To do this activity…
Pick a small toy or stuffed animal and explain that you are going to hide it. The trick is to hide it without them watching. Then, have them find it. As they get farther, make your voice quieter as you say, “Farther…farther…farther”. As they get closer, speak louder as you say, “Closer…CLOSER…CLOSER!!!”.

Your volume will give them clues as they learn the concepts of closer and farther.

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Narrowing down your toddler’s toys will help reduce distractions. Plus, when old toys are reintroduced, your toddler’s experiences will have grown and they may find new ways to enjoy them.

How To Do It…
Have your toddler choose some of their favorite toys and set them aside. Then, work together to put all of the other toys into bins or boxes. (Clear plastic boxes are ideal because you can see what is in them without bothering with labels.)

Your toddler will be able to practice his/her sorting skills by putting all of the Mr. Potato Head pieces in one box, all of the Legos in another, etc.

Put the bins and boxes into a closet or other space so that they are out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Then, in a few weeks, swap out some of the current toys with items from the bins.

Tips…
* This is also a great time to identify toys to give away or sell at a garage sale.
* If your child is upset about putting his/her toys away, you may want to do this activity while they are sleeping.

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From the Toddler App Developer

Welcome to Fish School HD – with letters, numbers, shapes, colors, matching, and more! Brought to you by the creators of Wheels on the Bus, an award-winning, educational iPhone app – featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Gizmodo, Discovery Channel, MSNBC.com, Wired.com, and Daily Candy.

Get Fish School HD Today!

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My 2 year-old is into trains…Today. Tomorrow, he might be into farms or airplanes or who knows? We got him the The Great Toy Story Train Chase from Lego Duplo because when he outgrows trains, he can use the blocks to build something else. Since all of the sets work together, we have fun turning his barn into a train station and making his fire truck into an emergency milk delivery truck.

Duplo’s are great for building fine motor skills and absolutely fantastic for cognitive skills. My son can take apart the train and put it back together faster than I can. And, the sense of fulfillment he gets when he creates something new is great for his self esteem.

Hotwheels Color Shifters are a fantastic way to practice colors with toddlers. Dunk them in water and they change colors depending on the temperature. We keep a small bowl of water with ice in it next to the bath and our toddler is so engaged that he hardly notices when we wash his hair. Incidentally, they also will change color if you hold them in your warm hands. This has kept him occupied out of the tub too.

Along with entertaining our spirited toddler, the cars give us a great opportunity to practice colors. Such a silly toy, but we all love them.

The Classic Doodle Sketch is a modern day twist on the Etch A Sketch. My son happily entertains himself by drawing with the magnetic pen and shape stamps and then erasing his pictures with the little slider. (The slider alone makes this toy great for spirited toddlers.)

Most of the time, we use it together though. He likes to tell me what to draw and I do my best to make a cartoon representation of it. (Without a second’s notice, he wipes it clean and asks for something else.) Sometimes, we practice our letters and reading by writing the names of movies that he can choose from or places we are going or people we are going to see.

I absolutely love the Shapes Magnetic Book (Magnetic Play & Learn). It comes with a bunch of magnetic shapes that you can use to make pictures in the book. We use it during potty time because it is pretty self-contained and entertains him more than just a book. It is also good for long car trips and visiting relatives that believe that children should be seen and not heard.

The best part is that he doesn’t even realize that he is practicing his shapes and colors.

In case you are new to WildEdisons, I love alphabet puzzle mats. There are so many educational toddler activities you can do with them. For some ideas, check out my post Toddler Alphabet Puzzle Mat Activities.

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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.

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Practice Sorting and Colors
Use a muffin tin or dixie cups to help your toddler sort the magnets by color.

Special Letter
Sometimes, when we go to the grocery store, I put an alphabet letter in a little plastic Easter egg. When we get to the store, my toddler cracks open the egg to see what the special letter is. Then, we spend the trip looking for that letter in signs at the store.

Picture and Letter Matching
Cut out some simple pictures from magazines. (Pictures without too much going on.) Then, help your toddler hang them up on the refrigerator using the letter that the object in the picture begins with.

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Letters in Hiding
Sometimes, I take individual letters from the puzzle mat and hide them strategically around the house. For example, I might hide the letter B in the bed, the P under a pillow, the O in his toy oven. I don’t tell him that I have hidden them. I just let him find the letters on his own and then make a big deal about it. “You found a B in the bed! Bed starts with the letter B. B..B..Bed. B…B…Boy… You get the idea.

Alphabet Road
Often, we make a road out of the letters that winds around corners, through doors, or around furniture. Of course, you have to sing the alphabet song as you walk the alphabet road.

Letter Puzzle
I put a few of the puzzle frames on the floor without the letters in them. Then, I hold up a letter and ask him to find where it goes. As he searches for the correct frame, I talk about the letter and things that start with it. Once he has filled in a few holes, I put out more empty frames. I love this game because instead of looking for the letter, he is looking for a hole the SHAPE of the letter. Plus, it is a healthy challenge for him to fit the letter into the frame.

Alphabet Letter Tracing
My toddler and I work on his fine motor skills by tracing the individual alphabet letters. He still needs help, but it is a fun activity that keeps him entertained.

Bag-O-Alphabet Letters
Sometimes, we put some of the alphabet letters in a pillowcase. (I generally don’t include letters like X, Z, etc.) He reaches in and picks one out. Then, we run around the house looking for things that start with that letter. He gets a nice workout while learning his alphabet.

Letter of the Day
We do this activity a lot. I usually pick a letter based on his latest interest. For example, when he was all about the dog we had D day. I go around the house and find a bunch of small things that start with that letter and put them in a box. Then, I grab the letter from the alphabet puzzle mat, hold it behind my back, and present it to him with the box of items. He spends the next hour playing with the items in the box while I make a big deal about the letter.

Run and Jump!
This one is good for wearing out your spirited toddler while they work on their gross motor skills. I choose about five letters and put them on the floor. Then, I have my energetic little boy run a lap around the downstairs. As he rounds the bend to where I am, I shout out a letter. He has to think quick, find it, and jump on it. I swap out a letter or two and we do it again. It sounds kind of silly, but he will do it a dozen times before he gets bored.

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I quickly discovered a few things. First, I am not really into sugar cookies. Second, there is a reason why folks only make cookies on holidays. The mess, the time, the hassle. Did I mention the mess? After just a few cookie baking binges, the beautiful box of cookie cutters was relegated to a dusty shelf where it was forgotten until I had a toddler. Now, we use them a few times a week for all sorts of activities.

Play Doh
Play Doh is just great with cookie cutters. It does not require a lot of ingredients, mixing bowls, measuring cups, and spoons. It does not have to be carefully cut on a floured surface. It does not have to be baked and it does not have to be iced.

Give your cookie cutters new life by letting your toddler use them with Play Doh. Talk about the shapes and letters. Ask your toddler which color Play Doh would make a good star.

Sandwich or Pancake Fun
Turn meal time into learning time by cutting your toddlers sandwich, pancakes, etc. into letters or shapes.

Tracing Activity
Trace around some cookie cutters of trees, stars, etc. Then, let your toddler decorate the shapes.

Sand Shapes
Press cookie cutters into wet sand. Stamp out the alphabet or a scene and then erase it and start again.

Sponge Painting
Trace the cookie cutter shapes on to sponges. Cut out the shapes and let your toddler use the sponges to stamp out fun pictures.

Felt Scenes
Find some shapes that go together and trace them on to appropriately colored felt. Use a piece of felt as a background and let your toddler create scenes with the shapes.

Lacing Cards
Trace larger shapes on to cardboard. Then, use a hole punch to make holes along the edges. Give your toddler a shoe lace and let them practice their lacing.

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments
Do a quick internet search for a cinnamon dough ornament recipe and make crafty ornaments that smell good enough to eat.

Greeting Cards
Trace cookie cutters on to construction paper and use the shapes to decorate cards for any occasion.

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After a couple of times, Edison moved the signs around to different parts of the maze and made his own little game.

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