Blanketivities

Looking for some fun and educational activities to do with your child on a rainy day? Grab a blanket! This simple, common household item can be the source of hours of entertainment and will leave your child asking for more. Here are some of my favorite blanket activities:

• Ring Around the Rosie: While standing sideways, hold the blanket with one hand and walk in a circle, singing Ring Around the Rosie.  Fall down to the words, “we all fall down” and similarly stand to the words, “they all stand up.”

• Swap: While standing forward, lift the blanket up high and take turns calling out the name of another person. The person whose name is called must cross under the blanket to the other side before it comes back down.

• Popcorn: Place the blanket on the floor and put soft toys or objects, such as balls, inflatables, stuffed animals or beanbags, into the center of the blanket. While facing forward, raise and lower the blanket, making a popping effect. For additional fun, hide the objects around the room and have your child find them as you call them out.

• See-Saw: Sit on opposite sides of the blanket and cooperatively pull the blanket back and forth while singing See Saw Marjorie Daw.  As an alternative, sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

• Swing: (Requires two adults.) Place the blanket on the floor. Have one child at a time sit or lay in the middle of the blanket. With each adult tightly gripping opposite ends of the blanket, lift the blanket slightly off of the floor and gently swing it back and forth to the tune of Rock a Bye Baby.

• Turtle: Place a ball or other object to represent turtle food on the opposite side of the room from the blanket. Everyone hides under the blanket on hands and knees. The blanket now becomes the turtle’s shell. The goal is for the turtle to move across the room to get the food without losing its shell.  

• Let’s Pretend: Drape the blanket over the back of two or more chairs, or over a table. Play peek-a-boo with younger children. For older children, pretend it is a house or tent. Provide your child with some additional props, such as a tea set, plastic food, pillow, or doll.

• Roller-ball: Place two or more different colored inflatable or soft balls onto the blanket. While standing or sitting, slowly move the blanket up and down in a wave motion. Each person must try to keep his/her color ball from rolling off of the blanket.

• Burrito: Place the blanket on the floor. Have one child lay on the edge of the blanket. The adult rolls the child up in the blanket, like a burrito, being sure not to cover the child’s face. The goal is for the child to either roll or wiggle out of the blanket.   

Blanket activities offer many benefits and address a wide-range of developmental skills, including:

• Attending and following directions
• Motor coordination
• Pretend play
• Social interaction
• Communication
• Perception
• Cooperative play, turn-taking and sharing.

While not every child will enjoy every activity, most children will enjoy some of them, so why not give it a try?

Children’s Songs and Nursery Rhymes

Children’s songs and nursery rhymes help children enhance their skills in a number of areas, including vocal and motor imitation, social-emotional development, information processing, and application of knowledge. In fact, evidence suggests that nursery rhymes and songs help children build early literacy skills by teaching rhyming, expanding vocabulary, and developing memory.

Teaching children songs and rhymes is an important aspect of early childhood development and can be lots of fun for children and parents alike. For those parents whose children love songs and nursery rhymes, or for those that would like their children to do so, props can be a fun and motivating addition.  The next time you stop in your local craft or dollar store, why not keep a look out for some of these fun props?

• Plastic spiders (Itsy Bitsy Spider)
• Large (5-6”) foam star cut-outs (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
• Plastic or wooden apples (Way Up High in the Apple Tree)
• Rubber ducks (Five Little Ducks)
• Assorted toy farm animals (Old MacDonald)

What is Screening and Assessment?

Screening and assessment tools are used to determine if a child's skills are developing appropriately or whether there is evidence of a developmental delay. Screening and assessment do not lead to a diagnosis but may help professionals determine if a child may be at risk for a developmental disorder and if further evaluation is warranted. Screening generally differs from assessment in regard to its indepthness. Screening and assessment tools are an important initial step in determining whether a child may need extra attention so that intervention may begin as early as possible.


According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "when a developmental delay is not recognized early, children must wait to get the help they need. This can make it hard for them to learn when they start school. In the United States, 17 percent of children have a developmental or behavioral disability such as autism, intellectual disability (also known as mental retardation) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In addition, many children have delays in language or other areas. But, less than half of children with problems are identified before starting school. During this time, the child could have received help for these problems and may even have entered school more ready to learn." (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/DevelopmentalScreening.pdf)