Taking Educational Opportunities

Posted on: 11 June 2017

If you have decided it is time to have your toddler start learning organization around the home, you may wonder how you can keep it entertaining to them while teaching them about responsibility. If so, use the following three tips to keep things fun while teaching your toddler organizational skills.

Assign Small Chores for Your Toddler

When deciding on what chores you should assign your toddler, keep the activities small at first. You do not want to overwhelm your child and frustrate them with too much at one time.

Chores that you could have your toddler perform could range anywhere from picking up and putting their toys in a special container or folding their towel after taking a bath. You could also give them a static cling sweeper and have them dry dust the kitchen floor after dinner.

Choose one or two activities to start, then add another when you feel your child is ready. 

Use Bold, Bright Colors to Label Everything

To incorporate teaching your toddler how to read with the organizational lessons, label everything they will be using with bold, bright colors. Even if they cannot read yet, seeing the words as they are spoken reinforces their understanding that letters and sounds create words, and these words represent objects.

For example, you could tape a piece of construction paper on their toy box that has the word "Toys" written in bold lettering in their favorite color. Try to keep the labels to one or two words so your child can concentrate on learning in small chunks.

Set a Time Limit to Keep Your Child's Interest

As you probably already know from spending time with your child, they tend to have a short attention span when they are toddlers. They are intently interested in playing a board game one moment, then within a minute, they want to play outside. 

To keep your child's interest while learning how to put away toys or sweep the floor, set a time limit of no more than a couple of minutes. You can make a game out of it by turning on a timer and challenging your child to beat the clock while they race to complete the activity before the timer goes off.

Using the above tips can help you develop an organizational system for your toddler while reinforcing their learning of letters and words. If you need further ideas for other appropriate learning activities, you may want to speak with their preschool teacher or a child development specialist so they can give you more suggestions.