Play is part of the overall development of toddlers and children. Find out the suggestions of the Ministry of Health of New Zealand for play activities, as listed below:
Activities for Toddlers
Indoors activities
- swing, spin, and rock gently (to help develop their sense of balance, and their eyes)
- have you roll on the floor with them
- build towers with boxes or blocks, then knock them down
- push and pull or stack toys (to develop balance and building skills)
- bang kitchen things like pots and pans with wooden or plastic spoons
- play in large cardboard boxes
- play with bubbles when they're in the bath
- have things they can put inside one another, such as blocks or coloured pegs inside an ice-cream container
- make things with play dough
- paint and draw
- dress up (to develop imagination and interaction)
- listen to music, sing, dance and play with musical instruments.
Outdoors activities
- roll down a small hill
- spin slowly on merry-go-rounds or swing on swings
- learn to throw and kick balls
- walk along low walls, with you holding their hand or supporting them
- climb in safe places
- go for walks and stop to pick up things like twigs or leaves (to help their movement and balance)
- walk barefoot on surfaces like sand, grass, dirt, and mud
- splash and jump in puddles
- go for a drive, find a park and throw bread to birds and ducks
- chase bubbles
- play with a bucket and spade.
Activities for your child
- drawing, painting and cutting with child-safe scissors
- making pictures with glue and cut-up pictures, cards, magazines, leaves or material
- talking about their pictures
- playing with play dough
- looking at books and having stories read to them. They'll often have favourite stories they like to be read over and over again
- choosing their own books
- telling made-up stories at bedtime
- singing and dancing to music (to develop words, memory skills and hand-eye coordination through action and the beat)
- playing make-believe games and dressing up. Children often dress up in the opposite sex's clothes - this is normal behavior
- playing with you
- copying and helping you around the house with simple household jobs, like setting the table or putting away clothes
- watching you prepare meals and helping with things like adding ingredients and mixing. When you cook be careful to keep your child well away from the hot stove and hot tap.
From health.govt.nz
