11 Clever Ways to Keep Your Toddler Productive 

 

11 clever ways to keep your toddler productive

 

The kids are growing so fast at this stage that it’s important to engage them in some activities. The activities shouldn’t be doing something but engaging them productively. So, it helps them to explore and learn new skills. The age from 1yrs to 4yrs is considered, the toddler is the most active stage. Here are a few suggestions for anyone who’s looking to get some tips and tricks to engage their toddler.

1. Reading/Writing/Dancing/Singing
2. Give them a box to decorate (Colors, crayons, tools)
3. The activity binder/folder
4. Washing vegetables
5. Ask them to help you
6. Give them some screen time
7. Engage them in storytelling 
8. Puzzles
9. Give them options                                                                                                     
10. Role Plays
11. The most important- Reward Them

 

1.     Reading/Writing/Dancing/Singing:

 

These are the basic skills one must own. From the starting, we’re involving our kids in these activities. These skills play a crucial role in speech development, fine motor skills, listening skills, communication skills, etc. It becomes easy for the parents too if they involve their kids in reading a book before sleeping. And also asking them to express themselves in their diary or by maintaining a journal. Dancing to different songs helps in the overall physical development of the kids.

 

2.     Give them a box to decorate (Colors, crayons, tools)

 

Kids are more creative than adults. They learn to explore their creativity. Give them a lot of colors, crayons, and the right tools to figure out what they make out of it. Believe me! They’ll do it in the best possible way. You just need to provide them all the tools and the resources and a little guidance and then watch, what your little one comes out with. You can check out Toykraft Stone Rock Painting Kit for Kid here.

 

3.     The activity binder/folder

There are an unlimited number of activity boxes available in the market depending on the age of the kid. It depends on you which one to choose to accord to the theme and what interests the child. Recently, I came across this LilBrainNut activity book in an exhibition for my 3 years toddler. Undoubtedly, my daughter loves it and keeps herself engaged with this for a long period. She is happy when she takes out and pastes the velcro back. The book is available on different topics at an affordable price. It’s worth it.

 

4.     Washing vegetables/Fruits

It’s difficult to spend all the days with kids once they’re at home or back from school. Give them vegetables/fruit to wash. They find it so colorful and it's fun for them. It helps them to improve the sensory skills, shapes, and textures of vegetables and fruits. And as well. They get to know the difference between the two. My daughter helps me when I am preparing food and she enjoys this activity like anything. She cleans all the fruits and vegetables with a clean cloth and keeps them aside properly.

 

5.     Asking them to help you by placing the request (use words like Please etc.)

 

Once the toddler interacts and reacts to what their parents say, It’s fun to be with them. They’re more engaging and exploring themselves every time. When I am super tired, I ask my daughter to help me in setting up the dining table or cleaning the room, or keeping things in their proper place. Sometimes, when she is in the mood, she is ready to help. Otherwise, I ask her that Mumma would reward her if you help me with this. And, yes! She is there to help. It’s so much fun and teamwork.

 

6.     Give them some screen time

We always complain that our kids take a lot of screen time during their meals, etc. But, it depends on us how we’re engaging them. Screen time is good once they enter into their toddler life. The screen time can be given to a toddler as per their age is 2 to 3 years old: 1 hr to 2 hrs, for 3 to 4 years old: 2 to 3 hrs maximum. Screen time can be useful to your kids if we give only appropriate time for the same. You can watch movies with them like Cinderella, spider-man, and tangled,, etc. or cartoons, cocomelon, rhymes, and story sessions, etc. Make sure that you know what they’re watching and how much time they have to watch the screen. And also, they watch it on the tv, not on their mobile or tablet.

 

7.     Engage them in storytelling 

 

Many online sessions are happening in storytelling sessions. You can make your kid attend those classes online. Kids love to hear the stories. Either you can also try out wearing different costumes and engaging your child in listening to the story. Trust me! You’ll also enjoy this 10-15minsutes session with your kid. You can read out the stories from the book, or app, or make something on your own.

 

8.     Puzzles

I remember my childhood days when I used to surround myself with a lot of Jigsaw puzzles.

Puzzles are a great way to build up concentration and focus. A lot of jigsaw puzzles are available on different themes depending on the age of the child. Puzzles are helpful in many things, like improving mental speed, short-term memory, problem-solving skills, visual-spatial reasoning, etc.

It even engages the kid for a long period. 

 

9.     Give them options

By the age of 3, kids start understanding. It becomes the duty of a parent to help them in making decisions. The journey starts right here from childhood to make them self-dependent. Now, I have started giving 2 options to my little one to choose from and she chose one confidently even without regretting it. You can give them options like choosing clothes/shoes/meals/ activity/ shopping guides etc. It boosts their confidence like anything and they feel they have achieved something. Appreciate them for the choices they’ve made. Sometimes, if they don’t listen or choose, you can guide them depending on their mood or just take a deep breath and try again. It’ll take time for them to understand what we are trying to teach. Just a suggestion, don’t confuse them with many options. In starting, ask them to choose from 2 options.

 

10.  Role Plays

This is another interesting way to engage your child. You can provide them with a few things like a Doctor play set, police, dress-up set, kitchen set, and any community helper. It is a fun way of exploring new skills and new characters. 

 

There are an unlimited number of activities to engage your little one depending on the interests and the age. But a mother knows the best for her child and handles it more patiently. You can use all the above activities while you’re doing a 9 to 6 job or if you’re a stay-at-home mom.

 

11.  The most important- Reward Them

The best way to boost kid’s confidence is to reward them Being a parent, you need to identify, how are you going to do it and what will work for them. Like, you can cheer them up, making a card for them or Preparing a special dish for them. Also, you can take them out someday at their favourite place/restaurant. etc.

 

Let’s discuss all activities your little one is enjoying these days. Kindly share your valuable suggestions in the comment box below.

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7 Toddler Activities For Homeschooling

Day 1 Activity: Speaking in Mic

 

In this epidemic time where kids cannot socialize. But it’s important to engage them with such activities that enhance their personality. Public Speaking is one of them. Thanks to the digital technology that is spreading so fast. There are an infinite number of classes happening every day on various platforms. It is rightly said that the physical sessions are closed, but not the learning. Being parents, it becomes our responsibility to take out the time from our busy schedules and focus on our kids.

 

How to do it:

 Plan the speech for 2 minutes

Write a few lines in bold on a paper and asking your toddler to speak it out or just repeating after you, e.g.: 

1.   My name is XYZ.

2.   I am 3 years old

3.   I am a boy/girl

4.   My father’s name is Mr. ABC

5.   My mother’s name is Mrs. Abcd

 

By 3 years, kids start forming sentences and they understand the alphabet as well. This will help them recognize words, letters, and numbers. Hence, you can make an environment in which kids should feel comfortable while speaking. You should encourage them with such words like come on, keep it up or yes! You’re right. It’ll boost their self-confidence slowly and steadily. They’ll not feel hesitant to try out this activity again. This activity will help them, ‌like speech clarity, language development, facing the stage, facing the audience, etc.

Day 2 Activity: Dancing Activity

 

Dance is another form of art that we bless a few with. But we parent can always engage our kids a little in dancing activities. It improves flexibility, balance, stamina, muscle tone, posture, etc. There are a few songs like “the wheels on the bus go”, “Daddy finger, daddy’s finger, where are you?” and “Head, shoulder, knees, and toes, etc.” These rhymes will help the toddler ‌understand well by doing activities with them. I enjoy the moment more when I dance a little and my 3 years toddler copies all my dance steps. Hence, it builds up the bond between us.

Day 3 Activity: Tracing/Writing

 

Another important activity you can enroll your toddler in is introducing how to trace. We should introduce the kids to pencils once he/she is 3 years old. But before that, you can introduce them to crayons, chalks, finger painting, sketch pens, etc. to make the grip stronger. You can involve them more in such activities to improve fine motor skills. Slowly, give them a pencil and instruct them on how to make standing and sleeping lines, etc.

Day 4 Activity:Pop-It Toy

 

 I was wondering what this little toy can do. But it made me shocked when I bought it for my little one and she explored it more than I like how to use it. She could figure out how to use the pop-it toy. She did many activities by using this like counting, pop-in, and pop-out, remembering the colors, etc. This comes almost in all shapes and sizes and is easy to carry anywhere. This improves eyesight, color recognition, fine motor skills, imagination skills, sensory skills, cognitive skills, and many more. Kids don’t get bored with it easily.

Day 5 Activity: Magnetic Tiles 

 

If you’re looking for something to engage your toddler for long hours, then this is the perfect gift. The tiles have magnets in them and are available in many shapes, sizes, and colors. It helps the kids to improve their imagination skills, learn how to balance, color recognition, and improve find-motor skills, etc. Kids can build a tower with it or can make cubes. There are an unlimited number of options available on the tiles to choose from depending on the age and the skill of the kid. You can check out here for more options. Believe me! They were a little expensive but they’re worth buying it.

Day 6 Activity: Colouring Activity

 

It is a type of skill that helps kids to improve their creativity and concentration. The world is full of colors, but only a few can see that depending on how they perceive it. Do you agree? If yes! Give more colors to your kid to make the combination with. Give them the wall, the paper, or the canvas to draw/paint and create the mess. I am sure they’ll thank you later for this. An unlimited number of coloring tools are available. 

Day 7 Activity: Art & Craft 

 

This is another type of skill to improve imagination and creativity. Art and craft is a broad term and many options are available to choose from. Here’re a few suggestions on how to start a little with your toddler.

7.1 Cutting with the help of a Scissor: kids' friendly scissors are available too.

 7.2 Pom Pom: lots of creativity can be done. Just give it to your kid and see the magic. They’re available in different colors. 

7.3 Popsicle sticks: Another mostly used product that improves visualization and imagination. We can make a lot of things, like a house, blocks, cubes, etc. 

7.4 Glue, Double-sided tape: kids love cut-and-paste activities. it Improves sensory skills depending on the age and interest of the kid. You can always start by taking out the printout from the internet and guiding your kid on how to do it.

  I would love to know how do you keep your kids engaged. Kindly share your experiences in the comment box below.

 

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C: 5 Must-have Earthen Products This Summer

D: -

E: - 7 Toddler Activities For Homeschooling

 

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  5 Must-have Earthen Products This Summer

 

“Don’t Miss these 5 Must-have Earthen Products This Summer And Here are The Reasons‌”

 

Earthen products used to be the most common product form of healthy cooking. But several cookware materials exist in the market like non-stick, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, enameled cast iron, glass, ceramic, and silicone that have made us forget about earthen products. I remember when my grandmother used to tell me how they used to cook in earthen pots and found it much healthy than what we cook today.

 

So, I am here with a few options available that will be for the betterment of our health. 

Choosing the type of cookware is one’s choice, but we should add something to our daily life that could benefit us to stay healthy.

 

Why one should use Earthen products?

 

• Affordable price
• Eco-friendly products
• No harmful chemicals used
• Available in trendy styles 
• Reusable ones
• Heat-resistant
• Easily available nowadays, like any street side or you can find it online too.

 

Why a few people don’t use earthen products?

 

• Slow cooking process
• High-risk of pot cracking if not using a pot of good quality.
• Handling it with a little extra care
• Clay pots can get hot quickly

How to wash it?

 

• Just clean it using hot water and a stiff brush to clean the pot. Remember not to use detergent or soap. The soap will soak into the pores of the clay and will leach into your food the next time you cook it. You can use baking soda or salt as the cleaning agent with a scrub sponge.

1.  Clay Jug/ Matka for drinking water

 

When the summers are approaching, people buy Matka or the clay jug for drinking water. It helps in maintaining the water temperature.

This is made of 100% natural clay and does not use any artificial colors. The best part about this pot is that you can use it without keeping it in the refrigerator. 

 

Note: As per Ayurveda, drinking surcharge water helps in boosting one’s digestive system. Sun-charged water holds the goodness of the sunlight. You can keep it under the direct sun for almost 2 hours in the morning. Don’t forget to keep it by covering it with a muslin cloth. Anyone in the family-like kids, adults, etc. can drink it. Either you drink the water directly from it or add it to the drinking bottle of water. Slowly, you’ll notice a change in your health-related problems.

      2. Drinking Glass Water

 

Again, this comprises natural clay in a glass form. You can use it for multi-purpose like you can service Tea/Coffee/water/juice/buttermilk/milk-shakes etc. in the glass. This is easy to clean too. There are different sizes of glasses available depending on what you like. Mainly the glass size is 150ml which seems good for serving milk/juice/water, etc... You can check it out before buying.

3. Clay/Earthen Kadhai/Pots for Cooking

Many got started using non-stick and other cookware materials that affected their health. Slowly, people are switching to a healthy lifestyle by using earthen products that are so natural. One should follow the proper instruction before cooking and using them wisely.

 

You can cook dal or any type of vegetable in the kadhai pot as you cook in others.

 This clay kadhai is heavyweight, strong, and durable. These are also available in different sizes, depending on the requirement, like if you need the kadhai 1 liter, 2 liters, 5 liters, etc.. this is available with and without a lid. Again, it is one’s ‌choice what exactly you’re using the kadhai for.

1. 4. Clay Curd Pot (Dahi Handi)

 This is the most commonly used product in summers. The pot made with natural clay can keep the flavor of the nutrition. We can keep the pot in the refrigerator too. This is perfect for any type of weather.

 

 5. Clay Night Lamp/Bowls/ Plates

 

There are several varieties available in earthen products. Though People are now supporting this cookware and noticing the change in their health too after using it. If you’re interested in seeing more collections, you can check out a few websites like mitticool.com, basicbrowns.com, Mitti Magic Store, etc.

 

You can use them on the stove and even they’re microwave safe and you can keep them in the refrigerator too. You just need to maintain the right temperature of the pot. You should ensure the quality of the products before buying them. It is great for cooking healthy food if one can use it well as per the instructions.

 

 

I am taking part in blogchatterA2Z 2022.

A: -

B: -

C: 5 Must-have Earthen Products This Summer

 

Let’s Connect:

 

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My book “The Essence of Motherhood”

You can e-mail me at radhikajindal21@gmail.com

Check out my other blog: Book Launch

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