One Thousand+ Gifts: Teaching Toddlers: God Made Our World, Week 1 of 2

God Made Our World, Week 1 of 2

18 Months+

(Note: The following activities are intended to be repeated each day for an entire week.)

Subject	Focus	Time	Activity
Bible	The story of Creation (Genesis 1 & 2)	During breakfast	Read the story of creation in a toddler’s Bible. (One of our favorite children's Bibles. It also comes in a toddler version which I'm sure is great too!)
Music	Reinforce Bible story through music.	Soon after breakfast	God made the green grass under your feet. (Touch ground) And God made the sky so blue. (Wave arms overhead) God will keep you safe everyday. (Point to the children) The Father himself loves you. (Hug self) Of all the creatures Great and small (reach way up, then make yourself really small) The Lord God made us all (outstretch arms) Curly hair (point to your hair) Or short or tall (squat low, then stand tall) God loves us (hug yourself) One and all! (hold your child’s hands and form a circle)
Letter Awareness	To recognize the capital letter “B”	Morning, before nap	Addison loved this game from last week, so we will be repeating it with the letter B: Write the letter B on several index cards. Put cards in various places throughout the house. As child finds the cards exclaim, “Wow! You found the letter B!” Point to B and say “B” while asking child to repeat. Continue to search for cards while saying, "B, where are you???" While coloring with crayons inside or chalk outside, write the letter B several times and say “B.” Encourage your child to point to the letter as you say it and repeat the letter name. **Be sure to review A!!!
Math	To begin counting up to 3	During lunch and playtime	Similar to last week, continue to count pieces of food as your child is eating. This time include 3 in addition to 1 and 2. Play with blocks with your child. Build towers of 3 blocks. Say, “one, two three” as you stack each block. Repeat this a few times. Then start another tower and say, “one.” Hopefully your toddler will have caught on and will continue with “two, three” as you stack the next few blocks! Throughout the day, count objects when you are on a walk, at the playground, in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, at the grocery store, etc.
Play time with a purpose	To learn through play	Afternoon	Day 1: God made light Go into a room without windows. Sit in the dark room and tell your child that it is dark. Turn on the light and say it is light! Repeat several times. Use a flashlight instead of the overhead light as well! Day 2: God made sky and water Go outside and look at the sky. Have your child point to the sky. Talk about what color it is and if there are any clouds. Emphasize the truth that God made the sky! Touch water and talk about it….wet, clear, cool, etc. Remind your child that God made water! Day 3: God made dry land and plants Go outside and stand on the ground. Talk about how it looks, feels and smells. Look at various types of plants – flowers, trees, grass, bushes. Allow your child to touch all of these and marvel at the textures. Tell your child that God made the land and the plants! (**Collect several small samples of leaves, grass, flowers, etc for an art project!)
Following Directions/ Obeying	To learn to recognize Mommy’s voice and obey what she says	Any time of the day	This game will probably be included each week!!! Play “Listen to Mommy and Obey” – Say, “Look at Mommy. Listen to Mommy and obey. RUN!!” Then both of you run. Say, “Listen to Mommy and obey. STOP!” Continue this game by having your child do various tasks such as, crawl, walk backwards, get a certain toy, etc.
Art	To express oneself creatively	Afternoon	Day 1 of Creation: God made light Print day one coloring page from http://www.coloring.ws/creation.htm and allow your child to color as you remind him/her how God made light and dark. Cut out ½ sheet of black construction paper and ½ sheet of white construction paper. Allow your child to help you glue them on one sheet of paper while labeling “light” and “dark.” Day 2 of Creation: God made sky and water Print day two coloring page from http://www.coloring.ws/creation.htm and allow your child to color as you remind him/her how God made the sky and water. Get two 1/2 sheets of blue construction paper (different shades of blue) and 1 piece of white cardstock. Allow your toddler to tear the blue pages into small pieces. Teach your toddler how to use a glue stick to glue the light blue pieces on the top of the page to represent the sky and the dark blue pieces on the bottom of the page for the water. Begin to tape these pictures in order somewhere your child can look at them regularly. As you review each day, be sure to count each page and remind your toddler about the significance of each. Day 3 of Creation: God made dry land and plants** Print day three coloring page from http://www.coloring.ws/creation.htm and allow your child to color as you remind him/her how God made land and plants. Use the collected blades of grass, bark, leaves, flowers, rocks etc to make a picture. Glue the materials onto construction paper and talk about the name of each object, how it feels, and that God made it. (Note – This project probably won’t last for very long!!)
Story time	To snuggle and read together in preparation for going to sleep	Before bed	Re-read the story of creation (maybe from a different toddler Bible)