what to teach a 3 and half year old

Your child's brain grows at an explosive rate during the showtime three years of his life. During these critical encephalon-growth periods, long, thin nerve pathways grow within the brain. These are wirings that connect and deport electrical impulses from brain cell to brain cell. The resulting network, which grows daily in the young brain, forms the neurological foundation of skills that your child will use for the rest of his life. Experiences after birth, in conjunction with your child'south gene, make up one's mind the eventual wiring of the human encephalon.

Existing connections eagerly wait new experiences that shape the neural networks for language, reasoning, problem solving, and moral values. New experiences build upon established patterns and create new patterns and networks for more than learning. Connections that are used repeatedly volition become permanent. Those that are not used get discarded.

Yous can assistance your toddler bound-start his encephalon development by engaging in games and fun activities with him. Everything y'all do with your toddler – playing, talking, eating, walking, reading, cuddling, and singing help spring-start his brain. When yous use your imagination with him, for example, you help his brain to make "imagination pathways" of its own.

Children think experiences that have an emotional component. Gentle, loving fun combined with responsive language from yous creates an temper in which learning thrives. That'southward why it is of import for you to bond with your child in these activities. Things you do together heighten his learning (amongst many other benefits). This is something that play-alone high-tech toys like tablets, video games, tv and others volition not be able to offering

Below are some encephalon-boosting toddler games and activities that you tin play with your toddler. Information technology is grouped into specific skills that are being exercised. Although a specific skill is highlighted, typically, each game involves developing a combination of skills.

Besides these activities are meant to provide ideas and inspire you to come up with others. Feel costless to brand variations on these games. For instance, "Trip to the Garden" can be a "Trip to the Embankment", or "Trip to the Park". Just brand sure that you play with your toddler in a prophylactic environment using safe materials.

See Also:
Ideas for smart toddler toys
Educational toys and gift ideas for toddlers and other kids – by age
Best Educational Apps for Toddlers and Babies

Related: Click here for tips and tactics on how to discipline your toddler.

Problem-solving skills

Babies begin their problem-solving lives with bones cause-and-consequence reasoning and flexibility. By the time young children attain toddler age, their problem-solving skills begin to mature. They learn curiosity, patience, working towards achieving a goal, and gaining confidence in their ability to achieve a solution.

Block Patterns
One and a one-half and above
Use building blocks to make uncomplicated structural patterns such as 2 blocks with 1 above, 3 in a row set of blocks, and and so on. Playfully inquire your toddler to copy the pattern. Afterward, inquire him to make his own blueprint. Show your toddler that you are having fun copying his pattern. Brand the patterns more complicated as your child becomes more practiced in figuring out how to build cake structures based on your design. Eventually, you can as well allow him to play freely with edifice structures.

Nesting Game
I and a one-half and above
Requite your toddler nesting toys or toys of different sizes that can fit inside each other. You can also utilise unlike size bowls, cups or toys that you create from cardboard boxes. Play with your child past showing him that the toys can be fitted within each other. Take the nested toys autonomously and encourage your child to nest the toys himself. First with few nesting objects, and gradually add more than.

Nesting game teaches your toddler about size differences, and solving issues through logical reasoning.

Matching Game
2 to 2 and a half
Draw colorful shapes or animals in cards and make an verbal pair of each drawing. First with 3 or iv pairs. Turn the cards over. Open one bill of fare for your toddler. Ask your toddler what the cartoon is, and tell him that you will be looking for the same drawing. Open the rest of the cards one by one, and ask your toddler if it is the same i as the open up card. If he finds a pair, requite it to him, then open up another card and ask him to wait for its pair. Repeat until all cards are matched.

Thinking Skills

Each time a child is stimulated to recall, either new neural pathways are formed or existing ones are strengthened. Challenging activities in a loving environment create optimal learning experiences.

Play puzzles with your child. Puzzles involve reasoning, discrimination, and muscle command, which all challenge the developing brain.

Paper Puzzle
For 2 and a half years and older.
Cutting shapes made of colored paper, and make a board with take drawings that fit the shapes. Make your kid lucifer the cut-upward shapes with the ones on the board.

Another idea is to get large colorful and engaging pictures of a uncomplicated object from magazines. Cut them in four and ask your kid to put the picture back together again. To make the puzzle more than challenging, you can cut the moving-picture show into more than than 4 pieces, or in irregular shapes. You can also mix-up cutting-outs from 2 pictures.

Opposites
For ii and a half years and older.
Collect pictures of things or depict pictures of things that are opposites such as big and minor, difficult and soft, upwardly and down, inside and outside and so on. Paste the pictures in cards. Talk to your toddler about the concept of opposites. Mix up the cards on the table. Pick up a carte and draw what it shows "This is something large, where'south something that's small?"

What's Next?
2 Years and Up
Reread a story volume that y'all read before to your toddler. Earlier turning the page, ask your toddler what she thinks, is going to happen next. If she needs help, give her a hint as to what happens next. If your child still cannot remember, just tell her "Allow's observe out" and turn the page, so talk well-nigh what happens next.

You can likewise read a new book and brand your child judge what happens next in the story.

Concentration skills

Learning to pay attention and focusing attention to completing a chore is a skill that is essential to other forms of learning. Being able to concentrate is too necessary for problem solving.

Remove the Tape
Stick long strips of paper tape on any flat surface like a table or a fridge door. Make the tape overlap each other. Show your toddler how to remove the tapes one at a time with the use of the fingernail, and so let her do it herself.

Stacking Game
Play with blocks or whatsoever toy that stacks. Challenge your toddler past stacking the toys as high as he can.

Coin Pattern Game
2 years old and up
Gather a combination of coins – pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Show your toddler a combination of four coins in a sequence, for example, two pennies and two dimes. Make your toddler await at the coins. Encompass the coins and ask your toddler to make the same combination from memory, using the other coins from your collection. Requite your toddler a happy response when he gets the combination right, and gently right him when he does not get it right until he masters his concentration skill.

Language and Communication

For optimum encephalon evolution, immature children need a rich and responsive linguistic communication environs. The plasticity of the brain, its ability to rewire itself, is what makes it and then easy for children to learn language. The more words young children hear, the more connections their brains make. Children larn a language by hearing words over and over. That's why the more than you talk to your child, the better. Talking to a young child increases the number of words that he will recognize and eventually understand.

Read flick books
For your toddler, choose books with articulate picture of familiar objects. For tips on how to read to your toddler, click hither.

The nigh effective fashion for your toddler to acquire language skills is for you to read books to her. Toddlers acquire the rules of grammer by hearing you and others speak. Also, you can consider didactics your toddler to read early using this step-by-step guide.

Mirror Game
With your toddler, watch your reflections in a large mirror. Make faces on the mirror. Point out her body parts such equally olfactory organ, rima oris, neck, etc. Point out your body parts, calling them, for example, "mommy'southward nose", "mommy's oral fissure" etc. Inquire her to point at her body parts, and mommy's torso parts.

This game teaches your toddler body sensation, see herself as separate from others, and be able to explore her identity with the use of language.
Talking With Your Toddler
Pick up 1 of your toddler's toy and talk to him about it. Use words repeatedly. Add other cues to make your conversation interesting, such as doing deportment (For example, "Oh look, a playful teddy acquit. Wait at him leap… spring… bound" and while proverb "bound", you lot brand the teddy bear movement as if it is jumping, and then on), irresolute the tone and pitch of your voice, or making your toddler exercise something with the toy ("Hug the teddy comport." Show him how to hug the teddy comport, and have turns hugging the teddy deport).

Brand a Book with Your Toddler's Picture
Gather some of your toddler's movie and paste them in pages of newspaper to make a book. Accommodate the pictures to make a story and paste the pictures on the pages. The story does not have to be a narrative. It tin can be told in a way that is like "A Twenty-four hours in the Live of…" Read the volume together with your toddler. She will love the volume that features him every bit the master character.

Imagination & Creativity

Nurturing your child's creativity and imagination helps her develop her abstract thinking and problem-solving skills. Your child'southward ability to generate new thoughts and ideas is essential to a productive adult life.

Play With Sand
For ane and a half years former and older.
Have your toddler to a place where he can play with sand, such equally the beach, or a playground. Bring toys or kitchen utensils that volition help him course and sculpt the sound. Show him how he can make designs such every bit wavy lines, circles, and others. Prove him also how to make simple sand sculptures such as a sand castle or tower using his toys.

This game enables your toddler to limited himself creatively, and likewise develop his fine motor skills.

Crayon (or Paint) game
Tape a large poster board on hard, solid floor, or use sheets of regular paper taped together. Give your toddler crayons or paint and show her how to depict. Encourage your toddler to make her own drawings using different colors.

Dirt
Become not-toxic modeling dirt from a toy store. Evidence your toddler how to make shapes similar squares, triangles, rectangles and show him how they fit together. To make the game more fun, advance to modeling recognizable 3d shapes similar blocks, table, lollipop, and so on.

This game exercises your child'southward imagination and the stimulation of really creating something.

Reading A Story Book
Choose a story book advisable for your toddler, one with a simple plot. Read the book with him past using gestures and changing the tone of your voice depending on the situation in the story and which character is speaking.

Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imaginations and expands their understanding of the world. It helps children develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand written words.

For more than, see Benefits of reading to your kids

Emotional Development

Hugging, kissing, coddling and making your toddler feel secure and being cared for helps develop her brain. You are also making her grow to be socially well-adjusted. The more than nurtured, loved, cared for, and safe a child feels, the more firmly established his emotional well-being volition be. Your child's earliest experiences with you, the parent, shape what is to become of her equally an adult. Information technology is her early experience with you that she learns about how to feel and handle her feelings – and this affects her after beliefs and thinking capabilities.

Sing and Cuddle
Carry and cuddle your toddler while singing and rocking him to the rhythm of the music. Lovingly squeeze his hand, and establish eye contact, expressing your love for him.

Hide and Cuddle
Two and a one-half years and older
This is similar to hide and seek. Hide in a place that is like shooting fish in a barrel for your child to notice you. Call your child's name so that he can follow your voice and find you. When your child finds you, show him that he did well. Scoop him up and rock him dorsum and forth while laughing and kissing his face.

Toy Pets or Doll
2 and a half years and older

You lot need a doll or an beast toy for this. Teach your child to nurture past playing pretend friends with her. Prove her how to take care of pretend pet or pretend infant by doing loving stuff such as feeding the toy, rocking it to sleep and talking to it. Yous can combine this activity with singing, such as singing the toy with lullaby, which makes your kid utilize musical skills, as well as language.

Retention Skills

Retention is learning that sticks. When your kid learns something, new synapses form or erstwhile synapses are strengthened, creating a memory of the feel or what the child learned. Just like a musculus, the more than memory is used in the early years, the easier information technology will be for her to handle the load of information in school.

Beast Sounds
Prove your toddler a book of animals that make sounds. Signal to an animal and make the sound the fauna says. For example, point to the cow and say, "Expect at the moo-cow. The moo-cow says moo!" And so inquire your toddler what the cow says. "What does the moo-cow say?" Help him by repeating the animal sounds, until he makes the right sound. Y'all tin can show him the side by side couple of animals, and so go dorsum to the cow, and come across if he remembers the sound of the animals he has encountered so far.

Memory Boxes
Collect a few boxes and paste pictures of significant persons or objects (pictures of his dad, mom, dog, firm, etc.) in each of the boxes. Cover the boxes with dissimilar colored paper, or otherwise brand them unique. Open the boxes and talk to your child virtually the picture pasted in each of the box. Close the box and ask your child which box has the picture of each person or object.

This game exercises your child'south visual memory, while helping him build listening and language skills.

Picture Fun
For 1 and a one-half yr old or older

From magazines, cut out pictures of objects that are not familiar only interesting to your toddler, such equally airplane, a giraffe or a mountain. Glue these on alphabetize cards. Testify the pictures to your toddler, telling him the name of the object and talking to him almost the object. Then, ask your toddler to await for a picture that you told him nearly. For case, after talking about the giraffe, yous can ask her "Where's the giraffe?"

This game stimulates your kid's visual memory, also as help her language development.

Math Skills

A immature brain primed for math gives the child big benefits for his futurity. Activities to heave his math skills change his brain to become practiced in problem solving. Being proficient in math at an early on age is also a stronger predictor of later school achievement than reading skills or the ability to pay attending.

Group Stuff Together
two years old and up

Get together a collection of big buttons, colorful beads and things that are easy to sort into a table. Testify your toddler how to group things together by shape, colour or size. Let your kid group the objects by himself. After the stuff are sorted, count them one by one.

Introducing Math Shapes and Symbols
On a blank newspaper, describe shapes and numbers that your toddler tin colour. Subsequently coloring the drawing, tell your toddler what she did, such equally maxim "You but colored the circumvolve ruby-red", etc.

Counting And Rhyming
Sing with your child nursery rhymes that involves numbers such as "V Little Ducks," "5 Piffling Monkeys," and "X Little Indians." While singing the rhyme with her, stand for the numbers with objects such every bit toys or fifty-fifty merely property upwardly your fingers every bit you count. Repeat this game as long every bit she enjoys it. Hearing the numbers again and over again reinforces her math vocabulary.

See this link to find other activities for your toddler that makes math fun

Physical Development

Gross and fine motor skills, residuum and eye-hand coordination are necessary for many tasks – from writing to athletic abilities.

When your toddler is involved in physical action, he exercises many parts of the brain and enhances encephalon function through providing more oxygen to it. Even small muscle exercises similar finger plays stimulates brain growth.

Blowing Bubbling Game
12 month and Up

Let your toddler chase the bubbling that you lot make. Toddlers discover bubbling fascinating, and chasing and popping them a lot of fun. Yous tin utilise a big wand, and then a pocket-sized wand to make her come across the difference between large and modest bubbling.

This game stimulates your child's senses, and her body move makes her exercise her gross motor skills.

Coil the Brawl
12 month and up
Utilize a ball with the size that your toddler can acquit with both easily. Sit reverse each other, a couple of anxiety apart. Gently scroll the ball to your child and encourage her to roll the ball back to you. As she gets ameliorate, increase the distance between you. Y'all can vary the game by gently billowy the ball to her instead of rolling information technology.

This game teaches your child trunk awareness, gross motor skill and concentration.

Pillow Obstacle Course

12 month and upwardly
Brand an obstacle grade made upward of pillows and cushions, some stacked loftier and some stacked low. Encourage your toddler to crawl or walk towards you by making her way through the pillow. Yous tin use pillows with different sizes, colors and textures. Make the course more challenging by making her crawl nether a soft furniture that has no precipitous edges.

This game help develop gross motor skills, body awareness and residuum.

Balancing Game
2 years old and upwards

Create a balancing beam from a plank of wood, or become to a playground where you can find this. Hold your child'southward mitt to aid him walk beyond the beam. Permit your child walk across the beam if he feels confident that he tin can do it himself.

This game develops your child's sense of rest and heart-foot coordination.

Sensory Evolution

Exposing your toddler to a variety of sensory stimuli – sights, sounds, gustation, and touch boost your child's brain growth in many ways. Prove your toddler colors, let him hear music and language, and give him stuff to smell, gustation and touch. Auditory discrimination prepares him to differentiate amid letter sounds. Learning to run into differences among similar objects prepares him to recognize the alphabet.

A Trip To The Garden

For 2 years old and older.

Have your child to the garden. Let him experience the diverse texture of leaves and other objects that you lot find in a garden like rocks, tree body and so on. Let him also olfactory property the flowers and other objects that has a stiff smell. Examine the sizes, shapes and colors of stuff in the garden. Also, let your child look at the stuff in the soil. Yous may also bring a magnifying drinking glass to make the little stuff more visible. Be sure to describe what he is seeing, feeling and smelling.

I Spy
For two and a one-half years and older.

This will brand your toddler think near the qualities of objects – their colors, shapes, sizes, and so on. Brainstorm by telling your toddler "I Spy with my niggling eye, something that is big". At first, assistance your toddler acquire how to play the game past pointing at the big object. Play more I Spy games until your toddler gets it.

This fun game does non only make your toddler think about objects effectually him, it as well provides you an opportunity to teach your toddler new vocabulary words.
Touch Book
Gather pieces of cardboard and demark them together to make a book. Glue pieces of objects that have unlike textures in them. Label the objects with clarification of the texture. For example, you tin use a soft fabric and characterization it "SOFT", a sandpaper and label information technology "ROUGH", a gel and label it "GOOEY", etc. Other objects y'all tin use include cotton balls, feathers, pieces of satin, etc. See this Scholastic commodity for more than ideas. Read your Touch Book with your toddler and have fun.

Skills Evolution

When learning new skills, each move has to be repeated over and over to strengthen neural circuits.

Nix It Upward, Snap It On

One and a one-half years and older.
Collect some clothing and objects with easy to spike buttons, snaps, hooks, zippers, and then on. Show your toddler how to piece of work these objects to open and close. Let your child do it himself. Gently encourage him. When he succeeds, praise him and hug him for his attempt.

Social Skills

Early social and emotional experiences are the seeds of homo intelligence. The social and emotional skills a child develops will make up one's mind the quality of his relationships with people and date with the earth throughout life.

Taking Turns

Taking turns is a game that that teaches your toddler the concept of sharing. Give your child one of his favorite toys, and allow him play with it. After a while, ask your child if yous can play with his toy. When he gives you his toy, testify him how happy and appreciative you are of his sharing his toy. Play with his toy for a while. Then give it back to him. Let him play with his toy again, and so on.

Puppet Play

Two years or older
Play puppets with your child. You tin make these puppets out of toys, socks or paper bags where you draw a face up on. Brand a story about the puppets. Make sure that each puppet talks with a different voice. Give your kid ane of the puppets, and encourage him to join the story. Talk to your child's puppet, and let his puppet antipodal with yours. Ask his boob, for example, nearly what he is doing, what is his favorite nutrient, and and so on.

This game non only innovate him to social skills, but makes utilize of his imagination as well.

Unproblematic Job Is Fun

Two and a half years or older

Become your child a small version of cleaning materials such as a plumage duster, broom, rake, and and so on. When you are cleaning the house or cleaning the garden, tell your toddler to aid you lot clean. She will enthusiastically re-create your motions. Praise her when she makes an effort to assistance, and let her know that her assistance is appreciated. For advanced chore, you can ask her to aid you plant seed or water the plants in the garden, for instance.
This can be the first of educational activity her most chores and responsibility.

Musical Skills

Many studies suggest that learning music has a lot of benefits to the growing encephalon including spatial-temporal reasoning (the ability to meet part/whole relationships), promoting language acquisition, listening skills, memory and motor skills. Musical experiences integrate unlike skills simultaneously, thereby developing multiple encephalon connections. See benefits of music.

Singing and Clapping
Sing nursery rhymes to your toddler. Use hand movements, gestures, and clapping of hands while singing to make the activity more fun and encourage her to move along.
Simple nursery rhymes include Twinkle Twinkle Lilliputian Star, Row your boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, If Y'all're Happy and Y'all Know It, and Wheels on the Motorcoach, and others.

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes is a expert song where you can betoken to the body parts while singing. Also, make variations on lyrics of songs to include his body parts. For example, you can sing "If you're happy and you know it" with lyrics "If you're happy and you know it, touch your nose".

Singing plant nursery rhymes assistance develop linguistic communication.
First instruments
Give your toddler safe noise-making items from the kitchen such every bit pans, metallic lids, bowls, and wooden spoons. Use likewise toys that make noise such every bit a toy drum or xylophone. Teach your child to play his beginning "musical musical instrument" by rhythmically banging at the pans while singing a song or playing music on the CD. Encourage him to play along. Evidence him different means to make audio similar playing gently, loudly, slowly and fast. Point out to him the difference.
For a kid one and a one-half years one-time and older, yous can put pennies in a tightly-sealed plastic jar to make sounds when he shakes it.
This game teaches your kid cause and effect, rhythm, and introduce him to making music which has a lot of encephalon-boosting benefits

Sing or Play Along

two years and up
Get a CD or recording of popular songs or easy to mind instrumental music. Sing together to the popular music with your toddler. With instrumental music, become a toy musical instrument, and pretend that you are part of the operation by playing along. For case, y'all can utilise a toy drum to become with the rhythm, a toy cymbal or a toy pianoforte.

See also the listing of best educational toys and souvenir ideas for children

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Source: https://www.raisesmartkid.com/1-to-3-years-old/3-articles/55-brain-boosting-toddler-activities