Hey everyone! Happy Thursday! I can’t believe another week has gone by. Don’t get me wrong, the days sometimes seem long, but “time flies” has taken on a whole new meaning since becoming a parent! Didn’t I just bring home a newborn last week?!
Today, I’m going to share with you how I make the most out of everyday life with my 15-month old daughter, L.
Like I said in last week’s post, I start with an outline for the week. I think about what we have planned and then I think of ways to connect what we’re going to be doing in our everyday lives with age-appropriate learning and skill growth. I think about the end activity and then I think about different ways I can enrich the experiences we already have planned by adding in meaningful activities. In “teacher terms” this would be considered “backwards lesson planning.”
This week, we had plans to go to the aquarium with some friends on Friday. So I thought of the five major areas of development (fine motor, gross motor, sensory, vocabulary/ language and social/emotional) and created some activities we could do throughout the week to help support growth in those areas.
Here’s what that looked like this week:
Fine Motor: Fine motor refers to the ability to use the small muscles in our hands and wrists (for example: properly holding a pencil or scissors, threading beads, buttoning a coat, zippering a zipper, etc.).
Now, at 15 months I’m certainly not working on showing L how to properly hold a pencil or scissors, but I am working on helping her develop fine motor skills so that eventually, she’ll have the strength and control to complete a more complex task such as tying her own shoes. You start to see fine motor development from birth. A newborn’s ability to bring his or her hands to the mouth is a demonstration of fine motor ability. As they grow, the expectation obviously increases.
This week, L was working on developing her pincer grasp, which specifically refers to the coordination of the thumb and one or two fingers. L has had a strong pincer grasp since about 8 months, but we still focus on continuing to strengthen it. So this week, we made it fun by creating a “Sea Animal Rescue.” I took 6 sea animal figurines and put them in a muffin tin (one in each cup). I then used washi tape to partially cover the animals so she couldn’t easily get them out. L had to use her thumb and fingers to peel the tape off to “rescue” the animals.
It was interesting to watch her complete this activity. She could pull the tape off of the muffin tin pretty easily, but then figuring out how to get the tape off of her fingers without having it constantly stick to herself was more challenging for her. When she is faced with a challenge like this, I always try to allow some time to let her try to figure it out on her own before intervening. In “teacher terms” this is called allowing some “think time” or “wait time.” Basically, it gives the child some time to think – they don’t always think as quickly as we do because they have so many less experiences than us (and their brains just simply aren’t as developed as ours). Usually, she does figure out a solution on her own. I loved watching the determined little look on her face during this activity. She was so proud of herself once she realized she could stick the tape to the table to get it off of her.
Once the animals were “rescued” we pointed and named each one. We referred back to these little creatures several times throughout the week.
Gross motor: Gross motor refers to movement involving large muscle movements (for example: crawling, walking, kicking, dancing, etc.).
This week, I spread out the different sea animal figurines (from the fine motor activity above) on the ground and asked L to “find the crab.” She’d crawl/ scoot/ walk over to the named sea animal and pick it up. This was great because she was doing a lot of squatting during this activity. This activity also helped to develop her fine motor (picking up the figurines) and vocabulary (learning the names of the different sea creatures). We only did this a few times before she lost interest, but tying in gross motor skills whenever possible is a great idea. Toddlers are often kinesthetic learners so any movement is always beneficial!
Sensory: Sensory play is any activity that stimulates the five senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing). Sensory development is so important since we use our senses to observe and learn. I try to offer L different sensory-type exploration each week. This is just an opportunity for her to touch, smell, taste, see, or hear something new.
This week, L loved her “Jell-O Dig!” I put some sea creatures, pom poms and teething rings in a plastic container. I used Knox Unflavored Gelatin and just added a few drops of blue food coloring to make it look like ocean water. I chose to use this type of gelatin because it’s way less sugary (and therefore way less sticky) than traditional flavored gelatin packs. I followed the directions on the box and poured it on top of the toys in the container. I let it sit overnight and it was ready!
She had a blast with this activity. This isn’t the first time she did a “Jell-O Dig.” The first one she did was around 7 months. This time, it was interesting to watch her explore. She was very strategic about where she poked and how she went about getting the different pieces out. I actually found it very interesting that this time, she actually decided to put her toes in the gelatin! She dug around with them a little bit and laughed to herself. It showed that she is learning by touching, and not just with her hands!
Vocabulary/ language: We read LOTS of books to help develop vocabulary and language skills. I always strongly encouraged my students to read for 20 minutes per day at home. Even at 15 months, L and I read together for AT LEAST 20 minutes every day (usually broken apart into multiple different sessions- I’ll explain more about that in another post).
Consider this: If Child A reads (or is read to) for 20 minutes per day, that’s 3,600 minutes per school year. That’s about 1.8 million words that that child is exposed to in just one school year! If Child B reads (or is read to) for only 1 minute per day, that’s only 180 minutes per school year. That’s only about 8,000 words that that child is exposed to in one school year! What a difference, huh!?
I always encouraged parents to let their children read or explore a variety of different books, including fiction and nonfiction. I do the same with L. This week, we went to the library and selected some fiction and nonfiction sea creature books. As we read the books, we learned the names of different sea creatures simply by pointing to the pictures and naming them. We used the figurines from the “Sea Animal Rescue” activity and placed them next to the photographs in the books. Repetition is so important. At the beginning of the week, I could see L making connections as she looked from the photograph to the figurine- back and forth. As the week went on, I could say “Point to the crab!” or “Where is the fish?” and she was able to identify the different sea creatures on demand. She’s learning that things have names. It seems like such a simple concept but to a 15 month old, it’s all new! Never underestimate the power of what you’re teaching! Books are great ways to introduce vocabulary and language skills.
*Note: These books were not the only books we read throughout the week. We still read some other favorites (including her all-time favorite book: Baby Faces).
Social/ emotional: Ahh, last but definitely not least! Social/ emotional learning (SEL) is SO important. SEL can be divided into five components: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Covid restrictions made it very challenging for some kids to get social awareness and understanding for so long and it’s really impacted so many lives. As adults, it’s important that we prioritize it and recognize that it’s a critical aspect of development.
A lot of what I do with her throughout the week has SEL connection. For example, when I give her that “think time,” it’s giving her a chance to become a problem-solver.
I do try to consciously offer specific experiences (like planned play-dates) so she can learn some social/ emotional skills, too. She’s not in daycare or school yet, and she doesn’t have any siblings yet. So it’s very important to offer these situations and experiences.
This week, we went to the aquarium with some friends. We walked around, looking at all the different sea animals, connecting and applying a lot of what she learned throughout the week (“Point to the crab!” “Where is the fish?”). Our aquarium has a great splash pad and playground which was a huge hit for L and her friends. They splashed and played together for a couple of hours. We offered them toys to play with and taught them to take turns and share. SEL at this age (and really, any age) doesn’t have to seem like a lot, but it’s all new to them so it’s important to highlight. It really is so crucial to child development.
Next week, we’ll dive a little bit more into sensory play. I’ll share some information that explains why it is so important for little learners and their development. I’ll also show you some more real-life examples of some of L’s sensory activities. I’d love to hear from you - what are some of your little one’s favorite sensory activities?
Thanks for reading! I hope you continue to follow along to find (and share!) inspiration, information and innovation! :-)