What are some toys I can give to my toddler for Christmas that will be fun, but also be good teaching tools?

Toys are obviously a huge part of a child’s growing up years. Usually we think of toys as just something fun that will keep kids busy. However, the right kind of toys can be so much more than that. If you provide your child with toys that promote learning, he will not only have fun and stay busy during play time, but he will also learn a great deal. If you are looking for some fun toys that also promote learning for toddlers, then check out these top 10 learning toys for toddlers. They are all sure to keep your toddler busy and happy and learning.

Playdough and Playdough Tools

I bought a playdough tool set like this 3 years ago and it is still going strong in our house. The tools are all very sturdy and show hardly any sign of wear. Plus, we use these tools frequently!

Wooden Alphabet Blocks (we also love Mega Bloks)

Any kind of blocks are fun for toddlers!

Bean Bags

Use for throwing, catching, games, and more.

Pegboard and Pegs

We love our pegboard and peg set. Making towers with the pegs is always a favorite in our house.

Musical Instruments

Not only are these fun, but they also teach rhythm, sound, and listening

Latch Board

This is a great fine motor tool. We are definitely getting one of these for Smiley Man for Christmas this year.

Uppercase Lowercase Letter Match Puzzle

Obviously this helps teach letters, but it’s also a great fine motor and math activity because of the puzzle aspect.

Letter Construction

Again helps with letters, but has a fun building element

Easel

Writing (or painting) on a vertical surface will help your child with writing!

Books

There are too many wonderful books to list that are great learning tools for toddlers. Just reading to your toddler daily will teach him so much. Here are a few of our favorite books:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
• Green Eggs and Ham
• Goodnight Moon

Other Posts you Might Like

• Over 100 Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas
• Top 10 Learning Toys for Preschoolers
• Toys that Promote Gross Motor Development

We’ve found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites!

No Time for Flashcards, Train Up a Child, Teach Beside Me, 1+1+1=1, Living Montessori Now, In Lieu of Preschool, ABC & 123, Sun Scholars, All Our Days, Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Homeschool Creations, 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Teaching Mama.

What are some toys my preschooler can play with that will also help him learn?

If you have a preschooler, then you certainly have a fair supply of toys in your house. Toys are great for entertaining children, but the right kind of toys can also help your preschooler learn. Here is my list of the top 10 toys that will help promote learning for your preschooler.

Zoob Junior

Little Bear got a set of these for Christmas last year and I am constantly amazed at the creations he comes up with.

Pattern Blocks

Check out our Pattern Block Activity Pack (only $1.99!) for some awesome pattern block mats and other pattern block activities.

Math Links

I bought these just to use with our preschool curriculum, but my kids have surprised me by playing with them often. Review with ways to play coming soon.

Flat Marble Alphabet

These are super fun and a great tool for a preschooler who is learning letters.

Number Puzzles

These puzzles are self-correcting which means Little Bear can entertain himself for long amounts of time sorting and putting these puzzles together.

Color Cubes and Cards

We have never played with these, but they are on our list of toys to purchase. I love the spatial reasoning that they provide along with the building aspect.

Alphabet Stamps

These are great for preschoolers who aren’t great at forming letters, but still want to “write.” Check out our Pre-Primer Sight Word Curriculum (only $9.99 and includes tons of activities for all 30 Dolch Pre-Primer words) for more ways to use alphabet stamps.

Boggle Jr.

This is a great tool for beginning spelling, but it’s still simple enough for preschoolers.

Do-a-Dot Markers

We LOVE do-a-dot markers. Check out my review here.

Books

There are way too many wonderful books out there to list them all. Reading to your child every day is one of the best ways you can teach him. Here are just a few of our favorite books for preschoolers:

• The Tiny Seed
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
• The Little Engine that Could
• Hop on Pop
• Harold and the Purple Crayon

Other Posts You Might Like

• Over 100 Inexpensive Gift Ideas
• Top 10 Learning Toys for Toddlers (coming soon)
• Sight Word Curriculum Week 3

We’ve found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites!

No Time for Flashcards, Train Up a Child, Teach Beside Me, 1+1+1=1, Living Montessori Now, In Lieu of Preschool, ABC & 123, Sun Scholars, All Our Days, Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Homeschool Creations, 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Teaching Mama.

What are some Christmas learning activities I can do with my toddler?

These Christmas trays have been much loved in my house. They are probably some of the best trays I’ve ever put together. I did spend a little bit more money on these trays than I usually do. I usually just get a few things from the dollar store and occasionally spend more money on something I know we’ll use a lot. This time, though, I bought the supplies from a craft store. I figured if there was ever a good time of year to splurge on nicer tot tray materials, Christmas was the time. :)

One other thing before I show you the trays. I did these trays with Smiley Man a few weeks ago. I also wrote this post a few weeks ago. Why did I do this so far in advance? Well, I’m probably in the hospital right now having my baby! Since I am writing this early, I don’t actually know if I’ll be in the hospital on this particular day. I also wrote the rest of the posts for this week early because of the baby thing. The rest of the posts for December will be written by Cassidy while I take a little blogging break. Luckily for you, Cassidy is extremely artistic and crafty (and I am not). So, be excited for some Christmas crafts activities that are much more artistic than normal.

Now, on to the Christmas tot trays.

Theme

I found these great present ornaments and some small stockings. To do this tot tray, Smiley Man puts the present into the stocking just like Santa Claus does! He loves this tray. Although, I did have to tell my kids over and over that the present was just a decoration and that there is nothing inside. They still opened one up secretly to see for themselves. ;)

Stickers/Stamps

This tot tray has some super cute gel window clings. Smiley Man liked to rearrange these on the tray and it was great fine motor practice for him. He surprised me by sticking them on the wall one day and he spent probably 20-30 minutes just playing with them on the wall. I didn’t even think they would stick to the wall, but Smiley Man’s creativity gave him a super fun new way to play.

Pouring

This tot tray had two glass bowls filled with some red and white vase fillers. After the pouring Smiley Man did with our Thanksgiving trays, I knew we needed another pouring activity. Smiley Man loved pouring these. They provided a bit more challenge than the sunflower seeds because they are lighter, but Smiley Man loved this tray.

Gluing

I used the same red and white vase fillers for this tot tray. I also put on a glue bottle and a paper Christmas tree. Smiley Man had fun gluing the vase fillers onto the tree to look like ornaments. Little Bear often plays with Smiley’s tot trays when he comes home from school. When Little Bear saw this tray, he immediately cut out a paper star and glued it to the tree. :) I guess it’s not a Christmas tree unless it has a star on top.

Sensory

I did this “tray” with a sensory bin instead of an actual tray. I shredded some paper and hid some Christmas items in the sensory bin. I just used the extra things that I had from the other trays: extra presents, stockings, and vase fillers. I used tan, yellow, and brown paper because I plan to eventually put nativity pieces into the sensory bin and take out the other Christmas things. Then it will be a nativity sensory bin and Smiley Man can find the nativity animals in the “hay.”

Learning Notebook Printables

• Coloring page (Nativity Pack pg. 2 from 1+1+1=1)
• Pre-Writing Practice (Polar Express Pack pg. 2 from 123 Homeschool 4 Me)
• Christmas Matching (Christmas Pack part 2 pg. 41 from 3 Dinosaurs)
• Which One is Different? (Nativity Pre-K Pack pg. 6 from Over the Big Moon)
• Color the Baby Jesus (Nativity Pre-K Pack pg. 18 from Over the Big Moon)

Tray Printables

• Sorting People and Animals (Nativity Pack pg. 10 from 1+1+1=1)
• Size Sorting (Nativity Pack pg. 3 from 1+1+1=1)
• Roll and Graph (Nativity Pack pg. 19 and 21 from 1+1+1=1)
• Lacing Card (Polar Express Pack pg. 33 from 123 Homeschool 4 Me)
• Matching Cards (Christmas Pack part 1 pg. 4-5 from 3 Dinosaurs)

Other Posts you Might Like

• How to Start Tot School
• Learning Notebook and New Tot School Schedule
• Winter Tot Trays

We’ve found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites!

No Time for Flashcards, Train Up a Child, Teach Beside Me, 1+1+1=1, Living Montessori Now, In Lieu of Preschool, ABC & 123, Sun Scholars, All Our Days, Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Homeschool Creations, 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Teaching Mama.

What is a fun busy bag my toddler can do that will strengthen his fingers?

This busy bag is super simple (if you know how to sew) and it’s sure to entertain your child for awhile. You’ve probably seen the idea to make a fabric marble maze before. I’ve seen lots of different marble mazes with all different types of fabric. I don’t have very specific instructions for the marble mazes that I made because I just kind of made it up as I went.

I started with two pieces of felt. I cut the pieces so that I would have two matching pieces from each color. Then, I drew on one side the maze that I would sew on. I know it would have looked better if I had drawn the maze with chalk or something that could be wiped off, but I used permanent marker and the maze still works just fine.

Next, I sewed the maze (on the lines that I drew with permanent marker). Be sure that you don’t sew the sides yet because you still need to put your marble inside the maze. Once the maze lines were sewn, I put the marble into the maze and sewed around the edges.

I also tried making a marble maze with a hot glue gun in case some of you don’t know how to sew. Unfortunately, it was a miserable fail. If any of you readers is able to make a marble maze without having to sew it, I would love to hear about it.

To use this busy bag, simply have your toddler use his fingers to move the marble through the maze. I knew Smiley Man would be intrigued by the marble stuck inside the fabric, but I didn’t realize how much fine motor practice this would give him. Since my pieces of fabric were small, I only made the spaces just big enough for the marble to pass through. This meant that it took a lot more finger strength for Smiley Man to push the marble through the maze. He could still move the marble through the maze without any help, but it took a lot more concentration than I realized it would. Luckily, I see this as a good thing because it is a busy bag after all. :)

Other posts you might like

• Stickers, Paper, and Crayons Busy Bag
• Smell Matching Busy Bag
• Printable Shape Quiet Book

*Want to see more themed activities like this for toddlers or preschoolers? Check out our store page where our toddler and preschool series are compiled into Activity Packs for only $1.99! The Activity Packs are full of lesson plans, printables, and a curriculum guide.

We’ve found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites!

No Time for Flashcards, Train Up a Child, Teach Beside Me, 1+1+1=1, Living Montessori Now, In Lieu of Preschool, ABC & 123, Sun Scholars, All Our Days, Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Homeschool Creations, 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Teaching Mama.

What are some fun Christmas activities I can do with my preschooler?

I’ve been so inspired by all of the Christmas pins and posts I’ve seen lately. I’ve also been taking a watercolor class and we’ve been doing fun Christmas sketches and paintings, so needless to say I’ve been in the mood for Christmas things (except Christmas music… I can’t do that yet). Knowing that Kirstylee was having her baby soon I thought it would be fun to create some activities  for Little Bear to do. As a result, we came up with this fun Christmas Activity Pack!

The pack will be available in our store for the same great price as our other activity packs, just $1.99. It has 25 pages of colorful activities that are both fun and educational. That’s what we do right? :) It includes activities such as play dough mats, matching, clip cards, coloring, puzzles and more! There is enough in there to keep your preschooler happy and entertained for quite a while. Plus, if you have a toddler, some of the activities will work for them as well!

Here is a sneak peek of Little Bear using some of the activities from the pack!

Also, because it’s that time of year, we thought it would be fun to do a giveaway! We will give away two copies of the Christmas Activity Pack (two winners) on December 3. The giveaway will end December 2 so be sure to enter now! If you’d rather not wait, you can still go ahead and purchase the activity pack today!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Illustrations by Cassidy Tuttle, Goodness and Fun, JW Illustrations and Pretty Grafik Design.

We’ve found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites!

No Time for Flashcards, Train Up a Child, Teach Beside Me, 1+1+1=1, Living Montessori Now, In Lieu of Preschool, ABC & 123, Sun Scholars, All Our Days, Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Homeschool Creations, 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Teaching Mama, Contest Heat.