Writing a big, long blog post about how great these activities are for toddlers intimidates me... so I will be brief and straight to the point! These really are great, tried and true activities that toddlers will love!

MATH: LOVE YOU TO PIECES

This is one of our favorite math activities! It has all of the qualities that make an engaging and child-led learning activity.

Directions:

Simply draw a heart on a piece of paper and make little dots all around the inside of it to indicate where your child should put their glue.

(I have noticed that when I don't add dots children use way more glue than they need to. The dots are a good representation of the rule, "A Dab Will Do Ya!")

Now, your child can practice tearing pieces of colored paper and sticking them to the heart.

You can also pre-cut/pre-tear different colors of paper for your child.

Once the heart is full and all the dots are covered, your child is finished!

Skills:

• patterns

• sizes

• matching

• volume

• glueing

• tearing

• fine motor

• color identification

READING: LETTER HUNT + MATCHING

This is our go to activity when my kids are beginning to learn the alphabet. It is a great way to get moving while also learning letters!

Directions:

Cut out 26 hearts from construction paper. We used pink, red and purple!

Once you have cut out the hearts, begin writing one letter of the alphabet onto each heart.

When all 26 letters have been written, tape the hearts randomly around a room for your child to find.

On a large sheet of paper (we love this easel paper from Melissa and Doug) Write the letters of the alphabet again. Make sure there is enough space in-between each letter that your child will be able to cover it with a heart without covering another letter.

Secure this large paper to a door or wall. Make sure it is an appropriate height for your child!

Instruct your child to look around the room and find hearts! Once they find a heart, they should bring it to the large paper and identify the matching letter and tape it on top of it's match.

Repeat until all of the hearts are found! This is a great time to not only review letter names, but also their sounds!

PRE-WRITING: HEART LACING

Before your child is even ready to hold a pencil correctly, help them grow their fine motor skills with this simple pre-writing activity! This activity will help your child develop hand eye coordination, fine motor strength, pencil grip and more!

Directions:

We found these styrofoam hearts at Target a few years ago. I believe they come out annually, but I could be wrong. None-the-less, this activity can still be done with a heart you cut out of your own styrofoam, or cardboard!

Simply use a hole puncher to punch several holes around the border of the heart.

Then, twist 2-3 pipe cleaners together to make one large pipe cleaner. (For toddlers just learning this skill, I have found that pipe cleaners are easier to manipulate than string and leads to less frustration!)

Then, secure the pipe cleaner through one of the holes surrounding the heart.

Allow your child to practice threading the pipe cleaner in and out of the holes around the heart. they are welcome to go in order or choose their own path!

STEM: PLAY-DOH LOVE MONSTERS

Have you read the book "Love Monster" by Rachael Bright? It is one of our FAVORITE Valentine's Day books. It is so cute. This activity is inspired by this book and it is a winner!

Directions:

Collect your supplies: Play-doh, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, jewels, play-doh stamps and other tools, buttons, pompoms- really anything you can find in your house already that your child might be interested in using to create a little monster.

Read the book "Love Monster" by Rachael Bright to your child. When you have finished reading, allow your child to create their own version of. a "love monster".

They should have complete creative control. Your job is to sit back and watch them create now that they have all of the supplies they need at their finger tips!

We love creating monsters out of play-doh and it usually leads to great conversations about their creative process and gives us a little peek into their amazing imagination.

Sensory Play: Valentine's Rice Bin

I love a good seasonal rice bin! It may look intimidating to set up- but I promise it's easier than it looks!

Directions for Colored Rice:

(Depending on the size of your sensory bin- use 1-3 cups of rice for each color.)

For every cup of rice, add about 1 tsp of rubbing alcohol and several drops of food coloring.

Use one ziplock bag for each color you are using to make your rice. Add the rice, rubbing alcohol and food coloring to the ziplock bag and shake until the rice is fully covered in the color.

Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on top of a baking sheet. Spread the colored rice on top of the parchment paper to dry. I like to let the rice dry over night, but it could take as little as 1-2 hours to dry depending on how much you are making at once.

Sensory Bin:

Now that your rice is prepared, throw it into your bin and add some odds and ends objects you have laying around the house! We used pompoms, jewels and pearls from the dollar store, cupcake liners, and cookie cutters.

Your child will need some scooping and grabbing tools! You can use spoons, spatulas, whisks, tweezers, measuring cups- or whatever you have in your home!