Fine motor development
Toddlers wash toy dishes in the sensory table.
Be Prepared: Gather toddler-size toy plates, cups, and bowls. Place all materials in the basket, including the bottle of shampoo and dishcloths or child-size brushes or small vegetable brushes. Put about three inches of warm water in the sensory table. Set the basket of materials on a low surface close to the sensory table. Toddlers will select dishes from the basket, place dishes into the water, help create bubbles, and wash dishes.
[Sit or kneel at the sensory table and help four toddlers put on water smocks. Limit the activity to four toddlers at one time to prevent crowding. Toddlers will be active participants in getting the activity ready.]
Today we can wash our dishes from our house area. We are going to keep the water in the sensory table. You may use a dishcloth or a little brush or your hands for washing dishes.
[Offer each toddler a dishcloth or brush.]
Let’s get dishes from the basket and put them in the water.
[Invite two toddlers at a time to choose dishes.]
You may get one dish for each hand.
[Pause so toddlers may offer comments. Example: a toddler may notice a cup and bowl are the same color.
Describe toddlers’ actions. Example: “Jasmine, you found two dishes that are the same color. Your dishes are red. I see Gabriel putting cups in the water.”]
Now our dishes are in the water.
[Wait for toddlers to respond. If the toddlers do not think of bubbles or soap, ask “Should we add some soap to the water?”]
[Show the toddlers the bottle of shampoo. Squeeze a small amount of tear-free shampoo into the water in front of each toddler and encourage toddlers to move their hands in the water. Demonstrate an action to create bubbles. Example: “To make bubbles, we move the water and soap quickly back and forth.”]
Let’s all make bubbles with little quick movements. If we move our hands too much, the water will splash out!
[Pause for toddlers to talk about the bubbles or dishes.
Some toddlers may benefit from a demonstration of the difference between a swish movement and movement that creates a splash.]
[Display a washcloth or a small brush.]
You may wash our dishes with your hands or with a washcloth or brush. I will stay here to talk with you.
[Initiate conversations about what is interesting to each toddler. Draw attention to colors reflected in the bubbles. Talk about how the items feel in the water. How do the bubbles smell?]
[Describe toddlers’ actions, emphasizing action words, such as hold, turn, and wash. There may be opportunities to use the words “under,” “on,” and/or “around.” Repeat and extend toddlers’ comments. Example: If a toddler says “I big,” assume it is related to the activity and respond with a comment, such as “Yes, you are getting big. Today you are a big dish-washing helper!”]
Our hands worked hard today washing our dishes. We put the dishes in water and added soap (shampoo). We made bubbles by moving the soap and our water around with our hands.
Fine motor control is strengthened when toddlers grasp, turn, rotate, and release dishes in this activity. Picking up a cup by the handle and handling a bowl require different hand movements that foster agility. Look for opportunities to talk about toddlers’ actions so they can strengthen their awareness of what they are doing with their hands and connect words to their actions.
It is important to use toddler-size dishes because they are the appropriate size and weight for toddlers to handle. Some toddlers may wish to add different play materials to the water, but keep in mind that too many toys in the water may interfere with the goal of fine motor development.
Striving for independence is part of being a toddler! This activity gives toddlers some choices and an opportunity to help. Having only the water in the sensory table is an intentional strategy for offering opportunities for toddlers to be active participants in activity preparations. Toddlers will be active in an understandable four-step process: (1) get smock, (2) select dishes, (3) make bubbles, and (4) wash dishes.
Look for opportunities to promote relationship skills by facilitating turn-taking, sharing, and peer interactions. Toddlers sometimes need an adult to interpret the behavior or words of another child. Example: “Gabriel wants to stand near you. He is not taking your dishes. Gabriel is saying he wants to play with you.“
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
A toddler plays with items in a tub with dry material, with opportunities to use a scoop to transfer the dry material from one container to another.
Be Prepared: A tub approximately 15 x 24 inches works well for this activity. Gather two scoops of different sizes, such as one-quarter cup and one-half cup. Secure six to eight cups of a dry sensory material that is consistent with your center’s policies. The activity described below uses sand.
Place the prepared tub into an empty sensory table or another area on a low surface or on the floor. Invite a toddler to play with materials in the tub. Sit at child’s eye level near the toddler.
Encourage the toddler to play with the materials as he/she wishes, keeping the items and sand in the tub. Describe the toddler’s actions. Use fine motor action words, such as touching the sand, and say the names of items manipulated by the toddler, such as scoop, spoon, and bowl. The toddler may be interested in hiding small items in the sand.
After an initial period of open-ended play with the materials, encourage the toddler to move some of the sand into a container of the toddler’s choice using a scoop, spoon, or his/her hands. If necessary, point to and say the names of container options: bowl (small or larger) and ice cube tray.
Describe the toddler’s efforts to move some sand. Example: “Isaac, you used a scoop to put sand in a big bowl. Now you are using a spoon to move sand from the big bowl to a smaller bowl.” Gestures and pointing can help clarify some word meaning.
Also offer comments that emphasize quantity, such as full, empty, and more. Talk about the size of the scoops and describe what is happening as sand is moved from one container to another, or perhaps to a small pile of sand in the tub.
Encourage toddlers to talk about their actions. Example: “Your little bowls and container are full.” Pause. “What are you doing with your bowls?” Wait for toddler to respond. Toddler says “Ah soup.” Caregiver responds “Soup! You are putting soup in the bowls.”
Sensory play stimulates a toddler’s sense of touch, hearing, vision, and smell. Manipulating dry sensory material involves slightly different movements than playing with water. In addition to promoting fine motor actions, this activity can promote a toddler’s exploration of weight. Example: lifting an empty bowl versus lifting a bowl filled with sand.
Some toddlers may use both their hands and a scoop to move sand from one container to another. Toddlers may use the toys with either hand. Length of participation is likely to vary across toddlers. Some may transfer sand to smaller containers and move to a different activity. In contrast, a toddler may spend considerable time using the spoon to put sand in the empty ice tray holes.
Avoid adding too many materials to the texture tubs. Space is needed for manipulating, scooping, and transferring materials.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
Toddlers pour water in a sensory table with pitchers and other containers.
Cognitive
Be Prepared: Make about six holes in the bottom of four of the eight one-quart containers. The containers with holes are called “rain pots” in the activity description. Clear plastic bottles are a good option for the four containers that do not have holes. Put several inches of warm water into the sensory table. Get towels and other items for water cleanup before you begin the activity so you do not need to leave the activity.
Invite 3–4 toddlers to play with some special things at the water table. Help toddlers put on water smocks. Remind toddlers that water stays in our table.
Introduce materials in the following suggested order:
Invite toddlers to play with the materials. Talk with toddlers about their actions in pouring water. Examples: “You are filling your bottle with water. I see water is near the top. Now it is full!”
Encourage toddlers to explore adding water with the rain pot and a clear container. Draw attention to the holes in the rain pots. Emphasize how the holes allow the water to move out of the container.
Often toddlers enjoy repeating words or chanting. One possibility for this activity: “It’s raining and pouring.”
Toddlers are likely to be captivated by the activity and eager to express their ideas and questions. It is a great opportunity to listen to toddlers and interact with them.
Toddlers may need assistance learning how to lift the rain pot so the water stays in the sensory table. Coordinated eye-hand action is necessary to pour water from the pitcher into a container. Also, toddlers may need assistance learning how to lift the rain pot so the water runs out and stays in the sensory table. Offer some verbal support. Example: “Put your tummy next to the sensory table. Hold your arms in front of your body.” Some toddlers may discover that a pitcher is not necessary for putting water into a container by simply dipping a container into the water.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: sensory table with water, various sizes of cups and bowls, serving spoons with and without holes, funnels, small watering can, food coloring, artificial flowers, sensory table with dry sensory material
Set up a sensory table with water cups, bowls, spoons, funnels, and small watering cans for toddlers to explore. Add artificial flowers and plants or a few drops of food coloring to add more interest. Invite toddlers to fill the watering cans and pour the water out of the spout. Encourage toddlers to pour water through the spoons with holes and through the funnels to fill the cups and bowls. On another day, set up a sensory table with a dry sensory material. Invite toddlers to fill the cups and bowls with the material using the different types of spoons and funnels.
Materials Needed: soft malleable toys, rattles, sensory bins, water, dry sensory material, tubes, glue, egg cartons, paint
Provide fine motor and sensory experiences for infants by offering soft, malleable toys as well as rattles. Talk with children about how play materials feel. The use of senses enhances exploration and learning. Set up sensory bins for preschool-age children. Dishtubs with a few toys and water (or a dry sensory material) make a good individual activity for an older child. Preschool-age and older children will enjoy the addition of tubes with different-sized openings to pour materials through. Older toddlers and preschool-age children will enjoy using glue and textured material for collages. Provide egg cartons and washable paint. Encourage children to apply paint inside each of the 12 openings.
© 2024 The Trustees of Purdue University | All Rights Reserved