Down – 1.3 – Add A Little

Posted on October 10, 2023March 6, 2024 by S. J. Little

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 3

Down

Vocabulary: Down, Under, Tunnel, Through

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more…

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Let’s Wiggle

Tube Drop

Supplies:

Empty paper towel roll (or toilet paper roll)
Tape (or other method to attach the tube to a wall)
1 Container
3-10 Items small enough to fit through the tube

Based on your child, you might choose:

- Plastic spoons
- Washable markers (if your child can’t open them)
- Small socks rolled into balls
- Pompoms
- Q-tips

Caution: Items small enough to fit through a paper towel tube may be potential choking hazards. Use your discretion when choosing which items to use. If preferred, consider making a wider tube from cardboard or by combining two tubes. Then you can use larger items, such as plastic chain links, and still have just as much fun.

Prep:

Using tape, or another method, secure the tube to an open section of wall
Place all the items in the container

Time to Play:

Invite your child over. Choose an item to drop through the tube. Be excited when it falls out the bottom.
Encourage your child to try dropping an item through the tube.

Let’s Explore

Tunnel Play

Supplies:

Materials to build a small tunnel, consider:
- Mega Bloks or other connecting blocks
- Cardboard
- Small furniture with tall enough legs for toys to go under
1 year old appropriate small cars or balls

Prep:

Build a tunnel that is big enough for your cars or balls to go through and is about as long as your child’s arm

Time to Play:

Show your child how to roll a car or ball under the tunnel. Encourage them to roll one under.
Consider sitting on the opposite side of the tunnel from your child so you can pass the cars and balls back under the tunnel to them.
Extend the play: If your child wants to crawl under the tunnel themselves, consider using a sturdy chair or bench as a 1 year old sized tunnel. Set it in an open area and encourage them to crawl under.

Let’s Sing

Rain is Falling Down

Let’s Sing

Christian Song

Isn’t He Wonderful

For more actions, click here.

Let’s Read

Up and Down

By: Catherine Hnatov

Also available in select other languages.

Mountains – 1.2 – Add A Little

Posted on September 5, 2023March 6, 2024 by S. J. Little

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 2

Mountains

Vocabulary: Pillow, Soft, Container, Put In

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more…

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Let’s Wiggle

Pillow Mountain

Supplies:

Large thick blankets
Pillows
Open floor space
Optional: Giant stuffed animals (if entirely soft)
Optional: Couch cushions, etc.
Optional: Foam mats, exercise mats and/or similar

Prep:

Clear a large floor space by removing any hard objects, including any tables or chairs that have hard legs which could pose a bumping hazard.
Place any mats on the floor.
Spread your largest blanket on top of the mats (this will help keep everything else from sliding, especially on hard floors).
Spread any other thick blankets you have on top.
Heap all your pillows and giant stuffed animals on top of the middle of the blankets.

Time to Play:

Lead by example. Climb onto the pillow mountain. Roll around enjoying the softness.
Encourage your toddler to join you.
Have fun tumbling around on the mountain.

Let’s Explore

Pieces of Nature

Supplies:

Two bowls or containers, etc.
3-7 items from outside that are taste-safe and not choking hazards, consider:
- Pine cones
- Flowers (taste-safe only)
- Rocks (too big to choke on)
- Leaves

Prep:

Clear an area for playing on the floor
Place one bowl with all the objects on the floor.
Place the other bowl beside it.

Time to Play:

Model how to pick an item from the first bowl, examine it, and put it in the second bowl.
Encourage your child to explore the items.

Let’s Sing

She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain

Let’s Read

Who

Author: Jaye Garnett

Illustrator: Ariel Silverstein

Note: For 1 year olds, read as a point and name book.

Let’s Sing

Christian Song

My God is So Big

Words and Actions for “My God is So Big”

Open and Shut – 1.1 – Add A Little

Posted on August 8, 2023March 6, 2024 by S. J. Little

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Unit 1

Open and Shut

Vocabulary: Open, Shut, Hiding, Lid

Disclaimer: All activities require adult supervision and discretion. Read more…

Want to learn more about Add A Little Curriculum? Check out the Parent / Teacher Guide

Let’s Wiggle

Big Box Hide and Seek

Supplies:

One or two of your child’s favourite toys
One cardboard box big enough for your child’s favourite toy to fit in
Or (even better) one cardboard box big enough for your child to hide in

Prep:

Consider making the box easier for your child to open and close. To do this, remove two of the flaps from the opening leaving only the largest two flaps.
Place your child’s favourite toy in the box.

Time to Play:

Open the box just enough for your child to see that their toy is hiding inside, then encourage them to open it and retrieve their toy.
Laugh with your child while making the toy say, “Boo!”
Place another toy in the box for your child to find.

If you have a big box, encourage your child to crawl into the box and pop out saying, “Boo!”

Let’s Explore

Lids and Containers

Supplies:

Various non-breakable containers and lids. Consider recyclable items such as:
- Yogurt container with lid
- Cream cheese container with lid
- Grated parmesan cheese container with lid
- Box with lid
- Cookie tin with lid
Tips:
- The lids don’t have to be the originals. Rather look for something that is easy to place on top of the container without becoming stuck.
- Beware of lids that are small enough to be choking hazards.

Prep:

Place various containers with matching lids on the ground.

Time to Play:

Sit down with your child and show them which lids go with which containers.
Encourage them to try.

Let’s Sing

Open and Shut Them

Let’s Read

Where’s Spot

By: Eric Hill

Let’s Sing a

Christian Song

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

Words and Actions for He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

Parent / Teacher Guide – Add A Little Curriculum – 1 Year Old

Posted on July 8, 2023July 30, 2024 by S. J. Little

Add A Little – 1 Year Old Curriculum – Intro

Parent / Teacher Guide

Intro

Why name a curriculum “Add A Little”? Because that’s exactly what this curriculum is designed to do – add a little enhancement to your child’s development by providing ideas and activities for you to do with them. This light curriculum was developed with the busy parent or caretaker in mind. It is divided into monthly units of repeatable activities.

Activities For 1 Year Olds

Every 1 year old develops at a different pace. The Add A Little 1 Year Old Curriculum is designed to be easily adapted to your toddler’s developmental level and interests. Units 1-5 target children aged 12-18 months while units 6-10 focus more on activities of interest to children aged 18-23 months. Units 11-12 are optional Christmas and Easter themed units designed to hold appeal for ages 12-23 months.

Check out the Tips for Success below.

Materials

Each Unit Includes:

Theme
Vocabulary
Let’s Wiggle
Let’s Explore
Let’s Sing
Let’s Read
Let’s Sing a Christian Song

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

Disclaimer

Units

Helpful Links

Materials

To keep things easier for you, most of the materials used in the Add A Little 1 Year Old Curriculum are things you likely already have or can access inexpensively. Some activities call for recyclables. If you don’t already, I recommend washing and collecting various recyclable items since they can make excellent toys. More specifically, recyclable materials you will need this year include:

Paper towel tube (or a couple of toilet paper tubes)
One aluminum pie tin or similar (holes in it are fine)
Several plastic containers with lids from things such as yogurt, margarine, grated parmesan cheese, or cream cheese
(Watch out for lids that are too small, thus creating a choking hazard.)
Cardboard boxes, including one big one
One clean egg carton

Each Unit Includes:

Theme

Each month, all activities will be loosely based around an age-appropriate theme.

Vocabulary

Try to find opportunities to incorporate the suggested vocabulary words throughout the month so that your child can learn to recognize them.

Let’s Wiggle

These activities involve full-body movements. Your child will strengthen their big muscles (gross motor muscles) and improve their coordination. Did you know that exercise and big movements are important for brain development too?

Let’s Explore

Here you will provide your child with an opportunity to investigate and manipulate intriguing materials. These activities often involve hand-eye coordination and smaller muscle strengthening (fine motor muscles).

Let’s Sing

Music is an important part of brain development and it’s fun! Each unit will include one suggested simple song. Sing this song often throughout the month so your child can learn it.

Want more songs or don’t like one of the suggested songs? Check out this list of songs including classics and originals: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/big-list-of-simple-preschool-songs/

Let’s Read

Being read to is an important pre-reading experience. Books also help expand your child’s vocabulary and general knowledge base. If you don’t have the book I recommend, you could check with your library or buy it. If you don’t want to buy the book, no problem. Try searching for something similar at your local library.

Here are some tips for finding good books. https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/choosing-excellent-books-for-preschoolers/

Also, check out my board of recommended books for toddlers:

Books for 12-18 month olds: https://www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/books-for-toddlers-12-18-month-olds/
Books for toddlers and preschoolers: https://www.pinterest.ca/sjlittleauthor/books-for-preschoolers-and-toddlers/

Let’s Sing a Christian Song

Each unit includes a bonus Christian song suggestion for those who are interested. Not your thing? That’s fine. Feel free to skip over this part. Want more Christian songs? Visit: https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/7-simple-christian-songs-for-preschoolers/

Tips For Success When Using Add A Little Curriculum

How do I get my child to participate in the activities?

Model Then Encourage
- One year olds love to copy. If your child doesn’t immediately engage in an activity, sit down and do it yourself for a few minutes.
- Once you’ve set an example of how to participate, encourage your child to join you. Try handing them one of the pieces. Cheer for them when they do join in.
- If they still don’t want to join in, don’t sweat it. Put the activity aside and assess what their reason for not engaging might be (tired, hungry, feeling too wiggly, etc.). Try the activity again in a few days.
Adapt
- Every child is different. That is perhaps never more true than when considering 1 year olds. Some one year olds can walk, others can’t yet. Some can talk, others just aren’t there yet. Some put everything in their mouth, others rarely put anything in their mouth. You know your circumstance and your child’s abilities and interests. Take a moment to consider the suggested activity, then adapt it to your own situation.
Repeat
- 1 year olds thrive on repeated activities with slight tweaks to give them just a little more to explore each time. While the Add A Little curriculum only provides two activities in each unit, these activities could be repeated several times throughout the month, and during the following months as well.
Less Is More
- Did you know that young children play better with less toys at a time? Try putting away most of their toys before attempting to engage them in a new activity. Putting most of their toys away also allows you to do toy rotation. If you haven’t tried toy rotation, read this article https://sjlittle.ca/preschool/toy-rotation/ . You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to your child’s play.

Disclaimer

All activities require adult supervision and discretion.

Every aspect of the Add A Little Curriculum is suggested with the expectation that it will be done under adult supervision. Some activities include potential hazards. You and your child(ren) participate at your own discretion.

Every child, family, setting, and circumstance is different. Recommended tips and/or activities in this curriculum may work well for some children but not for others. Adult discretion is required. In some cases, you will need to adapt the curriculum to fit you and your child(ren)’s specific needs.