As a full-time working mom with little time to spare, when I need an activity to entertain my 2-year-old daughter, I need the activity ready to go pronto.
So, I’m always trying to come up with toddler-friendly activities that involve as little prep as possible.
Recently, inspired by the word labels on many of the items in my daughter’s preschool classroom, I hit upon an activity idea that only requires two materials: Post-it (or sticky) notes and whatever writing utensil you have most handy. The easy and educational Post-it play game — for toddlers, preschoolers and young kids — that I created from those two on-hand props is today’s hint.
Here’s what I did: I simply grabbed a marker and started writing words on Post-it notes (one word per note, making sure to include a number of my daughter’s favorite words like “tummy” and “baby”). With my daughter sitting nearby watching me, I said the words out loud as I wrote them.
Then, I placed each piece of paper on the thing it described (for instance, I stuck the “mommy” note on me, and the “rug” note on my daughter’s playroom rug). My tot seemed to enjoy saying the words with me, and then she had fun removing the Post-it notes and sticking them all over the place, including many on her.
As she did that, I discussed with her whether she was placing the notes on the right items, and when we were done playing, I stuck the notes on the wall in her playroom area, so they’re ready to go for the next round of Post-it and sticky note play.
I especially like this activity because it can grow with my daughter. While we’re now just concentrating on her learning what various items are called, by exposing my tot to how the various words are spelled, I’m hoping that she’ll eventually be able to recognize which words describe what. And it’s easy to modify this game for older kids learning to read – ask them to place the notes on the items described, for instance.
Like the idea of Post-it play? Beyond my Post-it words game, there are loads of other simple Post-it play ideas you can try out. On the Kiwi Crate site and on the Kiwi Corner app, I came across Playdough to Plato’s creative “Stick-It! Labeling Game” that involves using sticky notes to learn about body parts, and I also like the similar Post-it activity you can read about over at the site Toddler Toddler.
Other ideas include using Post-it notes as a prop in a DIY scavenger hunt game, as No Time for Flash Cards suggests (and you could create an in-home version of this game), and Nurture Store’s nice round-up of “Post-it Note activities.” Finally, Post-it notes can also be great in-flight toddler entertainment too, as people commenting over at Cool Mom Picks and A Cup of Jo point out.
How have you involved Post-it notes in playtime?
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Post-it notes offer so many opportunities for activities! We’ve done a scavenger hunt with numbers and letters, and then put them in order. I love how you’re exposing your toddler to such a print-rich environment!
Thanks for this! We’re playing Montessori sound games right now, and I just got an inspiration and idea from your post on how we can incorporate post-it notes into a fun activity which I think my toddler will like 🙂 Thanks!
I love using post it notes for learning activities! I remember one time I put letters on them and we went around trying to find things that started with the letters. Thanks for the reminder. It has been a while and my son and daughter may just enjoy this now.
Just wanted to let you know that this post is also going to be featured.