Educating Your Kindergartner and Toddler Together

This is a paid promotion by Fisher-Price, and all opinions are my own. Thank you, Fisher-Price, for sending me these characters.

As parents, we already have a lot on our plates. We’re inundated with to-do’s, chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, fixing boo boo’s, and educating our tiny humans to prepare for the real world. This year we chose to homeschool and it has been nothing short of challenging while homeschooling a Kindergartener with a toddler in the house! But by doing so Kiki learned so much while being in the homeschool mix. Homeschooling your kindergartener is the perfect opportunity to introduce your toddler to new concepts! Here are some ways I educate my kindergartner and toddler by integrating play with  toys from Fisher-Price!

Sandy O’Shin is wearing blue. Oceans are blue, too!

Have Coloring Supplies Handy

While your kindergartner is working on lessons and workbook pages, make sure to have some coloring books or a roll of paper handy to help keep your toddler busy. While your older child may simply be writing, and not working with colors, allowing your toddler to color and draw their favorite characters will give them the sense that they are in fact doing what their older sibling is doing. Crayons and markers are a great way to help your toddler learn their colors, while big brother or sister is keeping busy, too.

Let Your Kindergartner do the Teaching

Little kiddos generally look up to their older siblings and want to mimic their each and every move. In fact, oftentimes you will find that your toddler is more willing to listen to what your older child says. So once your kindergartner has met your expectations and is feeling confident with themselves let your older kiddo rehearse lines or subjects to their toddler sibling. Your kindergartner will be getting great practice, while your toddler will be soaking it all in.

Counting

A great way to get your toddler learning with your kindergartener is to make sure to have hands-on activities for them to do together. When it comes to learning numbers, and both addition and subtraction, use large objects that your small toddler can’t fit into their mouth. Kiki is almost four and is thankfully past that stage so we can use manipulatives and cubes. Creating your own flashcards are also an option. Rescue Heroes character, Sandy O’Shin is an expert in ocean rescue, so during math, we count starfish.

The Alphabet and Phonics

As we all know the alphabet and phonics are incredibly important. A great way to introduce your toddler to their ABC’s, while also teaching your kindergartner about them is to create a song. Let your kindergartner come up with their own words or names for each letter of the alphabet, and make up your own little tune that your kids will easily catch on to. We used words and names related to our Rescue Heroes toys. “A is for action, ahh, ahh, action. B is for Billy (Blazes), C is for Carlos (Kitbash)…” If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I created an affirmation alphabet shirt just for my kids to get them excited about the alphabet and the skin that they’re in. It is important to me that my children see positive role-models of people who look like them in learning and Rescue Heroes are a diverse team!

Flashcards & Imaginative Play

Using flashcards is one of the best ways to teach concepts to small children who are usually visual learners. As I said before, having diverse positive examples for my kids to learn from is so important. We love that the Rescue Heroes characters represent a diverse mix of real-life heroes. Each character is based in a different country (Sky Justice is from Nigeria!) and raises awareness for important causes. In a lesson about real-life heroes, we decided to combine flashcards and imaginative play with our diverse crew of Rescue Heroes action figures. Each character has their own expertise and rescue mission, so I created a set of flashcards to familiarize the kids with each character and how they help save the world.

Rescue Heroes… Let’s Go!™

Rescue Heroes Toys as a Teaching Aid

Fisher-Price has relaunched the Rescue Heroes Brand with a new animated series on the  & a line of new toys available at Walmart (Online now and in-stores in August)! Each figure honors real-life heroes who work together to combat disasters whenever or wherever they happen! Rescue Heroes characters aim to stimulate children’s imagination and sense of adventure without involving violence. Each figure comes with SO many accessories including backpacks and tools. The backpacks and tools are interchangeable and fit on the vehicles too. Kids can mix and match tool and backpacks for creative combos and a lesson in sharing. We’re impressed with the entire Rescue Heroes line. They are good, solid toys and we highly recommend them!

Teaching your toddler and kindergartner is a balancing act, but one that you’re completely capable of doing. Are you educating a kindergartner and toddler at home? Do you incorporate toys in your lessons? Speak on your experience in the comments!

Thanks For Pinning!