What activity, at what age?

[Questers]

I am presently doing reading and math with my LO. Will do EK in due course. Waiting for Little Musician to come to start off with music. Apart from this, I want to know what other activities I can get my LO involved in and at what age.

What has been your experience? What other activities did you teach your LOs and at what age did you teach them or what age do you think will be apt to teach them a particular activity, (like swimming, painting, dancing, other stuff...).

Your suggestions/ideas will help people like me get organized and decide upon priorities...

Questers.

[karianne]

Questers,
I have played music with both of my daughters since they were born.  As infants I danced with them in my arms, and usually by the time they could pull themselves up they would 'dance'.  I also started painting when they were around 6-8 months old...finger paints first and then moved on to large brushes that are made easier for kids to hold.  Every summer, even as newborns, I brought my kiddos in the pool.  I don't believe really anything is 'too young' for children to experience as long as they are supervised properly for the activity.  We do a lot of art and music related activities here at home during the week.

If you are speaking more of classes like a swimming class, painting class, or dance class that really probably depends on your finances and what you think is important for your child to experience.  I did a mommy-and-me type gymnastics class with my oldest daughter when she was 18 mos. old for a couple months.  She is taking swimming lessons this summer (3.5 yo).  My philosophy as far as activities go is that I will introduce a different activity to her each summer, fall, or spring.  I am only choosing one activity at a time for now because I don't want her to be stressed and over scheduled at 3.5 years old.  I will vary it between sports, art, and music related so she is able to try out different things.  She has expressed an interest in softball so I will be looking for a little league in our area soon.  Maybe after that I will look into music lessons.  I figure eventually she will find something she really enjoys and want to stick with it!

[fatima786]

apart from reading and maths i try to do alot of play. things like playing with toys together. that gets their imagination going. my son took a spoon from the cupboard and was feeding his toy man. he then told the toy "not finished" and after a few spoons more "finished".
thats what i ttell him when he hasnt finished his food.

things like playing with a doll and feeding and caring for it. i also do alot of problem solving games.

for babies you can hide a toy under a cloth with part of it showing and get them to find it. as they get older hide it under 1 of 2 face towels and let him try n find. when they are say 18 months start placing 3 items for getting dressed. say a pants a shirt and a cup. ask them to show you what we can wear. give them a saucer cup and spoon and let them figure out how to use it. hide away toys in the cupboard while your child watches and ask him to open the cupboard and bring you a red cup or car.

i like alot of stuff that makes him cross the midline. i hold his arms up and say up forward sidewards down cross your midline cross your midline and do appropriate actions.

we walk alot as well. most of the play we do comes naturally with the situation. like bath time, he puts his clothes in the washing. he has been doing it since he could walk.

[Tanikit]

I started drawing and painting with my daughter at a year of age. I have always played music and sang to her since even before she was born and she still loves it. She dances less than she used to, but started dancing as soon as she could stand on her own (at about 9 months of age) We have also done action songs with her since a year of age and she copied many of the moves from about 13 months old getting better as she got older. I took her to a Moms and tots group that did fine and gross motor activites from 15 months of age til 17 months and I started a gross motor development group with her at 18 months which she still goes to. I took my daughter into the swimming pool with me from 14 months and she loved it, but I never tried to teach her anything and it is winter now and far too cold to swim (we do not have heated pools) I may think of getting her into swimming classes when she is closer to three years old simply because home pools are very common here in South Africa so its best she does learn how to swim - I am actually preventing her from learning now so that I do not become lax with security around pools thinking she can swim - I believe children are not safe around pools alone until they are much older, no matter how well they swim.

Pretend play is very important with toddlers - Laurana started showing signs of it around a year of age (feeding her dolls and me with her spoon) but lately it has got more involved and she will pretend to put nappies on her soft toys, pretend that the container in the bath os a boat or a dish with food in it that we eat and she names the "items" she takes out. Helping with laundry and packing her toys away has been going on since she could walk and she now also helps set the table.

Reading and maths we started at 12 months also.

[octaviaorca]

is it strange that i can't remember?  i liked to use a few idea books from the library (homeschooling montessori and slow and steady get me ready) and then really just followed dd's lead.  i'm sure i did things specific to age... the sandbox was one of them.  right before a year i noticed she loved to pour and scoop so we built a sand box and also used things like buttons and rice to use as indoor rice.  we did a couple of classes together like mom and tot's gymnastics and swimming and i think both are very beneficial (though i agree about her excitement and 'comfort' around water... sometimes that does make me VERY nervous).  and we encourage a lot of role/ pretend play.  but i think the key to what we've done is just followed her interests providing a diversity of activities for those interests regardless of age (within reason of course ).

[purplefungi]

I agree with the above poster. Pretty much anything is fair game as long as it is properly supervised! It's exciting to think about all the things that little children can help out with and do. This is why I like the Montessori Method for small children.

[Palli]

Questers,
I have played music with both of my daughters since they were born.  As infants I danced with them in my arms, and usually by the time they could pull themselves up they would 'dance'.  I also started painting when they were around 6-8 months old...finger paints first and then moved on to large brushes that are made easier for kids to hold.  Every summer, even as newborns, I brought my kiddos in the pool.  I don't believe really anything is 'too young' for children to experience as long as they are supervised properly for the activity.  We do a lot of art and music related activities here at home during the week.

If you are speaking more of classes like a swimming class, painting class, or dance class that really probably depends on your finances and what you think is important for your child to experience.  I did a mommy-and-me type gymnastics class with my oldest daughter when she was 18 mos. old for a couple months.  She is taking swimming lessons this summer (3.5 yo).  My philosophy as far as activities go is that I will introduce a different activity to her each summer, fall, or spring.  I am only choosing one activity at a time for now because I don't want her to be stressed and over scheduled at 3.5 years old.  I will vary it between sports, art, and music related so she is able to try out different things.  She has expressed an interest in softball so I will be looking for a little league in our area soon.  Maybe after that I will look into music lessons.  I figure eventually she will find something she really enjoys and want to stick with it!

[Isabeau]

Oh fun question!
I've had my boys in swimming lessons (with me in the water too) since they were really young (a couple months old).  The grandparents have a pool and we've wanted to be really sure that they are comfortable and confident in the water, and know how to be safe.  It's been really fun and really worked.  Both the kids love the water and are really comfortable!

My kids have also loved doing the rhyme time programs (kindermusik, or any of those programs that the kids sing and do rhymes and dances/movement along with the parent).  Both my 3 year old and my 9 month old still love these, so now we're going all together which is fun.

My oldest (three year old) son has just started dance class (tap/ballet) by himself which is REALLY cute and he loves.  He could also have played soccer this past summer but we missed the registration. I guess three is usually about the age where those kinds of un-parented (like the kids have a class with a teacher and no moms involved) activities begin around here.

I think we first took my son to a community playgroup when he was around 1.5 yrs or something like that.  That was fun for him to start to see other kids and play around them.

We've also been painting since before my son could walk.  I just buy canvasses (from the dollar store or a craft supply store) of all different sizes from HUGE to little small ones and he would finger paint them.  Then he started to want to use brushes only, so it's a new kind of painting.   It's great fun and very abstract.

Those are just some of the ideas I remember.

[Palli]

 You really kept the kids busy and the activities seem interesting. Does it get messy while painting with the brushes ? My daughter is ten months; so i was wondering if i could start painting with her.

[Isabeau]

YES it gets really messy.  And at ten months my son wouldn't have anything to do with the brush, it was all smearing and squishing it around (but I often see a difference between boys and girls with crafts so your girl might try it!).  He really loved it though!  And I loved seeing the art that came out of his fun squishing. 

I would basically strip him down so he wasn't getting any of his clothes dirty (alternatively you could also just take one of your really old tshirts and put that on her, or get one of those paint bibs to protect clothes too). 

I also always had a can of wipes handy to wipe up spills, and a big old plastic table cloth covering the floor below.  I often did painting outside with him, if it was summer, so that I didn't have to worry about the floor and clean up.  We ALWAYS used washable paint (it would be a disaster if it weren't washable!).

Mostly after he was done i'd have to put him in the shower to wash off the paint.  He got it everywhere.

I have also seen people let their kids paint on glossy paper with pudding, if you're hesitant about paint on canvas.  Mind you, I don't know if pudding, with all the sugar, is any better, but it probably doesn't stain, and they can just lick their fingers.  But then you don't get to have the painting as a keepsake either because it probably would be eaten all up!

Painting is really fun though, if you don't mind a little mess and clean up after.   We used acrylic paint which washes off everything but clothes (thus the stripping down).  It's a lot brighter and easier for finger painting.  I'm sure you can also buy good washable finger paint for kids too with vibrant colours.

[Palli]

Thank-You so much for the answer. I will try it out soon with her.

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