Cause and effect games for preschoolers: Bubbles + Whisks = Fun Cause and Effect Activities for Toddlers
Bubbles + Whisks = Fun Cause and Effect Activities for Toddlers
Photo by romrodinka / iStock
By Rachel Ward
Thunk, splat!
Uh-oh…your toddler accidentally knocked their bowl of oatmeal off the high chair. Or, based on their giggles, maybe not so accidentally.
Sure, it’s a little frustrating that now you have to grab another bowl and serving of food—but that fallen meal isn’t just fun and games for your child. It’s also giving them an early science lesson and an eye-opening realization.
“When toddlers see that their actions create results, like when they push a bowl of food off the table or tear down a tower of blocks, they’re learning the basics of cause and effect—and that their actions can change and affect things around them,” explains Theresa Maves from KinderCare’s Education team.
We like to give children opportunities to explore what the world has to offer. That’s why this month, we’re splashing around with one of kids’ favorite things: water!
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Actions Have Power! 4 Awesome Cause and Effect Activities for Toddlers
Photo by Bo Bo / Stocksy
1. Blow some bubbles
Seeing those luminous, rainbow-hued bubbles emerge from a tiny little wand is always a treat for tots—and just like whisking them up in water, it’s a great lesson in cause and effect. As your toddler blows into the wand, talk about how their actions are causing the bubbles. If they blow slowly, what happens? What about when they puff air quickly into the wand? Are there other ways they can make bubbles with the wand?
2. Investigate a flashlight
Let there be light! (Or not.) Handing over a flashlight to your child and letting them experiment by turning it on and off is a great way for them to better understand cause and effect, and the power their actions have—especially when they try clicking that button at different speeds.
3. Really dive into water fun
At bath time, let your child explore how their movements create ripples and waves in the tub. If you don’t mind a little spill, grab some bath toys and let your child throw them into the water for a big ‘ol splash fest. (Lay some towels down around the tub for easy cleanup.) If your child moves gently in the water, what kind of ripples are made? What about when they move quickly and with force?
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4. Visit the playground
Playgrounds offer a smorgasbord of cause and effect opportunities. On the swing set, experiment with pushing your child gently and then with a bit more force. Does your child see the difference? If your child is all about building castles in the sandbox (and then tearing their sandy structure down), talk about how their actions made it all happen.
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Engaging Cause and Effect Toys for Early Intervention
Cause and effect toys for speech therapy and at home! Cause and effect is a necessary part of language development that comes before words.
Check out these favorite activity ideas and toys for babies and toddlers!
A critical part of development is a child realizing their actions have an effect on their environment. For example, they push a button and music plays or they shake a rattle and it makes noise. Understanding cause and effect is an important step in language development. A child’s desire to communicate comes from the knowledge that their actions, or words, cause a change. They need to understand this relationship before they are going to look at you and point to that toy they want or eventually construct a sentence to request it.
There are many cause and effect toys to purchase. In fact, many store websites have a “cause and effect” section. You certainly don’t need specific toys to teach this concept. There are endless ways to do so with simple, everyday objects you already have. Below I’ve listed some ideas with common items as well as my favorite toys to work on cause and effect.
Cause and effect activity ideas with common objects:
- Hit an item off the table and watch it fall to the floor or build a tower and knock it over!
- Turn the light on and off with the light switch or flashlight.
- Turn the water faucet on and off.
- Shake a rattle or bell.
- Bang a wooden spoon on a kitchen pot/pan.
- Have a big reaction or mimic the child’s faces, noises, and movements.
- Play with a sensory bin – Fill a container with rice, water, beans, crumpled paper, leaves, feathers (or any other item you have). Listen to the sounds and feel the textures as you play with it. Fill a cup with the item and watch as it falls out. Splash in the water and see how it moves.
- Pull a toy or blanket as you walk. Watch how it follows behind you.
- Open and close a door or cabinet with the handle.
Cause and effect toys:
PLAYSKOOL BALL POPPER – Hit the orange button for music to play while balls pop out the top and roll back down.
BALL POP – Squeeze the toy and the ball shoots out! Always a favorite and comes in many designs. Read more ideas about ball poppers!
BUBBLES – Always a favorite among a wide age range and cost-effective!
WIND-UP TOYS – Wind-up and watch the toy perform a different action.
Read more about using wind-up toys!
ELEFUN BALL POPPER – Watch the balls pop out of the elephant’s trunk. Swivel the trunk to have the balls fly in different directions.
SWITCHES – Use to record a word, phrase, or noise. When hit, the recorded message will play.
WHACKY BALL POUND AND ROLL – Whack the ball through the hole and watch it roll down and exit the bottom.
POPPIN PALS – Press the button for the corresponding animal to pop-up.
FISHER-PRICE PIGGY BANK – Dropping the coins in, opening the door, and pushing the pig’s nose all trigger different sounds and music!
FAST FLIP RACETRACK – Release the car at the top and watch it race down.
FISHBOWL – Lights and sounds activated by moving the fish in and out of the bowl.
POPPITY POP MUSICAL DINO – Place the balls in the dinosaurs and watch as they pop and roll out of its mouth while music plays.
GEAR BOARD – Organize the gears on the board and turn the handle to watch all the gears move.
What are some of your favorite cause and effect toys and ideas?
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didactic games for teaching children the Tatar language (R.M. Valieva)
didactic games for teaching children the Tatar language
These didactic games are developed on the basis of didactic materials that are used by educators for teaching the Tatar and Russian languages in preschool institutions. Also, when developing didactic games, the requirements of the federal educational standard for preschool education were taken into account.
The design and content of games corresponds to the age characteristics of preschool children. These games can be used both during GCD by educators for teaching children the Tatar and Russian languages, and by educators during individual and corrective work on teaching materials with children during sensitive moments. All games can be used with children by age: 4-5 years old, 5-6 years old; 6-7 years old.
Objectives of didactic games:
The development of oral monologue and dialogic speech in two state languages.
Expansion of vocabulary in children according to thematic principles.
List and content of didactic games:
1. Didactic uen “Nәrsә artyk?”
Purpose of the game:
To consolidate the ability to find an extra object and explain why it is superfluous.
Game objectives:
To develop verbal-logical thinking, the ability to classify, compare, generalize, establish cause-and-effect and logical relationships.
Develop visual perception.
Develop monologue and dialogic speech in two state languages.
Cultivate attentiveness, the ability to follow instructions exactly; purposefulness.
Game progress:
The child is offered four pictures, three of which are united by a common feature. The teacher alternately shows the pictures and asks the child questions: “Bu nәrsә?” (What is it?), “Boo who?” (Who is this?). The child must answer the question in Tatar. Then the teacher asks the question: “Narse artyk?” (What is extra?). After that, the child must find an extra picture and answer why he chose it.
Example: Үrdek, tavyk, әtәch – bu koshlar. Aflisun – ashhamlyk.
2. Didactic uen “Unga kadar sanybyz”
Purpose of the game:
Teach children ordinal counting within ten in two languages; after recounting the depicted objects, select the total number and the correct ending when pronouncing the noun.
Tasks:
Develop ordinal counting skills, generalize, establish causal and logical relationships.
To teach children the ability to conduct monologue and dialogic speech in two languages.
Cultivate attentiveness, the ability to follow instructions exactly; purposefulness.
Game progress:
The child is offered a picture depicting a certain number of objects. The task of the child is to count the items in order and name the total number in the Tatar language.
Next, the teacher asks the question: Nothing? – How many?
The child answers the question with a complete answer in two languages.
Examples:
How many hares? One hare. – Nicha kuyan? Bir Kuyan.
How many books? – five books – Niche kitaplar? Bish kitaplar.
An example of a dialogue between a teacher and children; between children and children:
Tarbiyache: Nicha kitap?
Bala: h Chinese.
Tarbiyache: Nicha kuyan?
Bala: bir kuyan.
3. Didactic uen “Nindi?”
Purpose of the game:
Teach children to classify objects and highlight a common feature.
Tasks:
formation of lexical and grammatical categories;
agreement of adjectives with nouns;
use in oral monologue speech vocabulary of Russian and
Tatar languages.
Game progress:
The child carefully examines the pictures and names them, after which he selects a common feature of all the objects depicted in the pictures.
For example: kisher, kulmak, alma – kyzyl.
Kisher, Kulmak nindi?
– the child names the images, then also combines them according to the principle of a common feature, uses antonyms in his speech.
For example: pychrak – clean (dirty – clean).
This kurchak is clean – The dog and the doll are clean. Pesi һem kuyan pychrak. – the cat and the hare are dirty. Is that a nindi?
4. Didactic uen “Minem öem”
Purpose of the game:
To consolidate the knowledge of children on the topics: “Home”, “Family”, “Products”.
Game objectives:
Expand ideas about housing;
Expand your understanding of the family and its members.
To develop verbal-logical thinking, the ability to classify, compare, generalize, establish cause-and-effect and logical relationships.
To activate the monologue and dialogic speech of children in two state languages.
Game progress:
• The child is offered a picture of a house. The child writes a descriptive story using adjectives;
• Offered a picture depicting family members living in the same house.
The child consistently names all family members.
• The child is offered several pictures depicting family members, after looking at it, the child must determine who is currently missing and answer the teacher’s question: who is yuk? – who is absent?
Examples of constructing dialogues:
“Boo who? – Who is this?”
(dialogue between teacher and children; at older age – between children)
Tarbiyache: By whom?
Bala: Ati.
Tarbiyache: By whom?
Bala: Әni, (babai, әbi, әti, kyz, Malay).
Tarbiyache: Any nindi?
Bala: Ani zur, matur, clean, aibat.
“Who yuk? – Who is absent?
(dialogue between the educator and children; at an older age – a dialogue between children).
Tarbiyache: Whom yuk?
Bala: Әti (әni, kyz, malay).
Tarbiyache: Whom yuk?
Bala: Ani yuk.
Note: using these games, you can also play other games presented in the guidelines in order to consolidate the material covered and improve the skills of dialogic speech in children:
“Bu nәrsә? – What’s this?”
(dialogue between teacher and children).
Tarbiyache: Bu nәrsә?
Bala: Chey (sөt, ipi, alma).
Tarbiyache: Sot nindi?
Bala: Sot Tamle.
“Nothing? – How much?”
An example of a dialogue between a teacher and children, between children.
Tarbiyache: Ber kuyan?
Bala: Aye, ber kuyan.
Tarbiyache: Och kurchak?
Bala: Yuk, durt stupid.
Tarbiyache: Өch?
Bala: Yuk, durt.
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Municipal autonomous pre-school educational institution of the city of Rostov-on-Don “Kindergarten No. 42”
- Rostov-on-Don, Koroleva Avenue, 17/1
- +7 (863) 334533
- rostov-dou42@rambler.ru
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