Allow your toddler to dress himself in the morning. Start by giving him a choice of two outfits. Ask him, “Would you like to wear this outfit or that outfit?” Once he has picked an outfit to wear, encourage him to dress himself. Help him by verbally giving him directions, but allow him time to try to figure out how to put each piece of clothing on. Be ready to help dress him if needed! Encourage his effort along the way and cheer for him when he is done.
Sing movement songs with your toddler. Do the Hokey Pokey. Demonstrate the movements and encourage him to do them as well. Continue to do other movement songs such as Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
Play dress up with your toddler. Have a spot in your play area where you keep the play clothes. Encourage your child to dress up and to pretend. Let him act out different scenes and pretend to be different characters. Join in and pretend to be whomever he wants you to be. Ask him questions about his character and discuss his different outfits. When you are finished playing, encourage him to put the clothes back where they belong.
This activity will help your toddler show increasing self-awareness, understand simple directions, make choices, and learn to enjoy doing things for himself.
This activity will help your toddler show increasing self-awareness by allowing him to complete new movements. It will also help him to listen, learn new words, develop pre-reading skills, improve his memory, and develop spatial awareness.
This activity will allow your toddler to share her feelings through pretend play. It will also help her use words and some common rules of speech to express her ideas and thoughts. Dress up will also help her develop vocabulary, use her imagination, and learn to enjoy doing things for herself.