16 month activities

my girls play wonderfully by themselves for the most part, but i'm starting to really take advantage of it and am starting to really slack on my "teaching time" with them :blush: i do read to them at least once every day. (we have book time before bed, and sometimes before afternoon nap). but they're so busy running back and forth from their bedroom to the living room (the only rooms in teh house they have access to), and finding things to play with... what should *I* be doing with them? what are you "teaching" them at this age? (the books i read to them the most are the numbers/letters/colors books, so they ARE learning those every day)
what they typically do during the day when playing by themselves: chase each other, feed their baby dolls, bang on their xylophones, play with their kitchens, play with their shape sorter (ivana's good at it), walk around with hats or blankets on their heads, comb their hair, sing and dance to music, ... you get the point.

i'm just babbling now.

suggestions, please! thanks!

 

Mine love playing with puzzles. I have about a dozen of them. And they can do almost all of them.So its time to get new ones.
It sounds like your doing a great job! I think its great they have each other to play with.

 

Hi,
I found that at that age...playing is learning so interacting with them using some of their toys, books and participating in activities are all part of learning process and of course one of the most important things you are already doing...reading books.

I just started a website with a collection of toddler activities that actually are designed to learn through play. We officially started our first activity at 7 months of age and have been taking pictures of everything we have done till now. Our website is only a couple months old but I add about a page or two a day.
http://www.teaching-tiny-tots.com
Hope you find a couple ideas you might like! Also if you have any questions at all please feel free to contact me.

Sharon

 

Good question! I totally take advantage of them playing together as well!

 

QUOTE(cohlee @ Feb 18 2009, 03:33 PM) [snapback]1195327[/snapback]
Good question! I totally take advantage of them playing together as well!


DITTO! Great question-as I've been going crazy lately! I am sick of staying inside with them(a whole other thread I am going to start about keeping control of them OUTSIDE!).

My boys LOVE books-and lately pointing out E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. in the books. Anthony is REALLY good at pointing to whatever we ask of him. It's quite amazing. They also LOVE the Baby Einstein Baby Noah DVD-which is all about animals and it makes their sounds. They LOVE this. I feel guilty having them watch it-but they fuss and whine and it instantly calms them down. They point to all of the animals, and are actually learning the sounds they make!

We try coloring-it's a work in progress...We play together for a SHORT period of time before one tries to push the other...When I play with them, I point out the basics-colors, shapes, etc...

If I go near a computer-they find me!

Looking forward to other suggestions you may get!

 

My twinnies are in a 'whats dat' phase so they point at everything and ask what it is all day long. I just point out what it is and then elaborate 'that's a baby doll, lets rock the baby' 'that's a picture of a pretty flower, flowers grow outside' etc. etc. etc. We also do alot of books and pretend play, they love to help me cook and wash dishes, etc. We have been working on animal sounds, body parts, repeating words, giving hugs/kisses, manners, etc. I basically just try to talk to them all day long, creating stuff as I go along.

 

i try to make everything a "learning experience" throughout the day. i point out the basics as well, and try to teach them please and thank you and all that. but they really seem to find fun by themselves that i feel like i don't want to disturb them. they feed, burp and shush their babies, they pour the water from their sippy cups into their pots/pans/teacups and drink the little drips that came out (lol), they put blankets over their heads and walk around like that (like old ladies), they take their ball popper things and pretend to vacuum like mama, they take ALL the pillows from the living roominto their bedroom, lay down on them and say, "sssh!" the other day they were playing in their room adn marina came running out to the living room, picked up her toy phone and pretended to answer it, and walked back into the bedroom "talking" into the phone... i just don't want to interrupt their imaginations or something. when tehy start to whine or look bored then i find an activity to do together, but sometimes i just feel like i should be siting down and "teaching" them more, like set aside a "learning time" or something. is that silly?

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Feb 18 2009, 09:47 PM) [snapback]1195868[/snapback]
i try to make everything a "learning experience" throughout the day. i point out the basics as well, and try to teach them please and thank you and all that. but they really seem to find fun by themselves that i feel like i don't want to disturb them. they feed, burp and shush their babies, they pour the water from their sippy cups into their pots/pans/teacups and drink the little drips that came out (lol), they put blankets over their heads and walk around like that (like old ladies), they take their ball popper things and pretend to vacuum like mama, they take ALL the pillows from the living roominto their bedroom, lay down on them and say, "sssh!" the other day they were playing in their room adn marina came running out to the living room, picked up her toy phone and pretended to answer it, and walked back into the bedroom "talking" into the phone... i just don't want to interrupt their imaginations or something. when tehy start to whine or look bored then i find an activity to do together, but sometimes i just feel like i should be siting down and "teaching" them more, like set aside a "learning time" or something. is that silly?


No-not at all! The teacher in me feels beyond guilty that I am not doing more with the boys. I have this fight with myself everyday-and think it makes me a bad mother. Every few months I will write a post about it! My boys are not talking yet...so I wonder if there are things I should be doing more of(I am not that concerned...yet). It's a constant battle with me. I feel like I should do structured type of activities, but they are too young to care or understand! I think what you are doing is great! Now-I need to do some of those things. Although my boys don't quite play like your girls though. Hmmmm...maybe I should get them some play animals or something(if I bring another toy into this house dh is going to FREAK!)....

 

QUOTE(megkc03 @ Feb 18 2009, 10:59 PM) [snapback]1195884[/snapback]
No-not at all! The teacher in me feels beyond guilty that I am not doing more with the boys. I have this fight with myself everyday-and think it makes me a bad mother. Every few months I will write a post about it! My boys are not talking yet...so I wonder if there are things I should be doing more of(I am not that concerned...yet). It's a constant battle with me. I feel like I should do structured type of activities, but they are too young to care or understand! I think what you are doing is great! Now-I need to do some of those things. Although my boys don't quite play like your girls though. Hmmmm...maybe I should get them some play animals or something(if I bring another toy into this house dh is going to FREAK!)....


my girls have pretty wild imaginations, it's really neat to watch! but they're not really talking yet, either. they can point everything out that i name and make all animal sounds, but call almost everything "kaka" or "koko" lol socks, hats, shoes... all kaka. i talk to them all the time, and i make the sound out all the time ( "ch ch cheese" ) but still get kaka lol they'll point to their bare feet and say, "kaka kaka kaka!" i'll say, "i don't know where your socks are, go find them" and they'll go fetch me their socks, and sit down so i can put them on the whoel time saying, "kaka kaka!" what's the deal with that? i say the word sock (in serbian) over and over again, but just get a kaka.
i think this is a whole other topic lol!!!

 

QUOTE(ddancerd1 @ Feb 18 2009, 10:27 PM) [snapback]1195928[/snapback]
my girls have pretty wild imaginations, it's really neat to watch! but they're not really talking yet, either. they can point everything out that i name and make all animal sounds, but call almost everything "kaka" or "koko" lol socks, hats, shoes... all kaka. i talk to them all the time, and i make the sound out all the time ( "ch ch cheese" ) but still get kaka lol they'll point to their bare feet and say, "kaka kaka kaka!" i'll say, "i don't know where your socks are, go find them" and they'll go fetch me their socks, and sit down so i can put them on the whoel time saying, "kaka kaka!" what's the deal with that? i say the word sock (in serbian) over and over again, but just get a kaka.
i think this is a whole other topic lol!!!


LOL! Everything here is, "Eh!" And they are pretty good at that! And they too do everything I say-it's pretty amazing I think! I love it and dh and I are in shock at what they do everyday! Anthony will hold his hands out like he's saying, "What happened?" And I say, "Where is _____?" And he goes and looks for what he lost(usually his sippy cup). It's amazing. I gave Anthony a wipe at dinner the other night and said, "Wipe your face." And he DID! HUH?!?! LOL!

So yes-I think it's a whole other topic! Receptive language is amazing here! Blows my mind! LOL!