The following are activities that you can do with your child as well as tips on child hobbies, health and safety, and abuse prevention.
Online Learning
The following are educational interactive learning modules and games that can teach your child a variety of subjects: the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shape. Click on the link to open a new window containing the game/module.
Health & Safety
Alphabet and Words
- A basic overview of the ABC’s in a fun package.
- Learn your ABCs while also learning about animals! Options for toddlers and infants.
- Hit the moles with the hammer in alphabetical order.
- First grade level spelling tool. Spell the names of each picture shown and follow along as the letters appear one by one.
Numbers
- Choose a sport and a number of points and count along as goals are scored. Counts range from five to ten to twenty.
- Count the number of seahorses on the board and click on the corresponding number. Counts up to ten.
- Click on the numbered balloons to help Moose reach Zee up in the trees branches. Counts up to four and requires basic addition and subtraction skills.
Colors & Shapes
- Have fun coloring animals using this interactive coloring tool.
- Use the colored marbles in the canon to knock marbles of the same color out of the line-up to keep the marbles from reaching the end of the maze.
- Bud will ask you what color certain objects are and you must choose the correct color out of four options.
- A color is stated and you must chose the correct object that corresponds with the stated color.
- Identify shapes or colors to build a train and watch the train drive away.
- Shapes and colors will be displayed on the screen while a voice tells you what they are.
- Help Curious George collect the correct shape and color until he reaches the required amount.
Food
- Easy-to-do activities for parents and children to make everyday healthy food items more fun for children.
- An interactive online tool to help children pack their own lunch by choosing from healthy food, snack, and beverage choices.
Animals
Tips
Hobbies 
- Help your child choose a hobby that can help promote intellectual stimulation, recreational relaxation, and a fun time with others
- Match your child’s interests: show interest in what your child is interested in, support them, and take them seriously
- Encourage your child to compete
when applicable but be careful not to push them in the direction of competition unless they want to do for themselves - Youth arts activities fosters collaborative partnerships between art professionals, youth workers, and young people and often results in dialogue and experimentation, the sharing of expertise, and the creation of new work
- Help motivate and grow your child’s inner artist by exploring different mediums and encouraging open mindedness
- Teach your child how to play fair with others and promote a fun and educational environment when teaching your child a new sport
- Attend practices and games or meets if you can and emphasize the team’s or individual’s accomplishments
- Avoid giving your child material awards and focus more on the joy of playing or participating in a sport
- Encourage your children to try new outdoor activities and participate with them or come up with creative indoor activities for the winter months
- Outdoor activities: explore the night sky and count stars, flower and leaf pressing, build a sand castle, take your camera for a walk and take pictures of your neighborhood, go camping
- Indoor activities: learn some magic tricks and perform your act for family and/or friends, complete a puzzle, find a new recipe and make something in the kitchen, play cards and sit down and color together
- Make a time and place for reading in your home and encourage your children to discuss books with you
- Allow your child to choose books to read and be aware of your child’s reading interest to encourage more reading
- Take your child to the library regularly and ask the librarian for book suggestions
Health and Safety
- Take your child to see a dentist by his/her first birthday to check for decay and potentially harmful habits
- Do not use toothpaste on children under 2 years old. New teeth can be brushed with a little water and, after the age of 2, a pea-sized amount of toothpaste can be introduced
- Make trips to the dentist fun by staying positive and set a good example for your child by brushing and flossing yourself
- Select toys that suit the age, abilities, skills, and interest level of your child as toys that are too advanced for your child may pose safety hazards
- For infants, toddlers, and all children who still mouth objects, avoid toys with small parts that could pose a choking hazard
- Immediately discard plastic wrappings on toys, which can cause suffocation
- Immunization or vaccination is a way of creating immunity to certain diseases by using small amounts of a killed or weakened microorganism that causes the disease
- The risks of vaccinations are small compared with the health risks associated with the diseases they’re attended to prevent
- Prepare your children for any fear of the vaccination by explaining what will happen, telling them its ok to cry, and remaining calm yourself
Abuse Prevention
- Look for behavior in children that may signal abuse or neglect, such as nervousness around adults or an inability to stay awake or concentrate for extended periods
- Reach out to children or parents that you believe are the victims of abuse
If you suspect abuse or neglect are occurring or are experiencing abuse or neglect yourself, report it to the police or your department of social services listed in the phone book
Activities
The following are some fun activities that you can do with your child(ren). Try coming up with your own activities to add to this list!
- Ice Blocks Recipe: pour juice into ice cube trays for a cool, sweet snack and talk about the freezing and melting of liquids
- Talk about your favorite foods and why you like them
- Write your grocery list with your child and check off items as you find them
- Press leaves: place leaves between two sheets of newspaper and place heavy books on top of them for 24 hours
- Start a collection with your child. Need ideas? Try buttons, toy cars, bottle caps, cards, coins, etc.
- Write a book together that is about your child. Include information such as favorite colors, animals, foods, etc.
- Make a family scrapbook with your child that includes photos and descriptions of the photos
- Play “I Spy” by describing an object without naming it and having your child identify the object
- Find items around you with interesting names and say the words while clapping once for each syllable
- Explain to your child what a rhyme is and write some rhymes together
- Make a book for your child’s favorite friend and have your child illustrate it
- Have your child draw some animals or people, cut them out, and glue them to popsicle sticks to make them into puppets
- Pack a bag lunch and go on a picnic
- Wear a striped shirt today and count the stripes
- Find something gold colored. Jewelry doesn’t count.
- Paint a picture using cotton swabs
- Comb your hair in a new way today
- Invent a new kind of sandwich and name it
- Explore magnets today
- Make binoculars with toilet paper rolls and tape
- Play with a toy that you haven’t played with in a while
- What color clothes are you wearing today?
- Play “show and tell”
- Make the sound an animal makes and have your family guess what it is
- Look for shapes in everyday things: circles, squares, and triangles
- Name four things that are hot and four things that are cold
- Look at family photographs
- Draw a face on your fingertip and have a finger puppet show
- Find a piece of paper that is not white
- Look at your eyebrows in the mirror and make them go up and down
- Name three things to eat that are good for you
- Play with a funnel in a bathtub
- Play with a toy that makes noise
- What colors are a piano’s keys?
- Draw a picture of your favorite friend
- Go outside and sweep the sidewalk
The Heart of Texas Workforce Board, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer/programs and auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to include individuals with disabilities. TTY/TDD via RELAY Texas service at 711 or (TDD) 1-800-735-2989 / 1-800-735-2988 (voice). Aquanetta Brobston, Quality Assurance Coordinator/EO Officer/504 Coordinator, (254) 296-5300.