Teaching Picture: Puppy   On the down load page you will find the printable pages and print out today’s picture. Tape the picture to the wall in a location where the toddlers can see it.   As you show the picture to children, talk about the picture, tell the children about the picture. Talking to the toddlers is a good way for them to get started on using their own language skills. The more words a toddler hears the more he learns, even if he/she is not talking yet, they are listening and learning and all of a sudden they will be talking.   Refer to the language development section below for a few suggestions on things to talk about with toddlers about the picture, the language development will give you suggestion on things to talk about or it will show an activity, rhyme or story and then continue talking to the children about the picture, using your own words.   Keep in Mind:  Any and all printed material is not safe for toddlers.  So do not give any printouts to the children unless you are supervising them. These are for you to hold up or attach to the wall. Look at your toddlers and in a soothing voice talk about the picture:     Music: Soft Rock Play folk music for the children today.     Please Note: You can check at your local library and try to borrow some folk music to play for the toddlers, if they do not have folk music, try to select some different types of music to play for the children, such as; blues, classical, country, soft rock, etc.   Play the music softly throughout the day in the background and it would be nice to play it quietly during naptime also to help the children settle down to go to sleep and keep them sleeping with a soft back ground noise.      Language Development: This Little Puppy  Nursery Rhyme   This little puppy went to the park This little puppy stayed home This little puppy had a bone And this puppy had none And the little puppy went woof, woof, woof all the way home.   Directions: Print out the teaching picture - the puppy picture and cover with clear contact paper or clear packaging tape and then hold it up as you recite the poem above. After you recite the poem; tape the puppy to the wall so the children can view him throughout the day.   Print outs: Do not give the toddlers the print outs, unless they have been completely covered with clear packaging tape or clear contact paper to make them durable and if they start to wear, replace them. And any print outs that are “too small and pose a choking hazard” shouldn’t be given to the toddlers.       Songs/Finger Rhymes: How Much Is That Doggy In The Window? Traditional Song     How much is that doggy in the window? Woof, woof. The one that just barked at me. How much is that doggy in the window? Woof, woof. I do hope that doggy is for sale.   Please note: Hold up today’s picture of the puppy as you sing the song above.   Group Activity: My Doggy Likes Bones   You willneed: 6 Small Dog Bones File Clear Contact Paper Empty Dog Bones Box   Print out the dog bones file and cover with clear contact paper. Give each child an empty dog bone box, if you don’t have enough dog bone boxes to go around then give each child a small box like a rice box, macaroni and cheese box, cracker box, cookie box Print out the dog bones, cut them out and cover them with clear contact paper or packing tape to make them durable. Give each of the children two or three dog bone pictures and and a dog bone box and show them how to open the box and drop the dog bones in and then how to close the top of the box and then how to open up the box and dump out the dog bones and put them back. Show them how to dump out the dog bones and pretend to feed them to their puppies. Teacher should sit down with the children and “play too” this is how the toddlers learn, is by watching and copying, talk to the children about what you’re doing, such as “look at me I can put the dog bones into my dog bone box, this is fun!” “Oh look at Claire she is feeding her puppy the dog bone. Jillian can you pour your dog bones out of the box?   Safety Note: Make sure all the materials they are using are too large to chock on, always check with a choke tube, most items should be at least 1 inch wide by 2 inches long. Let the toddlers play with materials under supervision and when this activity is done put all the materials away. Art/Sensory Activity: Yellow Picture You will need: Yellow Paint (See recipe below) Card stock paper (One sheet per child) Toddler Safe Paint Brushes Paint cups Tape   Give the children a large sheet of card stock paper and have the children paint with the color “Yellow”.   Toddlers 12 – 15 Months: Offer the toddlers some paint and a brush, don’t expect them to “paint a picture” they will play in the paint, that is fine, this activity is more about them having a fun “sensory activity” then actually making a picture, at this age it is more about the “process” than the product.   Please Note: Toddlers need a lot of sensory activities at this age. They learn best by their senses “touching, tasting, seeing, hearing and smelling”.   Toddlers 16 – 18 Months: Some toddlers at this age are getting ready to actually “paint on the paper” but they need to learn from “you” the teacher, by painting with them, they learn by watching and coping, so please paint with them so they can see what they are supposed to be doing, if they are having more fun just finger painting and playing in the paint, then please just let them have a great time experimenting with the paint and feeling the “squishy feel” against their fingers, let them have fun, at this age its more about the “process” than actually making a “picture”.   Directions: Have the children paint with yellow paint on paper. See paint recipe below to make some yellow paint. If you have toddlers that put the paint brush into their mouths you may want to have them finger paint instead. You should provide the toddlers with toddler safe brushes; the kind that is short and chubby works best for toddlers to paint with. Provide them with a small container of paint and a brush, if they are having a hard time then just put a glob of paint in the middle of their picture and show them how to take the brush and swish it through the paint or how to finger paint in the paint. Make sure you tape their paper down. As soon as they are done painting put the paint and the picture out of reach. Make sure children are wearing paint shirts and roll up their sleeves.   Please Note: You may need to tape their paper to the table, as young toddlers do not know how to hold their paper down when coloring, gluing, and painting, etc.   Taking Art Pictures Home: Make sure parents know that the art pictures that are being sent home are not toys; they are to be hung up as decorations or put away as memories not given to the children to play with as they could choke on the small pieces of material if not being supervised.         Play Time: Throw A Stick To The Puppy You will need: Paper Towel Rolls or Toilet Paper Rolls Clear Packaging Tape Sturdy Basket                                                 Directions: You will need to cover the toilet paper rolls completely with clear packaging tape this will make them durable, make sure the toilet paper roll is completely covered with the packaging tape; it will make them very sturdy, and repeat until you have at least two or three toilet paper or paper towel rolls “sticks” per child. Activity: Have children toss paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls (pretend sticks) into a sturdy basket or small sturdy box, place a dog beside or behind the basket and they can pretend they are tossing the sticks to the puppy.   Safety Note: When they tire of this activity put the egg carton and toilet paper rolls away.     Learning Activity: Sort The Balls You will need: 6 Muffin Cup Pans Tennis Balls Directions: Tell the children that dogs like to play with balls. Show them the tennis balls and tell them this is a ball and then tell them the color of the ball. Provide each of the children with a 6 cup muffin pan and some tennis balls. Show them how they can place the balls into the cup holders of the muffin pan. Activity: Provide each child with a six cup muffin tin and some tennis balls or balls that will fit inside the each muffin cup holder. Show the children how to match up one ball to one of the muffin cup holders. This math activity is teaching them one to one correspondence. Teacher should sit down on the floor with the children and show them how to put one item into each of the muffin cup holders and encourages them to copy her. Teacher should talk to the children as they are playing with the materials and talk to them about what they are doing such as “putting in” and “taking out”, the word “ball”, to help them to learn some new words.   Safety Note: Supervise the children at all times with the materials. Make sure the balls you are using are not too small as to pose a choking hazard. Put all the materials away after this activity.     Nursery Rhymes: This Old Man Traditional Song   This old man he played one (hold up one finger) he played nick knack on my thumb, (show your thumb) With a nick knack patty whack give a dog a bone, (clap hands softly then show a dog bone) This old man came rolling home. (Roll your arms around each like to represent rolling)     Please Note: Young toddlers enjoy being read to and thrive and learn from listening to stories, songs, poetry and nursery rhymes. So please read and sing a lot to the children in your care!         View March - Younger Toddler Curriculum Week One Calendar Below Available Now !! Ages 12 to 18 Months Below you can view our NEW "Younger Toddler" activity calendar for March - Week 1 Weekly Schedule - March Young Toddlers 12 - 18 Months Nursery Rhymes - Week 1     Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Today’s Music     Folk Music Soft Rock   Classical Music   Country Music Blues Music Language Development   Humpty Dumpty Poem Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater Poem Three Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed Poem Jack and Jill Poem This Is the Way We Drop Our Mittens Song/ Finger Rhyme Humpty Dumpty Roll Away Peter Made A Pie This Is The Way The Monkey’s Talk Jack and Jill Went Up The Hill My Mittens Group Activity   Find The Eggs Fun With Pie Pans Pick those Bananas Where’s Your Nose?   Find Our Mittens Art/Sensory     Eggs Float   Smells Like Pie! Yellow Like Bananas Climb The Hill Color The Mitten Play Time     Humpty Dumpty Falls Fruit Pie & Muffins Monkey Bowling Fun With The Clothespins Fun with Mittens Learning Time   Fun With Eggs P Is for Pumpkin Pie   Sorting Monkeys and Bananas Make A Face Sorting Pets and Mittens Song/Nursery Rhyme     Two Little Eggs Pat-A-Cake I See A Banana Tree I'm a Little Teapot Three little kittens Poem