As we get closer and closer to March 2nd, (Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!), here is another Toddler lesson plan to help you fill your day with adventurous, creative fun! If you are looking for a lesson plan to help encourage your toddler to try new things and learn new skills, look no further!
Toddler Lesson Plan Basics
There are a couple of basic topics that I love to cover in my lesson plans:
- Language and Literacy
- Math
- Science and Sensory
- Creative Arts
- Music and Movement
I love including these activities in my day-to-day routine because it creates a well rounded, balanced day. If it were up to my daughter, we would do art crafts all day. If it were up to me, we would probably do science inquiries all day. Having all of these elements allows for opportunities to practice physical development, reasoning skills, language skills, social and emotional skills, and so many more.
* As a note: Every child develops at his or her own unique special rate! Lesson plans are a list of general activities and ideas. Modifications may need to be made to fit your child’s specific learning needs.
Toddler Lesson Plan Details
Language and Literacy
Oh, the Places You’ll Go
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Haven’t read the book? Check out this wonderful read aloud.
The question is not will you go. The question is where will you go? Take on the world one step at the time with this wonderful book!
Math
Counting Shoes
Well, before you set off on an adventure, you need to make sure you have shoes on! This activity is pretty simple. You only need one thing: SHOES!
Here is what you do:
- Gather shoes of different styles, colors, and sizes
- Set them out for your child
- Count the shoes with your child
This activity is a great activity to do with all preschool children. For my 18 month daughter, counting the shoes and talking about when we wear shoes is perfect! For older children, grouping the shoes based on size, color, closing method (zippers, laces, velcro, etc.), or season is a great way to differentiate this lesson to fix their learning needs.
Things to think about
Does your toddler sort the shoes by one feature, such as size or color? Does your preschool child recognize that shoes can be sorted in two different methods, such as color and then again by size? Can your child explain their sorting method to you? These are all benchmarks that your child can reach with this activity*.
Science and Sensory
Sensory Footprints
For the Science and Sensory portion of the Toddler lesson plan, we did an activity called Sensory Footprints. This activity was a blast! Using four different footprints, we explored the different textures and learned words to describe each on! This walking path was full of new feelings for your feet to explore!
Creative Arts
Hot Air Balloon Suncatcher
I LOVE creating suncatchers. I think they are one of they are beautiful. For this activity, I created a template of a Hot Air Balloon Suncatcher. To do this activity, simply cut out the hot air balloon including the white spaces in the hot air balloon, place it top down onto some clear contact paper, cut up colored tissue paper, or colored cellophane, place the paper on the sticky side of the contact paper and have fun! When you are done with your masterpiece, simply seal it up by placing another piece of contact paper on the back of your design.
This activity is great for developing those pinching muscles in little fingers!
For my daughter’s projects, it is easier for her to handle tissue paper. I feel like the cellophane is more vibrate; however, it is not as easily placed since it is easily affected by static electricity. These cellophane squares stuck to the back of her arm and she was not happy about it…
Looking for more suncatcher designs? I wrote another post with some a couple different heart designs not too long ago!
Music and Movement
My goal for Music and Movement is to get Evie up and moving! I did this in a couple different ways:
- We turned on an awesome action song! Evie loves ” We Are Going On A Bear Hunt”. If you haven’t heard of it, you should definitely give it a go with your child or class!
- We went on an adventure ourselves. I love to bring books outside and take them along with us. It is a great opportunity to extend the learning environment out into new areas. I’m pleased to report that we explored somewhere new and even learned a couple new skills in the process!
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Toddler Lesson Plan Thoughts
Personally, Evie and I loved doing this lesson plan together! We had so much fun exploring new places, smelling some stinky shoes, creating hot air balloons, and touching things with our feet!
What did you think? Did you explore any new, exciting places? Did you get to squish things between your toes? How did your suncatcher turn out? I would love to hear about your learning journey with your child or classroom! Feel free to leave comments! Thank you for reading!