Big and LittleThis game can be played at home when you are cooking or folding laundry, or in the car, on the bus, in the grocery--almost anywhere. It develops language, logic, and critical thinking skills.

How to Play:

  • Start out saying opposites and see if your kids will join you: high-low, fast-slow, over-under, happy-sad, wet-dry, soft-hard, smooth-bumpy. Think of your own.
  • After they understand, say a word and let them try to say the opposite. (See what they come up with.) If they say a non-opposite, it shows that they may not quite have the concept yet. Patiently give examples, and then play again in a few weeks.
  • Variation: Ask children, “If ice is cold, fire is ___?” “Mama is a woman. Daddy is a ___?” “An elephant is big. A mouse is ___?” “If Grandpa is old, baby is ___?”

Ages:

Between 2 ½ and 5 ½ years, children’s brains begin to be able to think about opposites. If you have children of more than one age playing, help older children to give younger ones a chance to answer sometimes. Enforce the rule that they never laugh at mistakes others make--only at their own, if they want.

Be aware that your child may be thinking uniquely. Ask (repeating what they said), “Is red the opposite of cold?” “They may answer, “’I turn blue when I’m cold.” “Good thinking! Often people say “Hot is opposite of cold,” but you thought creatively!” Never ridicule their attempts.

Older children, once they have the concept of opposites, like to use humor by saying it wrong and laughing. Humor is an advanced skill that reinforces what the child has learned.

 

Photo Credit: raniel diaz via Compfight cc

Ages: 3-year-olds and older. Not only can younger children not do this activity, but the small objects can be a choking hazard. Keep this away from younger siblings if you are playing this with a preschooler!

Materials:

  • Tweezers
  • 2 Unbreakable Jars (one wide mouth and one smaller mouth) or two flat-bottomed cups or bowls.
  • Unpopped popcorn, small M&M's, or dried navy beans in a dish
  • A shower suction holder for soap (usually round with many little suction cups to keep it up on shower wall) (optional).

Procedure:

  1. Show the child how to pick up one kernel of popcorn with the tweezers.
  2. Demonstrate how to place the popcorn into one of the jars. (Begin with the wide mouthed jar until the child gains control, has success, and feels confident enough for a greater challenge.) Count together as they put each kernel in the jar.
  3. Children continue until they have done all they wish to do, or until all of the corn is in the jar. Remember some children have shorter attention spans than others. Try to stretch them by saying, “Can you do just 1 more? Great!”
  4. Children can try to pick up popcorn with the tweezers and put one kernel on each little suction cup of the shower soap holder, or as many as they desire to try. This is supposed to be fun, not a chore.

Variation for children who can count but need reinforcement:

  1. Mark each section of an egg carton with a different number. Write the numbers in order from one to twelve (for young counters, do only one through five to begin with.)
  2. Show the child how to put one kernel in the section marked “1″, two kernels in the section marked “2″, and so on.

What is developed?

  1. Builds counting skills.
  2. Helps children learn one-to-one correspondence, an important pre-math skill.
  3. Encourages patience and lengthens attention span
  4. Develops concentration
  5. Builds eye-hand coordination.
  6. Develops fine motor control.

 

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This is a no-mess project to let kids play while you’re cooking or doing any activity where you can be close by, interacting with them.

Materials:

  • Cardboard (file cards, old cereal box, poster board, etc.)
  • Scissors
  • Crayons (optional)

Procedure:

  1. Cut (or let the child cut) shapes of varying sizes. Have some that are the “same” and some that fit together to make a bigger whole.
    For example: Make 5 large squares. Cut one from corner to corner, making 2 triangles. Cut another into the 2 triangles; then cut both triangles from point to the center of the other side to make 2 smaller triangles. Cut another square down the center to make 2 rectangles. Cut one down the center to make squares. Cut one square to make 4 smaller squares. Leave one big square whole. Cut some circles of different sizes. Any combination you do is fine. Show the children how the 4 small squares = the large square, the 2 small triangles = the larger triangle, and the 4 small or 2 larger triangles = the larger square. The 2 rectangles = the large square.
  2. Give the children the shapes. (Explain that this is a game where they can make pictures over and over, but that when they are through, they will put the shapes all back in the envelope (or box), for another day. If they understand, ahead of time, that these pictures are not glued and kept but are just for fun and then can be used to make new pictures, they hopefully won’t be upset when their creation doesn’t stay put.) Name each shape as you give it to them. Let the children name each shape that they know.)
  3. You can give each child a piece of paper to work on or let them work directly on the table, a tray, or on the floor.
  4. Tell them that they can take the shapes and make any creation they want! “Let’s see what kind of picture you can make out of these shapes!”
  5. If they seem confused, you can do it with them for a few minutes to give them some ideas. Talk about, “What does this square make you think of?” (house, car, present, etc.) “What could this triangle be?” (Sail for a boat, bird’s head, hat, roof for a house, etc.)
  6. Encourage any attempts they make. Tell them “You are being creative!” (For small children, seeing a circle as a face or as a tree top is creative! Tell them so.) Encourage them as they work (or if they’re concentrating well and don’t want you to see their unfinished work, genuinely praise them when it is completed, and tell them how well they concentrated.)
  7. Don’t help unless they need it and then only to get them going. We want them to learn to create. Some children are happy to let you think of everything. Encourage them to try.

What gets developed?

  1. Develops skills in discriminating between shapes that are “alike” and “different.”
  2. Teaches concepts: big, little, part, whole, square, triangle, circle, rectangle, etc.
  3. Develops creativity.
  4. Helps small muscle development and control as the child manipulates the shapes.

 

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Two Examples of Race for the Colors

Materials:

  • Magic markers or crayons. Always start with only two colors. After the child has learned those two well, then add another color. Once children know many colors, they enjoy having lots of plates of different colors for this game.
  • One paper plate per child for each color. For example, if 2 children are playing, have 2 red plates and 2 blue plates.

Directions:

  1. Tell the children, “I have a new game. It’s called ‘Race for the colors’!”
  2. Have the children stand on one side of the room.
  3. Place the plates on the floor on the other side. Be sure there is nothing that could trip them. The floor needs to be clear for running or walking quickly.
  4. Tell the children, “When I name a color, you run as fast as you can. Pick up the plate with that color and bring it to me.” That is a lot of directions. For 2- and 3-year-olds you will probably need to repeat the directions, giving one instruction at a time.
  5. Say, “Ready? Red!” Remind them to run if they are unsure what to do. If you said “Red” and they pick up blue, just say, “That’s blue. Can you find red?” Then cheer and hug and get excited when they get the red plate and run it to you.
  6. Have them stand on the far side again. Put all of the plates back on the floor. Call out another color. This is a quick game. Stop while they still want more. Tell them, “We’ll play again another time,” but do not promise a specific time or day unless you are careful to keep your promise.

 

Variations:

  • Draw shapes, numbers, or letters with black magic markers in the center of white paper plates. Remember: one concept at a time. When you are trying to teach shapes, numbers, or letters, make the color the same. When you are teaching colors, make a big circle of that color on the plate; don't draw different shapes.

    Confusing--Don't Do This! Race for the Shapes

  • To get in some great physical skills, have your child crawl, crab walk, tip-toe, or hop to the plates.

 

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You play a huge role in building your child’s thinking skills. The good news is that building thinking skills doesn’t have to look like “education.” Mostly, it looks like playing. And it’s easy to play fun and targeted games that will help your child’s brain grow by leaps and bounds.

The most important goal of cognitive development is to instill an attitude that learning is fun. That means that we keep our demeanor positive, don’t push when a child’s not interested, encourage a lot, and play, play, play!

Secondly, you want to work with the development that is already happening in your child’s brain. The best activities will be slightly above your child’s current skill level. Too much challenge will discourage her. Too little challenge, and she’ll be bored. Follow our blog for ways to target your learning games to where your child is.

The idea of thinking skills may bring up thoughts of alphabet, numbers, and colors. These are all part of growing brains. But cognitive development also involves increasing attention span and concentration, engaging the imagination, practicing memory, connecting physical activity with abstract concepts, and connecting thoughts with words.

You can help your child grow in all of these areas using the simple games and activities in this section. For ideas on how to do this, use the drop down menu under Cognitive Development at the top of this page.