I need activities for my daycare children...?

Question

I'm having trouble finding activities for my 2 year olds to do that doesn't envolve small or harmfull pieces to my infants? I need ideas that don't involve beads, string, or anything else that can be potentially harmful to smaller children.

Answer 1

You can play stop/go with music. When the music is playing they dance, when the music stops, they stop.  This is great for listening skills.  Or just play fast music, have them dance fast, or slow music, dancing slowly.  Play simon says.  Play I-spy.  Have a child go on a pet hunt, hide stuffed animals all over the room.  Have children find something in the room that is red, blue, or something hard, soft.  Do leaf rubbings with leaves and big crayons.  Play charades.  Either you or one child at a time pretends to be a farm animal, saying cluck cluck for example, flapping your arms and walking around like a chicken. Sing nursery rhymes especially ones that involve their hands like itsy bitsy spider, or 5 little ducks. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You could read them Disney fairies books. There very popular and great pictures in the books. Maybe even have tiaras made so the girls could wear them.

Answer 3

I do family child care and presently I have a 5 yr, 4 yr, 3 yr, 2.5 yr, 2 yr, and a 1 yr old... so I understand the art problem.  I guess my question to you is...what is your schedule?  Let me tell you mine and add some comments and then maybe that will help you out.  

Most infants take a morning nap... so while the 1 year old is sleeping I do "centers".  They do involve small items but I am directly observing and they learn very quickly not to put anything in their mouth.  I have also started the one year old when I can do one on one with her because she's beginning to understand some things she can put in her mouth and others she can't.  

After we clean up from morning play we do our group time.

ABC/Number/Shape/Color songs/activities and book time.

Then babies go to sleep and centers start.

I use plastic wading pools and tubs to keep the materials in place so that they don't get tracked through the house and the baby finds them!

We all rotate...no more than 10 minutes at each "center".  It all depends on the children.

1) Art - usually theme-related and open-ended.  Collage, painting etc.  Done at the table or easel

2) Sensory Pool A- rocks/water, water play, beans, corn, rice, sand, etc.

3) Sensory Pool 2- scissors, oatmeal, snow, birdseed etc.

4)  Playdough/incredible foam or something similar.

5)  1 on 1 with me---usually something cognitive or fine motor related.

6)  If I need a 6th center I usually add a "new" toy...such as legos/trains or something that hasn't been out in awhile and they children usually have to share... but this one time they get to play by themselves.  It's usually quite a hit.

Don't know if that helps you any... again you have to be directly supervising even the 2 year olds with sensory since they sometimes like to explore where they can put the items LOL  like up their nose...but I haven't had that in a long time!  If the baby is awake...which happens on occasion...but not often because that's one thing I do right from the beginning is set the schedule, I have been known to put a baby in the excersaucer and bring them out with us so they can observe and I place the sensory material into a plastic pb jar and s***w the lid on very tight... that way they can "join" us in our play.

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Finger paint, paint with pudding, redlight green light game.

Answer 5

Most two year olds love to paint with pudding--it's easily accessible--messy (just what a two year old likes)--and safe if they put it in their mouths (which you know they are going to do no matter what it is)!" ALSO.....Any thing with food!! Use icing for glue. Use cereals, crackers, fruit etc. to make mosaics on paper plates. Paint with the icing!! Use different colors of icing, whipped cream (use a little food coloring.) Arrange apple slices, banana slices etc. in patterns. The child will quickly understand the pattern and be able to replicate it. All in all, with food crafts a two year old will not have to be told "no" to eating the craft materials!!!"

Answer 6

Check out the book Creative Curriculum for Family Childcare.  It talks about the activities that children benefit from in a childcare setting.  It covers dramatic play, blocks, toys, art, books, sand and water, cooking, music and movement and outdoor play.  It tells where different aged children are at developmentally, gives you ideas for making your own toys and setting up stations in your house.  It is a long book but helped me alot when I was setting up my daycare.

Answer 7

just follow these links:

http://www.kinderart.com/littles/litles....

http://www.abcteach.com/directory/fun_ac...

http://www.linkroll.com/day-care/daycare...

hope you find it useful  :-)