Table Time
Activity: Match the Baby Animals
Materials:
Print animals
Scissors to cut them out
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to practice identifying big/small and matching non-identicals
Expanding Skills
Increase the array (e.g., instead of 2 different pictures on the table to match to, have 3 or 4 different pictures and ask them to match). The 2nd activity can be used to expand skills by drawing a line from the big animal to the little animal.
Floortime Play
Activity: Baby Animal Charades
Materials:
Your child’s favorite toy animals or pictures of baby animals
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to spending time together in a playful, imaginative way
There should be limited structure and a lot of pretending
Expanding Skills
Sit down with your child and make all the sounds of their favorite animals.
Begin crawling on your hands and knees as if you are the animal too
Encourage your child to pretend to be an animal
Don’t be discouraged if your child does not pretend, go back to making animal sounds and try again.
Build on the idea by drinking water like a cat, eating elephant cupcakes, and peeling a banana like a monkey
Relaxation Time
Activity: Mindful Breathing
Book:
Breathe like a Bear by Kira Willey – Bunny Breath (follow along as Dr. Laura Mraz reads this mindfulness meditation here)
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to practice bringing attention to breath in a fun and playful way
Expanding Skills
Read “Bunny Breath”
Sit together in a circle and take turns feeling each other’s belly muscles working as you breath deeply and slowly
See who can hold themselves still the longest and model slow, relaxed movements
Creative Time
Activity: Garden Sensory Bin
Materials:
Dried Beans
Small container or shoebox
Pretend Animals
Flowers
Bugs
Etc.
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is for your child to engage in tactile play
Expanding Skills
Encourage your child to explore the sensory bin
Engage in pretend play with items in bin
Movement Time
Activity: Baby Birds
Materials:
Ball
Book
Stuffed animal to hug
Skill Check
The goal of this week focuses on using all the muscles in your body at the same time to create a ball pose while on your back
Expanding Skills
Have your child pop bubbles with their feet or kick a balloon while lying on their back!
Challenge your eyes by reading a book in this position, balancing the book by your knees and lifting your head to read
Toss a ball to your child while they are on their back and see if they can kick it back to you
Reach your right leg long with the left leg still tight to your stomach, bring the right leg back in and try it on the other side
Mealtime
Activity: Play With Food
Materials:
Novel foods
Cups
Utensils
Skill Check
The goal of this activity is to assess your child’s responses to new foods and promote exploration in a safe and supportive environment
Expanding Skills
This might be difficult if you child is a “picky eater”. Focus on their ability to explore foods without signs of distress. Praise your child for small victories such as playing with new foods for 5 minutes!
Practice scooping foods with a spoon by having races to see who can fill up a small Dixie cup with food first
Once filled, try moving the scooped food playfully towards your child’s face, mouth or nose (wherever the child is comfortable)
Play “restaurant” and order different variations of kabobs
Use the fork as a “kabob” and pierce different types of food
Ex. “I would like a watermelon, orange slice kabob”
Take turns being the “chef”
Sing familiar songs while practicing using utensils
Scoop and pour soup, applesauce, or pudding to create a “rain shower” while singing “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring”
Language Time
Skill Check
The goal of this week is to provide opportunity for your child to increase use, expand, and improve understanding of language through play
Expanding Skills
Put out a few toy animals to play with, then play the YouTube link with the different animal sounds. Ask your child to match the toy animal to the sound they hear.
Consider being silly with this to increase participation and interest; take turns guessing the animals, and get it wrong! Ask your child to help you pick the right match
Add additional questions to the activity (e.g., “Where does the animal live?” “What does the animal look like?” “Who takes care of this animal?”) to target higher level receptive language skills
Act out animal movements to make it more playful and interactive
Describe the animals on how they look. You can even draw the animals together to target increased expressive language
