An extra day to play

This week includes this year’s leap day. Whether you view this as a bonus day or just another day, you’ll need play ideas for your little one! Why not start with one of our most popular activities? 

Baby 

Hey baby - have a chat and help your baby develop awareness of their face 

What to do  

1. Sit down and hold your baby on your knee facing you.   
2. Talk to them as you gently touch their face, saying, “There’s your nose, and your mouth and one eye then another eye!”  
3. Pause and let your baby move their hands so that they can touch their face.   
4. Smile and comment as they do this, saying, “There’s your nose and your mouth!”

Toddler 

Reading about feelings – using story times to understand emotions 

What to do 

• Find some books about emotions, or stories in which the characters express or describe a familiar feeling.  
• When you’re reading, take time to notice how the characters feel and any signs of this (things like hiding when feeling shy or scared, going red when they are embarrassed, or having a sore tummy when they are worried).   
• Chat with your toddler about the characters’ emotions and how their body might be feeling. 
• Talk about how you feel when you experience that emotion, too, or talk about a time you think your toddler might recall feeling that way.  

Good to know  

Your toddler is starting to become aware that they can feel their emotions, not just express them. This is quite a difficult concept to understand, especially as we feel emotions in different parts of our body. Reading about emotions and how they might feel in your body will support your toddler to begin making those connections for themselves.  

Child 

We're going on a word search – make a quick game 

 What you need  

• Post-it notes or smallish pieces of paper  
• A pen  
• Two bowls or baskets  

What to do  

• Write words or letters on half the post it notes. For the first few times you play, you can write the same word (or letter) on every note.   
• Draw pictures on the other half. They can be as simple (or as artistic) as you like!   
• Stick the post-it notes at random around the room (or house) in places your child will be able to find and reach them without help.  
• Show your child the two bowls. Stick a post-it note saying ‘words’ on one, and a post-it note with a picture on it on the other bowl. Place the bowls in the middle of the room.  
• Explain that they need to find all the post-it notes in the room, and each time they find one they need to bring it over and put it in the correct bowl.  
• Encourage them to keep searching until they find all of the notes you hid.   

Good to know  

It’s important to remember that you’re not expecting your child to recognise the words at this stage. The game will help them learn to recognise the difference between letters/words and images on a basic level – they need to build this foundation before they can begin understanding how to decode the marks to read letters and words in the years to come.   

If they enjoy the activity, you can play again and again by getting them to hide the notes for you to find (and then help you decide which bowl each goes in). Extend their learning by helping them to count how many post-its are in each bowl at the end of the search. 

Find more activities

Remember there are activities linked to your child’s active skills on the activity page of your app. We’d love to hear about your favourite activities get in touch on our social media or email us at askusanything@mffy.com.  

Don’t forget it’s your leap day too!

As well as being an extra day for play, why not use leap day to do something you love?

You could... 

• Treat yourself to something you enjoy, whether it’s a coffee, a book, or a nap. 
• Learn something new, like a fact, a skill, or a hobby. 
• Make a time capsule with your family - write down your hopes and dreams for the next four years or take a few photos of your favourite things.