While toddlers may be unable to sit for long periods of time in the classroom, it is still important to create lesson plans and set daily goals for your students. Plan short circle time activities throughout the day. Teach your students how to behave during circle time, and plan short activities such as read-alouds, songs, puppet shows or other activities to hold your students' attention. Plan additional activities in centers and always include plenty of free play throughout the day.
Toddlers enjoy music and song, so teach your toddlers through music. Singing familiar songs like the Alphabet Song and Mary Had a Little Lamb will teach your students phonemic awareness, oral language skills and help them with memorization. Choose songs or rhymes that include movement to get students active and teach large and small motor skills. As your students engage in activities, play some classical music. During more active periods, set the mood with fast paced music for students to enjoy.
Provide students with a variety of activities to enjoy, and then let them choose which of the activities they want to pursue. Set up centers throughout the classroom, including an art center, manipulatives center and dramatic play. Plan daily activities to take place in each center; for example, you might provide finger paint and paper in the art center, blocks in the manipulatives center and kitchen toys in dramatic play. Change the activities daily or weekly so that students have new activities to explore. Let your students choose what they want to do, and offer guidance when needed. If a student becomes bored with an activity, be flexible and let her move on to another. Always include some free play time to allow students to play with toys that are not featured in the centers.
Find ways to teach toddlers through activities they are already engaged in. For example, if your student is looking through a book, sit down with him and read to him, or talk about the pictures. Alternatively, if a student is playing with blocks, take part in the activity by asking questions concerning the size and shape of the blocks, how many blocks the student has stacked or what he is making. Offer toys and activities that encourage learning and teach your students as they play.