This Month’s Theme is: Spring on the Farm

Language Development Activities

For Babies

Have fun making animal noises with your baby.  You start by making the noise and asking your baby to repeat it back to you, it won’t be long before they do.  Animal noises are a great way of letting your child know that you understand them. Babies a capable of making noises before they can speak the words, they are very excited by the fact you understand the noise they are making.

For Toddlers

Cut out pictures of animals and their babies, separately, from magazines.  Ask your toddler to help match the baby to the mother.  Talk about how we know that the baby belongs to that mother e.g. the look similar, they have the same nose, the same ears, only the baby is smaller.  Now, if you can find some, cut out pictures of caterpillars and butterflies or tadpoles and frogs.  Talk about the differences between the mothers and the babies.

Try these books

(Always read the book yourself first before reading it to your baby or toddler to make sure it is suitable)

For Babies: Can you Moo Too? By David Wojtowycz  

 For Toddlers: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Songs for this Month

• Old McDonalds  Farm
• Dingle Dangle Scarecrow
• Wheels on the Tractor
• Cows in the Kitchen
• Farmer in the Den
• Baa Baa Black Sheep
• Here we go round the Farmyard
• 3 Little Ducks
• I Have a Little Duck
• See the Little Bunny Rabbits
• Peter Rabbit
• One Day I saw a Blacka nd White Cow
• Horsey Horsey
• This is the Wayt he ladies Ride
• I know a littel Pony
• Here we go on our ponies
• Ride a Horse

 This Months Signs

• Bird:Thumb and index finger mime
• Cat: Index and third fingers on both hands mime whiskers in v – shape
• Chicken:Elbows in and out like a chicken
• Cow: Using both hands mime cow horns
• Dig: two hands mine shovelling
• Dog: Index and third fingers of both hands move down once in front of chest
• Duck: Hand opens and closes to make a quacking move
• Farmer: Closed fist with thumb pointing inward moves down and out as if pulling out braces
• Horse: Index and third finger ride on the other index and third fingers
• Mouse: Index finger twists at the side of your nose
• Pig: Mime a snout, twisting your fist
• Rabbit: Index and third fingers make rabbit ears
• Sheep: little fingers mime curly horns from your temples
• Tractor: Mime a large steering wheel