Learning Games On the Go

In a recent Parenting Magazine, Melody Warnick wrote a Keep 'em Busy article to occupy your kiddos for 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. Some of these ideas are great, so I wanted to share a few with you!

30 Seconds:

• Frozen Frog You are the frog, and when you stick your tongue out, your child has to freeze. They can move again when you say "Ribbit." (works for lots of different animals! Great to review animal noises.)
• Rock the Vote Have your kiddo make a thumbs up or thumbs down when you name different things, like foods, TV shows, colors, activities, places. I bet they surprise you!

2 Minutes:

• Feeling Charades: Act out sad, happy, excited, surprised, grumpy, etc and see if your child can guess. Then let them have a turn! You can also ask them to "Tell me something that makes you feel _____"
• Food Mystery: Give one clue at a time and have them guess. "I at something green. I ate something round. I ate something that comes in a bunch." Great work on using adjectives and being aware of shapes, colors, and attributes in the environment.
• Robot Dance: When you press a pretend button on your kiddo, they have to dance like a robot. You can add "sing like a robot," "eat like a robot," "run like a robot" buttons on them as well. (Be creative!)

5 Minutes:

• Just Like the Other Find 2 things in the room and ask your child to think of something they have in common (they are both green, they are both soft, etc). Then try it with 3 or 4 objects!
• One, Two Wiggles Have your child follow instructions like "Wiggle 6 times" or "Jump 4 times". Or say a number and a body part, like "Hands, five." (They can clap, shake, wave or whatever, 5 times). Fun way to practice counting.

10 Minutes:

• Sit on It A one person game of musical chairs! Have your child circle a chair until you call out a body part, like foot or elbow. Then as fast as they can, they have to touch that part to the chair.
• Something's Missing Dump our a few objects from your purse and let them study it. Then have them close their eyes while you remove an item. See if they can figure out what disappeared.