Start training your toddler for Easter

This year, Easter is Sunday, April 16.

His first Easter, four-month old Julian slept through the whole thing, but once he got his first taste of modern American celebrations of this holiday the following year as a determined toddler, he never looked back. Since he is not actually Christian, his experience of Easter was limited to the hunting of plastic and hard-boiled eggs. And hunt he did.

The egg hunting was so much fun, I realized we should be doing this in the backyard whenever boredom strikes. The more the merrier, so this might be something to suggest when your relatives are visiting. A little fresh air is good for everyone.

So the activity of the day is to conduct an age-appropriate treasure hunt for pre-verbal toddlers.

Materials needed:

three or four of the same object, such as golf balls, tennis balls, or plastic eggs. (We use lemons from our backyard tree).
small gift bag

How to do it:

Place objects in a grassy area in plain view.
Hold a small gift bag on behalf of your little scavenger.
Announce the hunt: “Let’s go find some golf balls!”
Model the desired behavior: “I found a ball – now I’ll put it in the bag!”
Help child “find” another object and place it in the bag.
When child is not watching, take “found” object and toss it from the bag back onto the grass for more finding fun.
Practice this exercise periodically so that when Easter rolls around next year, your toddler will be kicking butt and taking names.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.