Place photographs of faces, cut from magazines, on the floor
and encourage a toddler to look at them. Include photographs with
front and side views of faces.
Note the photographs that interest the toddler
and describe the faces or name the people in the pictures.
Place a mirror
beside the photographs and suggest that the toddler look in it.
Exclaim, ‘Oh,
I can see [Ben]. I can see his hair, his eyes…’
Family
Faces
Repeat the activity above, using photographs of the child’s
family.
Ask a toddler questions about the people in the photographs.
With
an older child, place two photographs face down and ask if they remember
who is in them. Let the child check if they are right.
Return to the
mirror. Look at a photograph of the child and ask them to touch their
nose on the mirror, then their actual nose, and so on.
Invite the child
to make a funny face and exclaim, ‘Oh
your photo can’t do that!’
Friendly Faces
Stick photographs of a group of children on to CDs.
Attach the CDs to a ribbon and hang them near a mirror, low enough
so a child sitting on the floor can reach, turn and twirl them.
Help
the child name the faces they focus on, and repeat as many times
as the child wants.
Challenge the child to find a particular person.
When the child finds
their photo exclaim, ‘Oh, it’s
a little photo of Ben, but look in the mirror at your reflection that
is bigger and here you are.’ Give the child a cuddle.
Familiar Faces
Add CDs with photographs of familiar staff members to
the collection.
Hang them up or place them on the floor and ask the
child to find a face.
Lay the CDs face down and ask the toddler to turn
them over and name the faces.
Ask the toddler to name the person, point
to the real child or adult and say, ‘Hello, [Beth].’
Lay
out four CDs and ask the child to name each of the faces.
Cover each
with a cloth and suggest the child finds the hidden faces and names
each one.
Replace the covers and have the child find a particular face,
then another, and so on.
