Games for toddlers that teach skills and develop muscles

Here are some games parents can play repeatedly with their children that provide opportunities to teach skills and develop muscles.

Animals

Make an animal sound. Let your toddler guess the animal. If he does not guess correctly, give clues. When he guesses correctly, you can both pretend to be the animal.

Counting

Cover an empty, square tissue box with white paper. Draw a different number of large dots on each side (from one to six). Let your child roll the box. Count the number of dots on the top of it as you point to each dot. Search your house together and find one other set of items that are the same number.

Match sounds

Use 10 empty powdered pudding boxes. Fill two boxes with dried beans. Fill another two with rice. Fill the remaining sets of two with paperclips, bells or wrapped hard candy. Tape the boxes securely shut with masking tape. Let your child shake them to find the matching pairs. Mix them up and play again. Note: This activity must be supervised.

Memory

Build important cognitive skills by encouraging your child to use her memory. Start by saying, "I remember when we went to Grandma’s house. I took my doll." Then it’s your child’s turn. Have her repeat what you said and add one more item to the list. Go back and forth as many times as you can without forgetting what you took to Grandma’s house.

Action/Reaction

Make a simple puppet from a sock (slide your hand in an old sock and make eyes and a nose around the toe with a marker).

• Encourage your baby to wave goodbye by waving with your free hand. When he does, have the puppet nod and then give him a kiss.
  
  
• Clap your child’s hands together. Each time he claps his hands, the puppet can lightly tickle his tummy.