Toddlers are natural experimenters, and toddler activities can include the freedom to explore right in the kitchen. You can also feed him a diet of rich language experiences in your every day cooking!
Did you know the size of your young child's vocabulary strongly predicts how easily and how well your child will learn to read? You can encourage toddler reading and build your child's vocabulary by talking and reading together during daily activities.
Your toddler may love to ask over and over, "What's that? What's that?" As you point to the words written on food packages and name the items you see, your toddler begins to "read" words by learning that print is a symbol for the real thing.
What you need
- Time with your child
- Plastic or metal mixing bowl and large spoon
- Small amount of several different dry baking ingredients such as flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, cocoa and salt (look for different colors and textures)
Optional
- Water
- Broom and sponge for cleaning up
Let's go!
Allow your toddler to experiment with mixing ingredients, just like he sees you do when you bake. As you gather the ingredients, point to the label on the bag or box and read it out loud: "This says 'macaroni.'"
Let your toddler pour several different items (using small amounts) into the bowl and stir them together. You can add water or another liquid if you don't mind a little more mess. (This is a great indoor activity for a rainy day. You also could do this outside if the weather permits.) The process of mixing and watching what happens as ingredients combine is fun for toddlers, who usually don't care too much how their "recipe" turns out.