The 10 Best Apps for Toddlers
YOUNG BODIES AND MINDS NEED REALITY, NOT SCREENS
Sean David Burke, December 2015
There are now thousands of electronic applications directed at toddlers, which parents are encouraged to buy, usually on the basis that they are educational.
A toddler is a child of about 1-3 years of age, one usually starting to ‘toddle’ or walk. The developing child does not need a screen. Rather, she needs to be out there, discovering the real world and other people and, importantly, discovering her own body and being effective and creative with it.
Any time stolen from early childhood development is time that cannot be easily made up later. This has ramifications for social skills, health and education in later years.
THE REAL WORK OF THE TODDLER IS PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL AND SENSORY AND TACTILE.
Pushing apps for toddlers serves no-one, except the commercial interests behind the products themselves.
Here below is a list of ten great (real life) applications for toddlers:
The Ten Best (real life) Apps for Toddlers;
1. A Sandpit
Even a small space is enough for a half clamshell or a large flat box with some clean sand in it. Add a few containers or buckets and one or two little spades and your toddler will be amused for hours. She is also learning about her fingers, sand, indefinite quantity, measurement, and building. The whole time, she is in direct, tactile, contact with the world.
2. Walks at the park
The world is ‘out there.’ A toddler is a child just starting to explore the world under her own steam, so let her explore places other than the lounge room. Parks, lakes, bushland, playgrounds and the beach. There’s no minimum age for adventure.
3. Quality time with relatives and friends
Relationship matters. Let your toddler spend time with those people who will be there in the long term. Sometimes people get busy, but your child has an overriding interest in getting to know her cousins, grandparents and mentors from a young age. Make it happen.
4. Story time
A regular story time each day is not only an enjoyable time which your toddler will look forward to, it is also a rhythmic marker, helping to provide regularity and order to your day. Have a special story chair, a story candle, a story cushion, a song that tells your toddler that it’s time. Make it part of your routine. Turn off the phone.
5. Singing and Nursery Rhymes
You may have noticed that a lot of your toddler’s speech is really chanting. That’s why for generations parents have used singing and nursery rhymes to communicate with their little ones. Begin with your old favourites. Language education starts here.
6. Finger Plays
Incy wincy spider, Round and round the garden, This little piggy... Every culture has its own versions of these games, which combine touching and rhyme and teach the child about both, as well as trust and humour.
7. Toddler Massage
Your toddler has a body, but is only partly aware of it a lot of the time. Gentle massage and stretching will bring awareness, comfort and health. Remember, the child at these ages is growing at the rate of knots, and there will always be a need for them to re-establish exactly where their feet and hands are now.
8. Mud, Clay, Plasticine, Playdough or Beeswax
One of the birthrights of children is that they should be allowed to get really, really dirty every day. Mud pies are great. Failing that, give them any sort of material and letting them just ‘go for it.’ Cleaning up is fun too.
9. The Pot Cupboard
Toddlers are often shut out of the kitchen and its dangers. Give them a drawer of their own, replete with pots and pans, an old kettle, some blunt cutlery and a few unbreakables. Imitation is the main method of learning at these ages, so do let them copy you, don’t lock everything away.
10. A Cardboard Box
One big enough for your toddler to get into. She might like to play cubbies, peek a boo, cars, or what-have-you. It’s the cheapest toy ever. Too easy!
There are more than ten real-life apps for toddlers; there are thousands. None of them involve a screen.
Sean Burke
December 2015
Sean David Burke is the author of Lighting the Literacy Fire: Creative Ideas for Teachers and Parents and The Easy English Guide to Proper Pronunciation. He teaches at a high school and gives occasional seminars. Sean, 48, lives with his family in Western Australia, along with Jet, the second-fastest dog in the world. www.earthsideeducation.com
This article is free to publish as is.
See also:
The 10 Best Apps for Toddlers
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/the-10-best-apps-for-toddlers.html
How Do We Become Aboriginal
http://www.livingnow.com.au/articles/living-and-learning/how-do-we-become-aboriginal
And then, Suddenly, You Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/so-you-dont-have-to-live-like-a-refugee
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http://www.earthsideeducation.com/grade-wool-and-wheat-not-our-kids
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http://www.earthsideeducation.com/its-not-a-state-and-it-was-never-a-state-so-dont-call-it-a-state
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http://www.earthsideeducation.com/the-accident-of-birth-is-no-basis-for-policy
Gender Equality is a Necessary Partner of Economic Progress
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/gender-equality-is-a-necessary-partner-of-economic-progress
Are You With Us Or Against Us?: Why a Modern State Can't Be a 'Team'
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/are-you-with-us-or-against-us-why-a-modern-state-canrsquot-be-a-lsquoteamrsquo
Who Does God Support in Gaza?
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/who-is-god-supporting-in-gaza
How Many MH17s are Out There, Just Beyond the Veil?
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/just-how-many-mh17s-are-out-there-beyond-the-veil
Teach it Twice: A Tip for Teachers and Principals
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/teach-it-twice-a-tip-for-teachers-and-principals
There are now thousands of electronic applications directed at toddlers, which parents are encouraged to buy, usually on the basis that they are educational.
A toddler is a child of about 1-3 years of age, one usually starting to ‘toddle’ or walk. The developing child does not need a screen. Rather, she needs to be out there, discovering the real world and other people and, importantly, discovering her own body and being effective and creative with it.
Any time stolen from early childhood development is time that cannot be easily made up later. This has ramifications for social skills, health and education in later years.
THE REAL WORK OF THE TODDLER IS PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL AND SENSORY AND TACTILE.
Pushing apps for toddlers serves no-one, except the commercial interests behind the products themselves.
Here below is a list of ten great (real life) applications for toddlers:
The Ten Best (real life) Apps for Toddlers;
1. A Sandpit
Even a small space is enough for a half clamshell or a large flat box with some clean sand in it. Add a few containers or buckets and one or two little spades and your toddler will be amused for hours. She is also learning about her fingers, sand, indefinite quantity, measurement, and building. The whole time, she is in direct, tactile, contact with the world.
2. Walks at the park
The world is ‘out there.’ A toddler is a child just starting to explore the world under her own steam, so let her explore places other than the lounge room. Parks, lakes, bushland, playgrounds and the beach. There’s no minimum age for adventure.
3. Quality time with relatives and friends
Relationship matters. Let your toddler spend time with those people who will be there in the long term. Sometimes people get busy, but your child has an overriding interest in getting to know her cousins, grandparents and mentors from a young age. Make it happen.
4. Story time
A regular story time each day is not only an enjoyable time which your toddler will look forward to, it is also a rhythmic marker, helping to provide regularity and order to your day. Have a special story chair, a story candle, a story cushion, a song that tells your toddler that it’s time. Make it part of your routine. Turn off the phone.
5. Singing and Nursery Rhymes
You may have noticed that a lot of your toddler’s speech is really chanting. That’s why for generations parents have used singing and nursery rhymes to communicate with their little ones. Begin with your old favourites. Language education starts here.
6. Finger Plays
Incy wincy spider, Round and round the garden, This little piggy... Every culture has its own versions of these games, which combine touching and rhyme and teach the child about both, as well as trust and humour.
7. Toddler Massage
Your toddler has a body, but is only partly aware of it a lot of the time. Gentle massage and stretching will bring awareness, comfort and health. Remember, the child at these ages is growing at the rate of knots, and there will always be a need for them to re-establish exactly where their feet and hands are now.
8. Mud, Clay, Plasticine, Playdough or Beeswax
One of the birthrights of children is that they should be allowed to get really, really dirty every day. Mud pies are great. Failing that, give them any sort of material and letting them just ‘go for it.’ Cleaning up is fun too.
9. The Pot Cupboard
Toddlers are often shut out of the kitchen and its dangers. Give them a drawer of their own, replete with pots and pans, an old kettle, some blunt cutlery and a few unbreakables. Imitation is the main method of learning at these ages, so do let them copy you, don’t lock everything away.
10. A Cardboard Box
One big enough for your toddler to get into. She might like to play cubbies, peek a boo, cars, or what-have-you. It’s the cheapest toy ever. Too easy!
There are more than ten real-life apps for toddlers; there are thousands. None of them involve a screen.
Sean Burke
December 2015
Sean David Burke is the author of Lighting the Literacy Fire: Creative Ideas for Teachers and Parents and The Easy English Guide to Proper Pronunciation. He teaches at a high school and gives occasional seminars. Sean, 48, lives with his family in Western Australia, along with Jet, the second-fastest dog in the world. www.earthsideeducation.com
This article is free to publish as is.
See also:
The 10 Best Apps for Toddlers
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/the-10-best-apps-for-toddlers.html
How Do We Become Aboriginal
http://www.livingnow.com.au/articles/living-and-learning/how-do-we-become-aboriginal
And then, Suddenly, You Don't Have to Live Like a Refugee
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/so-you-dont-have-to-live-like-a-refugee
Grade Wool and Wheat, Not Our Kids
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/grade-wool-and-wheat-not-our-kids
It's Not a State and it Never Was a State, So Don't Call it a State
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/its-not-a-state-and-it-was-never-a-state-so-dont-call-it-a-state
The Accident of Birth is no Basis for Policy
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/the-accident-of-birth-is-no-basis-for-policy
Gender Equality is a Necessary Partner of Economic Progress
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/gender-equality-is-a-necessary-partner-of-economic-progress
Are You With Us Or Against Us?: Why a Modern State Can't Be a 'Team'
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/are-you-with-us-or-against-us-why-a-modern-state-canrsquot-be-a-lsquoteamrsquo
Who Does God Support in Gaza?
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/who-is-god-supporting-in-gaza
How Many MH17s are Out There, Just Beyond the Veil?
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/just-how-many-mh17s-are-out-there-beyond-the-veil
Teach it Twice: A Tip for Teachers and Principals
http://www.earthsideeducation.com/teach-it-twice-a-tip-for-teachers-and-principals
