Course 4

Course 4

Activity 1

Bubble wrap heart painting

Duration: 5- 10 minutes

What do we need?

  • red paint
  • bubble wrap
  • paper and 
  • printable heart shapes to cut bubble wrap out (optional)

What to do:

  1. *Caregiver is to cut a few heart shapes out of the bubble wrap. 
  2. *Prepare paint ahead of time and place it in a shallow, wide enough container to fit cut out bubble wrap into.
  3. Demonstrate to your child to place bubble wrap into paint and print onto the page.
  4. Allow them to do it by themselves. By preparing an additional colour or a lighter shade of red, your child can use different colours and shades to print hearts
  5. This creates further colour and shade awareness, allowing for more language to emerge

*The following are some developmental benefits of bubble wrap painting:

  • Encourages creativity and self-expression
  • Sensory – feeling various textures, squishy, bubbly and hearing the popping noise.
  • Hand and eye coordination
  • Fine motor skills development
  • Self-esteem – sense of achievement and pride
  • Experimenting with shapes and space

Activity 2

Play dough number 3

Duration: 10 – 15 minutes

What do we need?

  • Play dough,
  • An A4 page with number symbols 2 and 3 written on it *(Caregiver to prepare beforehand)
  • Rolling pin or paper towel roll inner
  • Cookie cutters or bottle tops
  • Plastic knife

What to do:

1. *Caregiver to demonstrate how to roll play dough between the palms of hands to create a ‘sausage like’ shape

2. Then show your little one to take the sausage like shape and build over the drawn number symbols

  1. Once the number shape is made, roll out a flat piece of play dough using the rolling pin and press the cookie cutter or bottle top into it.
  2. Assist your child to form the corresponding amount of shapes to match the number symbols. Be sure to work on one number at a time. 
  3. Demonstrate to your child to touch count and count out loud each time.
  4. Allow your child to play and explore freely too.

Activity 3

Hide and seek

Duration of activity 5 – 10 minutes

What do we need?

  • Nothing but imagination

What to do:

  1. Just have fun with your child. Discuss the emotions as they are experienced (Example: I am laughing, this is so much fun. It makes me happy when I find you!
  2. Hide yourself and make them look for you. Also not too far.
  3. When you or your child is found, comment on your position in space to create further spatial awareness (example: you found me under the bed! Or I found you next to the big chair!
  4. Playing hide and seek with your toddler leads to searching for hidden objects without the risk of getting hurt.

*There are some clear cognitive benefits to playing hiding games. It allows for fun and makes them giggle but also teaches them the concept of object permanence; that things can still exist even though they might not be able to see them. Searching for objects or people encourages children to use their imagination and helps them develop problem-solving skills as they try to work out the best place to hide or find their target.