Child Care Lesson Plans for Toddlers

Large Motor and Safety

• Set up a track on a level surface for toddler push vehicles, tricycles and pedal cars. Encourage the children to ride their vehicles all in the same direction. Create individual "stop light" cards in green and red. Make a game of stopping and going with the "lights." When the students are familiar with this process, have them stand in a line, holding onto a jump rope and walk around the circle. Display the "Walk" and "Wait" pedestrian signs for go and stop.

Reading Readiness

• Place a large book -- one of the ones intended for display on a stand for reading to groups -- at the front of the reading area. Read aloud from the book, pointing to the words with a pointer as you go. The best books for this age group have one or two lines per page; or have opportunities for audience participation. Three Little Pigs or the Gingerbread Boy are good traditional stories for this. You may have to "re-write" some endings to create happier outcomes.

Art Time

• Provide chubby crayons that will not break when tightly clutched by an enthusiastic junior artist. Have on hand blank paper and preprinted pictures for the children to color; however, do not expect representational art or coloring inside the lines from this age group. Provide precut shapes and glue sticks for gluing practice; use blunt scissors and distribute old magazines and catalogs for cutting practice. Let the students glue some of their cutouts to paper.

Oral and Physical Repetition

• Finger plays and oral participation are great for teaching memory tasks and daily tasks to this age group, or just for having a great time doing something together. Get in some body-part learning and physical activity with "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Make picking up toys easier with "Everybody Clean Up." Celebrate moving from diapers to underwear with "Big Boy Pants." Put on some bouncy jazz and invite the children to make up their own moves.