Suggestions Pls for One Year Olds

[Lee-Bee]

Are you doing circle/storytime? When I had five 12-16month olds we still did a story time every day. I sang a few action songs and read a handful of toddler books. They LOVED it, some wandered while listening but for the most part they tried to sit near me while I read.

Stickers were a favorite activity. Buy the bigger stickers from the dollar store and let them try and get them off. I had to bend up a corner on each sticker for the first while.

With 1 yr olds you are limited to some degree but you can still have a schedule of activities. Periods of free paly, periods where you bring out a special toy to have them play with (blocks, potato heads, cars etc) that bring them together to spend a few minutes on the same activity.

Have periods where you put on children's music to sing along too (this works wonders when they don't yet sing and you get sick of hearing just your own voice). It doesn't take much to break up the day (simple differences like music on, music off, story time, a special toy activity) and it is enough to vary the flow of the day for your sake!

Once the weather is that little bit warmer and you start going outside more then you'll find the day goes by faster as well since just getting them outside and back inside takes up a good chunk of your day!

For the 3yr old. Any idea why he might be delayed? It sounds like he hears you fine? The lack of language output and the trouble with balance could be a hearing issue. I'm not sure what to recommend there. Part of me would worry that if he is that far behind then hanging out with 1yr olds is not the best thing for him, as he would benefit from the modeling of older children. But, make the most of your time with him and try to really work on the crucial skills he'll need for kindergarten. If he is far behind all around then I wouldn't worry too much about letters and number, I would likely rather spend my time working on his speaking, his expressing his needs (asking for water, food, the bathroom etc). Many children in kindergarten don't yet know their letters and numbers and lots of time is spent on this in kindergarten...but most children are able to speak in sentences, go to the bathroom with minimal help and express their needs.

If crafts isn't his thing then simplify it. Put paper and glue out and let him glue a variety of materials down (pompoms, scraps of paper etc). Let him use markers, let him paint etc. Structured crafts take a lot of patience and require the ability to complete multiple steps in a certain order. It sounds like he is far from ready for that. Let him explore some art materials without instruction...he free exploration may peek his interest, the more time he spends exploring the more he'll start to like it and the more he'll start to do and soon enough he will be ready for 'crafts'.

Have his parents taken him for a language assessment? There is likely a local group that does free assessments they will give the parents a lot of activities to do with him to help him along and they will flag him for any supports he may need.

[Frogsandrabbits]

Thanks for all your input.
With the little ones I do a sit-down reading session about twice a day, sometimes more depending on everyone's moods that day. Sometimes they are all sitting on me, some days just toddling about. I know they're only a year and attention is short! Lol. I'm going to try stickers, will look at dollar store for big ones, thanks. Everyday we do something like what you mentioned - bringing out a different toy, etc. we have a cubed shelving unit and I do pull out some of the higher up buckets with Potato Head or wood puzzles. It does work like a charm!
I guess I'm not far off what I should be doing by the sounds of it. My husband reassures me all the time. My daycare parents love me and have such relief knowing their kids are well taken care of. I think I need to relax and not be so paranoid that the parents expect more. I am not into providing crafts and arts to go home with the babes. The parents do love it when the kids do yogurt painting and such.
As for my three year old. I am not sure of the reasons for the delay. I'm doing what I can with him. I do make him at least attempt to talk "all done", "please", "excuse me" etc. we say colors and shapes too throughout the day. I kind of had the same thought about him being around the wee ones not helping his case but the parents chose me, he was my first sign up. The child's mom says he gets so excited to come here! He has really taken a shining to My 8 year old son. I can't wait for March break when my son can be here and be a bit of a model for 3yr old.
Thanks again for the reassurance.