Buy or make puppets for a puppet show and team up with another teacher to help you entertain the children. Have one of the puppets hold a stop sign and talk about what that means. Another puppet can also hold up a green circle that represents a green light. Have the other puppet pretend to run away from the main character and then say stop. Have the other teacher make the running puppet stop in its tracks. This can help toddlers understand what stop and go mean.
Encourage toddlers to roll small or large balls back and forth between other kids whenever you say the word "go." Play music while you watch the kids roll the balls back and forth for a few minutes. Then say "stop" and ask them to stop the ball in its tracks. This simple activity can help improve hand-eye-coordination along with encouraging activity.
Toddlers understand basic concepts; pictures can help them to make these connections. Show the kids pictures of a red stop sign along with a green stop light and ask them what it means. See if anyone answers and if not, explain to them what it means. Talk about when they should stop and go when out on the playground. Give the toddlers cut-out red and green circles and help them glue these on construction paper. Ask the kids to point to the red circle that means stop and the green circle that means go. They can also glue on pictures of people running to represent going somewhere and then a picture of a person stopping or standing still.
Find a large open area to help teach toddlers how to stop and go. Tell the kids to run around in circles, hop, skip or just move around when you say "go." Then tell them to freeze when you say the word "stop." Move desks and chairs up against the walls to ensure that the kids have enough room to run around in. You can also go outside and do this activity. Teaching little ones how to stop and go can also help them understand direction better.