Things to Do With Toddlers in Portsmouth, NH

Early Literacy Activities

• The Portsmouth Public Library is truly devoted to fostering a love of reading in children. You and your toddler are welcome to attend Toddler Story Time, a time devoted to toddlers who are 24 to 36 months old. Activities include stories, rhymes, finger plays, songs, language activities and games. Older toddlers can join the Little Moles class, helping Little Mole find her way back to her burrow through reading activities. If you're an advocate of mixed-age activities, the Reading Buddies class offers young toddlers starting at age 2 an opportunity to share story time with older readers who are between 10 and 16 years old.

Library Events

• Enjoy an afternoon or evening of family fun at the Portsmouth Public Library Monday Movie Night or Saturday Movie Afternoon. Family friendly movies are announced ahead of time so you can choose to attend a movie night that your toddler will appreciate. The library also offers a Make & Take event every other Saturday where your older toddler, starting at age 3, can create the featured craft and take it home. Toddlers of all ages are invited to the Lego Engineers event every third Saturday all year round. The interlocking block event encourages children to build and create with the blocks, which are provided. Children can title the piece and display it until the following Lego Engineers day.

Classes

• Music Together in Portsmouth offers music classes for the entire family. Music Together brings a mixed-age philosophy to its classes and regularly joins infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their caregivers together. Class activities include songs, rhymes, movement and instrument play. Parent participation, regardless of musical inclination, is highly encouraged. Travel just 20 minutes to Dover and register for a class at Childlight Yoga. Childlight Yoga offers two classes ideal for parents and toddlers. Little Family Yoga is for children who are 24 months to 4 years old and their siblings. This class enriches the learning of yoga poses with stories, songs and games. Enroll in the Itsy Bitsy Yoga class if your toddler is crawling and under 24 months old. Deepen your bond with your toddler, improve body awareness, lengthen your toddler's attention span and increase your child's socialization skills in this class.

Water Activities

• In the hot summer months, take a trip to the Peirce Island Outdoor Pool. Refurbished in 2003, the Peirce Island Outdoor Pool is open during the summer months. Although it is 100 yards in length, the pool is designed on a gentle slope with a shallow end of only 18 inches, a perfect depth for parents to introduce water play to toddlers. The Portmouth Indoor Pool offers swimming lessons for parents and toddlers to attend together. Level 1 is designed for children from 6 months to 2 years old and introduces children to the water, highlights basic water safety and teaches parents the best way to help their child learn to swim. Level 2 is designed for toddlers and preschoolers and builds on the skills learned in Level 1. Both classes are 30 minutes long and require parent participation.