Ideas for Things to Play with My 3 Year Old and 9 Month Old

The three year old needs to be working on things like counting, letters recognition and sounds. You can just 'PLAY" together and make it so that the little one AND 3 year old get something out of it.

i.e. you are playing w/ blocks....the little one is playing, building, etc. the blocks. If the blocks have letters, ask the 3 year old WHILE you're playing what those letters and sounds are. Ask the little one to hand you a "ball", "truck" or whatever. Ask the THREE YEAR OLD what letter/sound that begins with. You are playing together but making the same play benefit both children. The little one is working on object recognition, the older...letter and sound. you can make pretty much anything like this.

Grocery store.......litle one recognizes the banana, 3 year old tells you what letter and sound. EVERY situation can become a learning opportunity if you just get creative. I taught addition and subtraction by counting stoplights TO church and subtracting coming home, etc. (I'm a former pre-school teacher.)

Cooking.......let the them experiment - have opportunity to touch, smell and taste various foods to determine whether they are soft, bumpy, lumpy, sweet, spicy, etc. I used food to educate them on geography - WHERE they grew...Science - HOW they grew, etc.

use the calendar and let the older one go thru the days of the week (one each day) and learn to recognize the days of the week, etc. I had 3 & 4 year olds WWWAAAAY ahead of most preschoolers when it comes to reading, phonics, etc. You just have to get creative and use every opportunity to teach. Just a new way of thinking for most people, but NOT at all hard.

Putting on shoes........ask the little one to GET the shoe or point to, ask the older one what letter "shoe" begins with. KIDS LOVE TO LEARN, EXPLORE AND DISCOVER. The more you work with them at this age, the more ready they will be for school. Get them while they are anxious to learn and discover. AND........I'm ALWAYS saying, "It's so much fun to learn new things."

Hope this helps.

My fav is singing songs. have list and dedicated 30 to 45 mins of just singing songs like abc's, Old McDonald. rolling a ball back and forth in a triangle...dancing to music, Even a game of memory for your 3 year old while the 9 month old stacks blocks. Its hard to know what is best, but I am sure the 9 month old will love to just watch what is happening..so keep that 3 year old busy :):)

Have your 3 yr old help you take care of the baby when you are taking care of it.... Have the 3 yr old help u feed the baby, help bathe the baby, maybe having the 3 yr old interact with the baby while u do dishes or something there is all kinds of thing that you can do to have them two interact with each other
good luck

You can read stories, roll a ball, have the baby try to imitate things the 3 yr old is doing like , clapping hands, blowing a kiss, throwing arms up in the air and saying "So Big". Have them answer questions such as where is your nose, the 3 yr old will point and you can have the baby do it or have the 3 yr old show the baby where it is. Peek a boo is a good game for both, or you can play hide and seek, the older child can hide, then you and the baby find them. You can have the older child make a picture gluing cheerios to paper and the baby can be at the table too, maybe eating some cheerios. They are still together and working with the same materials but differently. The most fun can be to have both kids finger paint with pudding, because it does not matter if it goes into their mouth.
Hope that helps,

Good Luck

Hi,

I like the finger paint with pudding idea! I was going to say fingerpaint, but the pudding idea is better!

Drawing, if you trust the 9 month old not to eat the pencil/crayon....

Playdough, if you trust the 9 month old not to eat it (though it is non-toxic).

books are always good, also trips to library for story hour. Some libraries also lend toys and games, good way to "try before you buy".

Go for a walk or play in the yard, and look at everything.

Play "house", "doll hospital", "veterinarian", "store", "school", "tea party".

Exercise/yoga

Plant a garden in spring

Legos/duplos (you'll need to help the little one for awhile).

Pick-up Sticks (you pull out a stick and try not to topple the pile). Jenga (I think that is it--you build a tower, then try to pull out a beam without toppling). "Don't Break the Ice"--tap away plastic ice blocks until the polar bear falls through the hole.

Bake cookies. Use powdered eggs if you are worried about ingesting raw eggs in dough.

To elaborate on the cheerios idea from another mom, the older one could make a cheerio necklace while the little one eats cheerios.

Once your little one is old enough to eat honey and/or peanut butter, you could "mush" cheerios and honey and/or peanut better together for a dessert.

As they get a little older this will get easier. An easy game for non-readers is Hi-Ho Cherry-O", also I think "Candy Land" and "Chutes & Ladders" are pretty easy too. Remember that most games can be played just for fun, with no winners and losers, if that seems to be better.

I think it's great that you want to do things all together! Have fun, before you know it they will be in school, enjoy making some memories (take pictures)!

K. Z.

How about rolling a ball to each other? Or have a "tea party" with some play dishes and play food.......I collect rubber animals of all kinds at garage sales......make a "zoo" by placing the different animals around the room and then "visit" the animals and talk about them....make a "tent" with a sheet over a couple of chairs and play camping......if you have a bunch of pillows, make a low "obstacle" course around that they can jump, climb or crawl on.......you can use cushions from the couch too.....take turns hiding something like a Beanie Baby down low and then finding it.......your baby will soon get the hang of it........hope this helps.

What a great list of ideas!!! There are so many powerful things you can do with such simple materials. Discovery Toys has lots of great simple toys. Many of which, you can use the same toy with different ages. Check them out at www.toyladyjanet.com