Ages 12 to 24 months
The ever curious toddler will flourish in a program that provides experiential learning. Our teachers lead marching, dancing, hopping, crawling and ball play activities designed to strengthen your toddler’s gross motor skill development. 
Painting, stacking games, puzzles and water play pave the way for your child’s creative expression and fine motor skill development. Teachers engage your child in conversations to encourage their exploration of the world about them. Songs, finger plays, and reading will broaden your child’s language development. Outdoor play provides opportunities for your child to learn to appreciate nature as well as strengthen gross motor skills. Our staff also helps children develop self help skills like independent feeding, hand washing and toilet training. Teachers connect children to one another through interactive play to encourage your child’s social and emotional development.
Stimulating Development Through Play
12 to 15 months
- Listen and dance to songs on c.d.’s or tapes
- Play with large manipulatives in chair at table and standing at table
- Sing and speak to child using finger and hand puppets
- Beat on plastic containers like drums
- March around room with musical shakers
- On play mat with linking blocks, stacking blocks, cars and trucks
- Walking around room with pull toys
- Clapping games and finger plays
- Introduce sipper cups and practice using them
- In a small group stack soft blocks and knock them down
- Model hugging baby dolls and stuffed animals
- Encourage connectedness by identifying children as friends and noting friendly behavior
- Give book to child upside down and let child right it
- Hide toy under blanket as child reaches for it, let her solve problem of finding it
- Invite children to tell you or show you what they would like to do
- Read books on play mat and ask children to point to items you name
- Take nature walk outside to pick things up, identify what child finds by name, use for art project
15 – 18 months
- Tape record and listen to children’s voices together
- Large & simple shape sorting toys
- Take turns stacking blocks
- Kicking and rolling ball to friends as well as teacher
- Take nature walks in yard, examine and identify items
- Blow bubbles outside for children to chase
- Riding toys outside
- Fill little wagon with sand and leaves outside to pull
- Encourage self dressing by role playing it in songs
- Role play ” Bye-bye” and “Night-night” routines with baby and blanket
- Practice putting toys in canvas bag to tote around
- Allow toddler to carry own bag
- Ring Around the Rosy and clapping games
- Ask child to point to objects in books, point to objects in book for child to name
- Act like and make noises like animals
- Finger-painting at table
- Tear art at table
18 – 21 months
- Experiment with smelling different jars of foods
- Assemble giant peg boards while seated at table
- Sit at table and solve 4 piece puzzles
- Look at recent pictures of students at play and identify
- Sing songs about body parts
- Identify body parts by pointing to and naming
- Listen to toys that make animal sounds in a small group on floor. Follow up by role playing the animal we heard
- Small group works together to build a block or jumbo lego structure
- Role play blowing kisses to and holding hands with our friends
- Tape record group singing a song and play for group
- March around room to music
- Read book to one or two children on play mat, take turns letting children select books to read
- Hide a toy in the room and make game of having children find it
- Water table pouring play
- Pull toy play in room and outside
- Roll ball to children
21 – 24 months
- Role play toilet training
- Role play dressing self and practice dressing self to song
- On floor with dolls that encourage dressing or the dressing cube
- Practice blowing noses by pretending to be elephants trumpeting
- Let child color with marker
- Make foot prints with finger-paint
- Fence painting outside
- Ask child to tell you about his dolls and toys, or what his toys and dolls are doing
- Practice hopping and jumping with child
- Listen to tape recording of familiar sounds and ask children to identify
- Paint with sponges, brushes, wheels of toy cars and trucks
- Encourage concern for fellow students by clapping for each other when we complete tasks
- Encourage connectedness by having students give hugs or handshakes to say hello and good-bye
- Puppets to role play familiar scenarios
- At table playing tea party
- Have child “read” you a book or hold book for you to read