks on the dough, but the result wasn't what he wanted so he learned to be a bit more forceful. I then offered him feathers to place in the dough. He enjoyed the textures and experimenting with the different level of resistance the dough and the feather bring when joined together. All of this intrigued him for a good 10-15 minutes which is not bad for a toddler; he is about 15 months old at the time. That of course is something else to consider; avoid getting your hopes up thinking that your little one will sit for a half hour or more engrossed in something. They are usually into it or they aren't! Never force something and respect when they have had enough. They like to stick around long enough to get out of it whatever they feel they need. When they have had enough they are ready to move on to something else...and they will!
Sometimes when children are bored with materials you have provided, they may often what to leave the table or area and take the materials with them to do something else. If what they want to do is not destructive, then I encourage you to let their idea play out and see where it takes them. For example, Lachlan found was using stickers and decided that he wanted to leave the art table and walk around with the stickers. I let him do so waiting to see what he had in mind. He began to stick the stickers on one of the drawings that he had made the week before which was hanging on the wall. This certainly was not hurting anything and I was delighted that he wanted to stick them on paper and not the walls! However, Lachlan has tried on occasion to leave his art table or easel with crayons and paint. This I do not allow because I like the colour of my walls just the way they are and I'm not looking for any 'Lachlan Originals' to go on the furniture or floors! He learned quickly that if he wants to keep hold of those tools he will have to use them on the designated materials provided. Lay down the rules early and be consistent. This will avoid confusion for your child and make the process go much easier. Plus, you've given your child some power over the situation which is all children want anyway. The lesson is simple for them; they choose; if they want to paint they paint on the paper. If not, the paint gets put up. If you are consistent in all aspects of discipline in this way, you won't end up with a bunch of power struggles. You make they rules, they have the power to decide what they want to do.
