Activities at Home for a 2 1/2 Year Old Daughter

basic colors, shapes, sounds. Read to her as much as you can. Try to get involved in a play group or mothers day out program. At the library they may have activities that you can take her to. At this age they are usuallyabout 30 minutes in length that you do something together.

I used to be a pre-k teacher for Toddlers (approx 14-24 months old) and also an assistant teacher for the 2's & 3's classroom.

At 2.5 years old, your daughter should be doing things like pretend play (playing dress up, playing kitchen, pretending to talk on the phone like mommy, etc), sort and match colors and shapes, should understand the concept of big and small (as well we under/over, top/bottom, etc), use negation in speech (telling you she doesnt want or like something, for example, by saying "I no want" or "I no like", etc). She should be able to stand on one foot without assistance, jump up and down, stack blocks (many of them, like 6-10), and understand the concept of "one" - like bringing you one block instead of all of them.

Activities you can do are practically endless. Since she isn't in pre-k, you can act as her teacher. In pre-k, the day is divided into parts - free play, structured activities, meals, and nap. Free play time is when the kids can go play at the different centers in the room - dress-up, blocks, fine motor (like threading yarn with a plastic needle through holes), etc.

Try picking a theme each week - like "Farm", "Water", "Zoo", "Colors", "Shapes" etc. You can get ideas from books at teacher supply stores. Then for each day of that week, do a few activities with her. For farm for example, you could get together with other kids (if possible) and play farmer in the dell (or just sing it) and that's a music activity. Read a book that about farm animals to her (reading/language) and encourage her to repeat their names and what sounds they make while pointing to the pictures. Print out (from online or out of an activity book) pictures of animals for her to color - with crayons, finger paint, tissue paper (and glue), etc (art project). While working on the art project, tie it in with the language. If she's coloring a pig, ask her "what does a pig say", "what color is a pig" etc. Do a different animal (or a couple different animals) everyday, and hang her artwork up for her to see - in her room, on the fridge, etc.

Fingerplays are great for this age and you can make them using felt and velcro. You can then tell stories (using music and songs and spoken word) for a variety of themes. Get a fingerboard story book from a teacher supply store and the possibilities are practically endless!

Just as with the "Farm" theme used as an example, you can start with simpler themes like "colors". Learn about one color on the morning and one in the afternoon or stretch the theme for two weeks. Let's today today's color is green. Put several green objects in the room you'll be in. It's helpful if you have the same items in multiple colors (like a green spoon, a yellow spoon, and a pink spoon, for example) and ask her to bring you the green one. If she chooses the right one, clap (and say YAY!) and make a big deal. If she chooses the wrong one, tell her, "no, that's (insert color). I'm looking for the GREEN one". Dress her in that color and you can help her make connections "GREEN like your SHIRT!". Paint or color with crayons that are different shade of green. Read Green Eggs & Ham and actually make it to eat if you're up for it (this worked better with 4 & 5 yr olds but the 2&3's still enjoyed the activity). Make Green Beans, Peas, etc to eat. If the color if the day is Red, then serve red foods, dress her in a red shirt, etc.

When I was a teacher, our schedule was predictable and the kids worked well with it. First thing we'd serve breakfast, and after that we'd let the kids have free play (supervised, of course) while we cleaned up breakfast dishes and got the materials ready for our structured activity - usually art. After art, one of us would read a story or do a flannelboard play (both language arts) while the other cleaned up the art mess. Then we'd let the kids have free time again - either inside with the blocks, etc, or outside. Then we'd usually have a sing-a-along while we got lunch on the table. After lunch, it was naptime. Once the kids got up and had a snack, we'd let them play outside (15-20 minutes) while the nextt activity was being readied. That could be a fingerboard play, book, music, another art project, we all play dress up (very fun during community helper week!) etc, followed by freeplay inside, one more song or story, and finishing off the day with outside time.

Sorry I know my response is a bit disorganized but just typing as they come to me (in between getting something done at work!). Pick up some books at a teacher supply store to get started with some ideas. From there, let our imagination take over and before you know it. your daughter will be equal or ahead of her peers that attend pre-k.

A fun activity I did with my daughter when I was teaching her colors was to sort tiny colorful pom poms (I purchased a bag of them at Michael's) into styrofoam bowls. I colored the top rim of each bowl with a different color and would have her place each pom pom into the corresponding bowl. She loved it, and it would dump them out and start all over as soon as she finished!

I would suggest going to a school supply store and buying a couple of activity books that preschool teachers use. They are full of structured activity ideas you can do with her. I was in a school supply store here in Raleigh just yesterday and saw several books just like what I have described. Hope this helps!

First form a routine. She will learn from a routine, that things need to be with some structure. Get up and breakfast, do a simple pickup, and take her to the park or for a good walk. When you come back, snack and a book. Then do an activity. 2 yr olds have the attention of a gnat, so make it short.Big crayons, a large pad of paper, She can draw, or you can have her fold a sqare etc. Don't expect her to be able to do much alone, the coordination is not there yet. Water play is great, at the sink while you put dinner together. Give her cups and stainers, funnels etc, a big pot and run the water very slowing, bubbles are fun too.
Just remember, 2 yr olds are discovering, and becoming social, so you want to take her places, and socialize her, and let her have fun. Dance and sing, and just have a good time. Next year, she will be ready for school interaction.

I would suggest joining a Meetup group(meetup.com)/MOPS(mops.org)/Moms group in your area for socialization purposes. Meeting other kids her age will help with the separation anxiety.

There are a lot of free resources online to find age-appropriate activities, but I picked up a copy of "The Busy Book"...it has TONS of activities!

My son never went to preschool, but we were in a MOPS group and had at least one activity per week with other kids his age. He's in Kindergarten, and while the first week was tough, he's doing fine, now.

I know this phase of mothering is difficult, and I wish you all the best. Enjoy this time...she'll be in school before you know it!

pick a theme for a weel or 2 like farm animals, cars flowers ect. look up little crafts to do i will say you need to get this child in a program you dont want her to go to kindergarten and be so stressed out and not socialized look for a mothers day out program do 2 days a week to start good luck

You can teach your daughter at home better than any teacher can who has to divide her attention among 20 kids. Don't worry about her keeping up with the kids at school -- if you pay attention to her, she'll learn far more than she would at school! You can't keep most kids from learning -- it's as natural as breathing! Reading is a wonderful thing -- you can point out the colors, and even get her started picking out words on the page. Get "Dr. Seuss's ABC" and teach her the alphabet. Play house with her, and point out different objects, shapes, and colors -- "the teacups are pink; the grapes are purple; oranges and lemons are circles; bananas are yellow; the windows are rectangles," etc. Let her follow you around the house, helping you. She can learn to fold washcloths and hand towels, even if she can't manage the big bath towels. It will take you longer than doing it by yourself, but she will learn so much, and will be happy that you're spending time with her.

Get together with other moms in your area. I have a 2 year old and she doesn't go to school either. Maybe we could get together sometime. My daughter has extreme separation anxietey, also. But yeah, get with other moms... that really helps alot!

Hi S.
I have a 3 year old daughter and I love to get activities and crafts from Familyfun.com. You can search by age groups and some of the crafts are so simple but yet so fun.
You could also try letteroftheweek.com for toddlers. It is an amazing website that is well thought out and so easy to follow.
Last I would suggest checking into your local library and see if they have a story time. My little girl goes and has a blast and it also a time for socialization.

Some of the other ideas are great as well..

She wouldn't be learning too much at this point but you can start with numbers. Make up a song on counting to ten and sing it over and over with her. I used to sing it to my little girl while I was rocking her to sleep. You can get washable finger paints for her to paint with. Playdough is fun for them too. You could get some of the new cardboard paper dolls and let her dress them. Anything that helps her concentrate and have good motor skills. You can do puzzles with her, find books that have numbers and abc is them. You can get a leap frog pad too that will read the story to her and sing songs to her. get her some music CD's that sing abc's, etc to help her learn them. Is her separation anxiety due to a medical thing or just her personality? If it is just her personality, you will have to work on that so you can get her in preschool prior to Kindergarten. Start by hiring a babysitter for about 2 hours at a time and then longer. Have playdates over for her to play with to get used to children and sharing. Make sure there is no stress on her or missing you or her father that might make it worse. She will relax once she realizes you will be back to get her and is having fun.