My toddler and I discovered this cognitive activity by accident, but it ended up being educational and tons of fun.
We were driving along and the sun was setting right in his eyes. Even his sunglasses weren’t helping. I was sitting in the back seat with him and grabbed a piece of paper from the front seat pocket to use as a visor. It happened to be a map of Deer Creek State Park. He saw a dotted line and yelled, “choo choo!” I explained that the dotted line was actually a trail, not train tracks. Then, the game began.
Using the map’s legend, my toddler and I played a rousing game of I spy.
“This little house is the park office. Do you see a park office on the map?”
“How many picnic tables can you find?”
“I see a blue square. Can you find it?”
This simple learning activity kept my toddler entertained for the rest of the drive. Plus, he learned a lot about maps and got to practice his cognitive skills.