So, I’ve had a lot of you asking me for ideas on how to teach your toddler. Let me say first off that if you picture our days filled with perfectly planned Pinterest activities, you’re about to be disappointed. Since being pregnant I have been practically a zombie, although my energy is slowly coming back if only to be vanquished by the 100 degree weather. Since the heat is my mortal enemy we have been spending a lot of time indoors, which can sometimes get nutty with a almost 17 month old. I thought I’d share with you what a typical day looks like for us around here.

We wake up leisurely around 8 am, yes that is real life. I prayed for a child who loved to sleep, but had no idea I’d get this lucky. The next hour is a blur of breakfast and Sesame Street while Daddy gets ready for work and I have my morning cup of decaf. Let me make my first interjection here and say that I do not think a minimal amount of TV is going to turn your child’s brain to mush, but hey we all have choices we make for our kids and you do you mama. At around 9 the TV goes off, Daddy is off to work and our “day” gets started. This could go three different ways, we either have errands to run, a playdate or fun activity outside the house, or playtime at home. IF we’re home typically for the next three hours we have Pandora on, we dance, read, play, eat a hundred snacks and have all sorts of silly toddler shenanigans. At about noon we get lunch ready and eat. After we are all cleaned up its nap time, this usually ends up being at around 1 or 1:30 depending on our day. Then my sweet little angel naps until around 4. This is new, until about a week ago her naps were short and sporadic. In fact, this girl didn’t even nap for more than 45 min until about 10 months so we’re making up for lost nap time over here. Then we play and make dinner until Daddy gets home at around 5. After that its family time, dinner time, and bedtime around 7.

When it come to Early Childhood Development I’ve always agreed with Maria Montessori who said “Play is the work of the child”. I tried to go into each day teaching with this mindset and now as a parent teaching my own daughter I find its so important to remember.

Playtime is probably my favorite thing right now, developmentally she is growing leaps and bounds and she is always surprising me with the way she learns and plays imaginatively. She’s learning new words every day, can do about 20 animal sounds, says the letters in her name (about 80% of the time in order) and can count to 11 with a weird little skip of 6 and 7 (we’re working on it). Below are some of my favorite tools for playtime right now to encourage learning.

1. Alphablock and Countablock Books: These are some of our most favorite books! They are so fun for Elouise to flip through on her own and also for me to read with her. Each book features two pages to highlight each letter or number. First you see the number or letter and then flip the page to interact further. The Alphablock book goes through each of the 26 letters and the Countablock book goes through 1-20 and then counts by 10’s all the way to 100.
2. Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnets: I searched high and low for “safe” magnets because the ones with the tiny little magnets lodged in the back of plastic make me think of two words “choking hazard”. These technically have a higher age recommendation on them, but we always use these together so I feel okay about it. These are the perfect tool for simple recognition tasks. These really helped Elouise get familiar with her letters by simple exposure. We also have the animal and number magnets as well.
3. Fisher-Price Little People Animal Friends Farm: I mentioned that Elouise knows about 20 animal sounds. This set from Fisher Price is so fun because it comes with animals that allow Elouise to play and use her imagination. It’s so fun to watch her line them up and make all of their noises, with the occasional “ei-ei-oh”. It also has little barn doors that make different farm animal sounds when they are opened and closed.
4. My First Words Touch and Feel Picture Cards: Okay, you guys these are Elouise’s current obsession. They are seriously the most brilliant teaching tool! They have a bright colorful picture on one side with a touch and feel component. The other side has teaching cues with ways to encourage early language skills in correspondence to the particular word. Plus they also have a version for animals, colors and shapes, things that go, farm, and numbers and counting. I am so tempted to buy them all!

What else to do you guys want ideas on? Are there any things you’re wanting to teach your toddlers or any specific learning toys or tools you want recommendations for?