Object inquiry skills
Toddlers carry a toy duck to a pretend “faraway” destination and then return to their gathering place while listening to a song.
Be Prepared: The activity involves each toddler carrying an object from a gathering place to a table and then returning the object to the gathering place. Determine in advance the table (or other destination) where toddlers will take their objects. Make sure the destination and path to the destination are clear of items. Be familiar with the tune and lyrics of the first verse of the Five Little Ducks song.
[Invite toddlers to join you for a song and game. Sit facing the toddlers and sing a familiar song with them. Give one duck to each toddler. Demonstrate how to hold the duck in your hand when you make the request below.]
This is a duck. Everyone gets a duck. Please hold the duck in your hand.
I will sing a song about Mama Duck and Baby Ducks. Maybe you would like to move your ducks while I sing the song.
[Briefly demonstrate moving your duck in the air. Stay seated and move your duck with your hand while you sing the song. With your arm/hand and facial expression, draw toddlers’ attention to you putting your duck under your leg or behind your back so it is out of sight when you sing “over the hill and far away.” Prominently hold the duck toward the toddlers when you sing “all the little ducks came (swimming or waddling) back.” Emphasize the words came back.]
Our song says the little ducks went far away. We can carry our ducks far away in our room. Let’s take our ducks to the table.
[Stand with your duck. Encourage the toddlers to stand. Point to and describe the table destination. Then invite toddlers to walk with you to the table. Begin singing the song while you walk with the toddlers to the table.
Describe how you reached your destination. Point to the path you followed.]
The mama duck says “Come back.” Let’s carry our ducks back to the rug.
[Turn and walk slowly back to your gathering area. Repeat the song as you walk with the toddlers.
Sit on the floor in your gathering area. Help the toddlers find a place to sit.]
We took our ducks for a walk over the hills and far away. Then we came back!
Would you like to play the duck game again?
We can carry our ducks to another place. We will come back.
[Repeat the sequence if toddlers are interested. Follow the route used for the first walk. Walk with the toddlers as you sing the duck song. Again, when you reach the destination, point to and describe the path. Then return to the gathering area.
Sit and place your duck on the floor. Encourage the toddlers to sit near you. Examples: Tap your hand on a spot on the floor. “Tara, here is a place for you.” “All ducks and all children are sitting down.”]
We all came back! Do you want to make “quack, quack” sounds?
Please hold your duck. Let’s all say “quack, quack, quack!”
[Move your duck around in front of you and lead toddlers in a silly session of saying “quack, quack.” Move your duck down to the floor. Guide toddlers in making a quieter “quack, quack” sound by making your voice softer.
After an appropriate amount of “quack, quack” time, tell the ducks it is time to sleep. Encourage toddlers to be in charge of the toy duck and duck sound. Example: “Okay, it is time for us to tell the ducks to sleep. Please hold your duck in two hands. We can tell our ducks ‘night night.’”]
Now the ducks are sleeping.
We heard a song about ducks going over the hills and far away. We carried our toy ducks to a faraway place. Where did we carry our ducks?
[Encourage toddlers to point.]
Our song said all the ducks came back. So we carried our ducks back to the (gathering area). Now we are pretending that our ducks are sleeping.
Toddlers enjoy carrying toys and often show or offer their items to caregivers. Toddlers also enjoy carrying an object from one location to another. This activity’s focus on carrying an object from one place to another promotes spatial awareness. Also, walking increases toddlers’ opportunities to learn more about a setting by interacting with others and objects. The song is intended to add more enjoyment to the activity and to help emphasize the “come back” concept.
It is not expected that all toddlers will participate in the activity. Watch toddlers who are new to walking and may need assistance. Newly walking children often use their arms for balance. Carrying the toy while walking may be too challenging. Perhaps a toddler could carry the toy part of the way, or all of the way, with your help. Confidence in walking often increases toddlers’ interest in carrying objects and in getting distant objects.
The activity fosters the development of self-regulation skills in several ways: toddlers make and then stop a quack, quack sound; toddlers carry the ducks away and return them to their starting point; and toddlers practice listening. The activity ends with a structured calming down suggestion where toddlers help the toy ducks go to sleep.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object inquiry skills, Problem-solving
Toddlers participate in a book sharing and then together enact part of the story by taking a toy duck to a “faraway” place in the room and then returning the duck to their gathering place.
Invite several toddlers to join you to read a book. Show and describe the cover of the book. Read the story while holding the book close to the toddlers. Emphasize far away and came back. If toddlers are familiar with the song or words, on the third page ask “What does Mama Duck say?” Encourage toddlers to say “quack, quack, quack” with you. Pace your reading to match toddlers’ engagement in the book. Skip to the last page if toddlers lose interest.
At the conclusion of the book sharing, remind toddlers that our story talks about the ducks going far away. Explain that we can pretend to go far away with our ducks in our room. Ask toddlers where we should take our ducks. Invite each toddler to hold a duck and join you in carrying a duck as we walk around the room while you sing the duck song from Option 1. Stop at a destination(s) suggested by toddlers. Refer to the destination(s) as a “faraway place.” Remind toddlers that the ducks came back after going far away. We need to go back to where we started. You may wish to add challenge by changing the return route.
Look for ways to promote the concepts far away and came (come) back as part of planning (where should we take our ducks?), walking with the ducks to the child-determined destination(s), and returning. These fun practices help support toddlers’ emerging spatial relation skills. See Extra Support tips and keep in mind that simple actions, such as using your arms in a “far away” gesture, can help toddlers make sense of a concept. The Option 2 activity offers more challenge than Option 1 by connecting a book to pretend enactment of parts of the story. There also is challenge in thinking about a “far away” destination in your room and in determining a return route to your gathering place (see Enrichment tip). The story’s reference to numbers may support the development of early awareness of counting. At this age, it is not appropriate to use the book to explicitly teach numbers or counting.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object inquiry skills
Toddlers carry toys to a sand area, including jugs of water that they can pour into containers and sand during open-ended play.
Be Prepared: Secure one-gallon, non-breakable jugs with handles. Fill one of the jugs with water and put 2–3 cups of water in each of the others. The jug that is full of water will serve as a backup source of water that you (or another adult) manage during the activity. Also secure an assortment of toys commonly used in sand areas, especially containers, such as sand buckets, small molds, and measuring cups.
This is an outdoor activity that can be adapted for indoor use at a sand table. Invite toddlers to carry one of the materials to the sand area. Say the name of the item as a toddler picks it up. When you reach the sand area, explain that we will take turns carrying a jug of water to different spots in our sand area. We can pour some water into the other containers. We also can pour some water into part of our sand if we want some wet sand to play with.
Toddlers will initiate their own activities with the materials and sand. Your job is to: (a) encourage toddlers to carry a jug of water to different spots, (b) help toddlers pour some water into containers or elsewhere, (c) facilitate turn-taking with the available jugs, and (d) use your jug of water to replenish the toddlers’ jugs with approximately 2–3 cups of water when they are empty.
Most likely toddlers will identify when and where water is needed. Offer prompts, if necessary. Example: “Chris, would you like some water in your bucket? Samantha could carry some water to you.”
Toddlers will enjoy carrying jugs of water around. They also will like distributing the water by pouring it. Keep track of which toddlers are carrying the jugs so you can help turn-taking if other toddlers are interested. Some toddlers may want to carry a jug; others may want to pour. Perhaps two toddlers could form a “water team,” wherein one carries and one pours.
Spatial relations skills are involved in carrying items to and within the sand area, and in pouring water from a jug. It is challenging for toddlers to pour a smaller amount of water than is available in their jug. Positively accept whatever amounts are poured and keep your jug of water close at hand to replenish water supplies in the jugs managed by toddlers.
Look for opportunities to describe toddlers’ actions and emphasize the concepts of carry and pour. Also look for chances to emphasize destinations, such as carrying items to the sand area, or carrying a jug to a bucket (or other type of container held by a toddler) elsewhere in the sand area. A variety of play materials offers toddlers a choice of how they play outdoors. Also, small changes in the available outdoor play materials may heighten toddlers’ interest in and awareness of different play areas.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: rubber ducks, several baskets, books about ducks
Distribute rubber ducks in several baskets around the room to encourage toddlers to carry the ducks. Display books about real ducks and duck storybooks. Make a place to keep the ducks during the week so toddlers know where to put them away. On another day, invite toddlers to carry the toy ducks outside. Encourage the toddlers to join you in a duck parade, carrying ducks to various areas of the outdoor space. Take photos of the children in different locations with the toy ducks, such as next to the slide and by the cubby.
Materials Needed: green felt circles and ducks for each child
Cut one eight-inch circle of green felt for each toddler and preschool-age child in your setting. Sit with children on the floor in your play area. Give one duck and one green felt circle to each child. Encourage children to pretend the felt circle is a lily pad and our room is a pond. Explain that our little ducks like to rest next to a lily pad in a pond. Sing the song from Option 1 and walk (or swim) around the room (your pretend pond), with children holding a duck. When the song stops, children return to the gathering area. Invite children to put the ducks next to the lily pads for their duck nap.
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