When my daughter was 19 months old, I got these sorting bears and cups and spilled them out on the floor. She played with them for over an hour. I discovered that these bears are a great language and fine motor skill exercise. To do a focus exercise I’d recommend sticking to two colors and two bears each at a time. However, it’s also great to let them explore with all the colors and follow their lead. They sometimes invent their own activities.
Activities you can do with your toddler:
- Say the colors out loud
- Have toddler repeat back
- Stack cups
- Match
- Color sorting
- Sing the cleanup song at the end
- Sound out numbers by counting the bears
Our Teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing says that it’s not important that you understand each word that they say, but work with them to help guide their language and show clear examples of what you are talking or signing about.
Activities you can do with your older kid (mine is age 5)
- Counting
- Look for pronunciation of colors
- Make up stories for what the bears are doing (are they in school learning, are they going to bed in a cupcake holder)
- Spelling of colors (“Red is spelled R-E-D”)
With two kids, the older one can also teach the younger one colors, show them how to sort, and make up stories for them.
Hard of Hearing Mama 