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As your child develops, they may begin to show specific interests. Below you will find a selection of experiences for children aged 2-3 that you can carry out to support these.

My child loves... Transport

Foil cruise ship

Encourage your child to make their own boat for bath time!

Safety First

Always supervise your child carefully at bath time. Consider the size of items used to test floating and sinking and ensure these aren't a choke hazard.

What to do

Give your child some foil and explain that we are going to make some boats for bath time! Show your child how they can use their foil to make a boat.

At bath time, bring some of your child's small world people into the bath along with the boat. Invite your child to take their small world people on a cruise around the bath!

Encourage your child to predict how many people they can safely carry in the boat without it sinking.

More Information

This experiences encourages children to develop their fine motor skills, the foundation of these skills is required for learning to write.

My child loves... Fairies

Fairy letters

Support your child's understanding of how print carries meaning as they take on challenges set by a magic fairy!

Safety First

Ensure that the challenges are suitable for your child to carry out.

What to do

Prior to the experience, write a letter from a fairy for your child to find. The letter could be asking them to complete a challenge, for example count how many types of flower there are in the garden, build a fairy house, make up a magic spell or carry out some singing and dancing. Decorate the letter with glitter or stickers to make it look really exciting and hide the letter either in the garden or around the house for your child to find.

Encourage your child to hunt for the letter from the fairy. Once they have found this, read out the letter to them. Then see if your child would like to do the challenge the fairy has set them. Join in with your child as you carry out the challenge together.

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By including a written letter in this experience, this supports your child to understand how print carries meaning and can encourage your child to copy your actions as they practice their own writing skills.

My child loves... Space

Tin foil astronaut

Create an astronaut from foil for your child to use in their pretend play.

Safety First

Remove the foil roll from the container so that your child cannot catch themselves on the teeth of the box.

What to do

Encourage your child to choose one of their small world characters or soft toys and explain that they are going to transform them into an astronaut.

Show your child the roll of foil and encourage them to explore the texture. Role model how to tear off sections of the foil and wrap it around a part of the small world characters body.

Continue with your child until the character is wrapped in the foil. Why not wrap a character for yourself and then go on a space adventure with your child to a new planet!

More Information

Choosing different sized pieces of foil to fit the different areas of the character will develop your child's maths and problem solving skills.

My child loves... Superheroes

Comic strip superheroes

Develop your child's creativity and mark making skills in this fun drawing experience

Safety first

Make sure that small crayons do not pose a choking hazard.

What to do

Start by preparing pieces of paper by using the ruler to draw several boxes on each piece so it looks like a comic strip.
Provide mark making materials and explain that your child can use these to make their own comic strip. Join in with your child, drawing your own pictures on your piece of paper.
As you draw, talk through your pictures using the language of stories, for example "First Super Hettie is going to put on her super suit, next she is going to climb the tree and then she will rescue the cat!" Encourage your child to tell you about their pictures too.

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Drawing pictures that relate to their interests may encourage children who are not usually keen to put pen to paper. This will support in developing the skills they need for handwriting.
Using the language of story telling supports your child's pre-reading skills and sequencing will also help them with their understanding of mathematical concepts.
This experience encourages your child to use their imagination and creativity and also develops their ability to think in an abstract way.

My child loves... Pirates

Treasure maps

Make your own treasure maps and support your child's creativity skills

Safety first

Do not use hot water with the tea bags

What to do

Encourage your child to take a tea bag and dip this into water. They can then smear the tea bag across some paper on both sides.
Once the paper is dry, invite your child to use felt tip pens to draw their own treasure map. They could include arrows, paths, pictures of rivers or mountains and they could mark an ‘X’ where the treasure can be found.
Once they have drawn their treasure map, encourage them to roll this up and tie a piece of ribbon around this to hold the map in its roll.

More Information

This experience supports your child's sensory awareness as they explore making marks with the tea bags
Making a treasure map might support children to mark make who are not usually keen on putting pen to paper. Using children's interests is a great way to engage children in learning