Ruffles and Rain Boots

Creativity, crafts, and sarcasm.

mail_pdsfacebook_rufflestwitter_rufflesinstagram_pdspinterest_rufflesbloglovin_ruffles
  • Crafts / DIY
    • Bath and Beauty
      • All Bath and Beauty
      • Bath Bombs and Shower Fizzies
    • Holidays
      • Valentine’s Day Fun, Food, and Crafting
      • Easter Crafts and Decor
      • Christmas Crafts and Gifts
      • DIY Christmas Gnomes
      • Christmas Food, Fun, and Crafting
    • General Crafts
    • Handmade Gifts
    • Party & Games
    • Sewing
      • Beginner Sewing Projects
      • Dress Up and Costume Tutorials
  • Rock Painting
  • Digital Crafting
  • Hand Lettering
    • Hand Lettering 101
    • Best Hand Lettering Supplies
    • Hand Lettering Workbooks and Bonuses
  • For Kids
    • Dress Up and Costume Tutorials
    • Disney Fun
    • Crafting for The Kids
    • Kid Crafts
    • Activities and Games
    • Book Activities
  • Food
    • The Recipes
    • Christmas Meals and Holiday Treats
    • Cookie Decorating
  • All Posts
  • Treasure
    • Printables
    • Site Policies
    • Sponsors and Advertisers
  • Consulting
You are here: Home / 2 years old / Teach a Toddler to Follow Instructions: Treasure Hunt!

Teach a Toddler to Follow Instructions: Treasure Hunt!

January 25, 2014 By Sarah Nenni-Daher 2 Comments

Pin
Share
Tweet
Stumble
+1
Shares 0

 

This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com

Having just hit the two-year mark with our daughter, I am already hearing “no” when I ask Elise to do something.

Sometimes I get, “no thank you, Mommy,” and as polite (and cute) as that is, it’s just not going to cut it ’round here.

I figure it’s way too early in this whole parenting thing to start saying, “because I said so,” and that’s put me on the path to try and teach her how to follow directions. 

 
I set up this treasure hunt activity so she can practice in a fun, new way. Click on “Read More” to join our search for treasure!


Being sick with the flu has left me trying to stay around the house as much as possible.
 
And that is weird, because I am not good at being cooped up. Just ask hubby about “Snowmageddon 2008.” It wasn’t pretty.
 
This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com

Anyway, because I knew we weren’t going anywhere, I planned this activity for today. Last night I whipped out a treasure map. I made it quite generic (using only the numbers for each step), because I had absolutely NO idea what I was going to do, other than ask her to follow the numbers in their order.  

 
During her nap today, I set up the hunt using the toys currently in rotation in the living room toy box or stuff we’d already crafted (see the quick and easy instructions for the palm tree here). I used her alphabet letter crafts, puzzle pieces, toys, fabric, a blanket, and a stuffed animal to come up with the areas that helped to define each ‘step.’ 
 
After snack, we started at the door to her room and I laid out the ground rules: 
  1. We were going on a treasure hunt. “A bear hunt? Yay!” Um… “Sure, except instead of a bear, we’re hunting treasure!” “K, Mommy.” 
  2. You need to follow the numbers in order. “K, Mommy.” 
  3. Have fun! 
This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com

She kind of milled around, looking at each of the areas and playing with some of the pieces. I helped her start at the first step, Hippo Hollow.  

We played with the hippos and waved around our hippo puppet. It’s the weirdest things that kids love… I made that hippo “puppet” in about 5 minutes before a trip to the grocery store because I wanted to get the shopping done relatively quickly. 

She loves that thing. Go figure.

We hopped to the second spot: Alligator Alley. 

This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com


We spent A LOT of time with the alligators. I seriously don’t know what it is about alligators, but my kid loves them. 

Is that weird? 

I mean, she’s scared of a bark from our 12 pound wiener dog, but alligators? Oh yeah, she thinks they’d be great for snuggling. 

Anyway, when she noticed the map resting where she had discarded it, she abruptly stopped playing with the alligators and said, “Where’s the three, Mommy?” I just shrugged my shoulders and she was back on the hunt. 


This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com

We stayed in the living room for this activity, so it wasn’t too hard for her to find: stop three on our treasure hunt was Library Book Letter Lagoon. 

I know, I know. That one’s name wasn’t very inspired, but hey, it was the best I could come up with at the time. 


Now, I thought we would spend a lot of time at this one because she loves her library books and she loves playing with letters. Um yeah, leave it to the 2 year old to make you feel like you don’t know diddly. 

She looked at it, moved the letters around (she swapped the “L” for the “P” and spelled ‘POOT’ and I laughed and laughed). Then, she read one book and went on the hunt for the number 4. 

This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.com

The Gorilla Gauntlet. 

Again, not the best moniker. If it were really a gauntlet, it would be… Well, it would be kind of inappropriate for a two year old. I had been semi-successful with alliteration up ’til this point, and Gorilla Gulley just didn’t have the same ring. 

Besides, it’s not like she knows what a gauntlet is, right? 

To be honest, I could have called it Gorilla Gouda and she wouldn’t have cared because of the fuzzy guy her Aunt Becky got her. The gorilla is so soft. No really. 

He’s like clouds covered in feathers soft. Saw-fft – it deserves two syllables, it’s so soft. 

This is an awesome pic of an easy craft on RufflesAndRainBoots.comFor this last stop, I wanted to switch it up a bit and I’m really glad I did. She said each letter of “table” and then said, “this a word.” 

Now, I think that’s pretty impressive, people. Maybe it’s not for a two year old, but I think it is and please don’t burst my bubble. :) 

The last stage of our hunt was the treasure, set up under the coconut tree we made here. I used the box my from my engagement ring, and filled it with Dollar Store jewels. 

Side note: it is cuter than puppies bopping kittens on their noses when you hear a kid say, “I found da tweasure! Hooray for me!” 

Anyway, I would have loved to share pictures of her moving from one step to another as she worked out the number sequence, but alas, my phone died because I took these pictures of the set up and of an activity we did in the morning. Yep, it was a bit of a rookie mistake. 

Lessons learned. 

If you have any tips for helping kids learn to follow instructions, let us know in the comments section below. Or, just let us know that you stopped by – we love to hear from you! 

Ruffles and Rain Boots, toddler crafts, toddler activities, fun crafts for kids, rainy day activities, sarcastic mom
Ruffles and Rain Boots, toddler crafts, toddler activities, fun crafts for kids, rainy day activities, sarcastic mom
This was shared (in a different way) on Google+ by Sarah Nenni-Daher. 
Join me there and join in the fun!
 
 

Stay connected with Ruffles and Rain Boots:
facebooktwitterpinterestgoogle plusstumbleuponrss feed
This post might contain partner links. Please click here to read our full release.

You Might Also Love

Mickey Mouse Crafts That Will Help You Bring the S...
An Easy (and Awesome) Baymax Bookmark Polymer Clay...
24 Disney Movie Crafts – Great for Family Mo...
Pin
Share
Tweet
Stumble
+1
Shares 0

We are grateful when you share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: 2 years old, Educational Activities, Games for Kids, Kid Crafts Tagged With: Following Instructions

About Sarah Nenni-Daher

Sarah traded in senior executives for sippy cups and now shares her loves of crafts and laughter at Ruffles and Rain Boots. Read more about Sarah here and be sure to follow the fun and creativity on Facebook

Share your thoughts:

  1. Anonymous says

    January 28, 2014 at 10:59 am

    You are so creative! I just read the “Hippo, dragon…etc.” entry! And you are right to be impressed by your little one! Children are so ready to soak up whatever they are surrounded by so you (and she) are ahead of the curve by giving her tasks to exercise her thinking skills! Keep it up! And may I add, I am impressed that you did this while fighting off the flu???
    Auntie M. (NY)

    Reply
    • Sarah Nenni-Daher says

      January 31, 2014 at 9:58 pm

      Thanks! Sadly, we followed the flu up with colds for the entire family… This has been a rough winter, but seeing the silver lining: we have a ton of Kleenex boxes we are going to craft with!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Show more posts

Hello There

Ruffles and Rain Boots ABOUTRuffles and Rain Boots CONTACTRuffles and Rain Boots FAQImage Map

Dress Up Costume

Dress-Up-Apron-Costume-Tutorials

Gifts

Inexpensive-Gift-Ideas

Kid Crafts

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Content Marketing Editorial Calendar For WordPress

Search Ruffles

Sarah Nenni-Daher is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Proud member of the International Blogger's Assoc!

Email Newsletter
mail_pdsfacebook_rufflestwitter_rufflesinstagram_pdspinterest_rufflesgoogle_rufflesbloglovin_ruffles

Copyright All Rights Reserved. Please contact us for use. © 2018

X
Get all of the exclusive goodies and our weekly email of creativity!
YES, I WANT IT!
  • Crafts / DIY
    ▼
    • Bath and Beauty
      ▼
      • All Bath and Beauty
      • Bath Bombs and Shower Fizzies
    • Holidays
      ▼
      • Valentine’s Day Fun, Food, and Crafting
      • Easter Crafts and Decor
      • Christmas Crafts and Gifts
      • DIY Christmas Gnomes
      • Christmas Food, Fun, and Crafting
    • General Crafts
    • Handmade Gifts
    • Party & Games
    • Sewing
      ▼
      • Beginner Sewing Projects
      • Dress Up and Costume Tutorials
  • Rock Painting
  • Digital Crafting
  • Hand Lettering
    ▼
    • Hand Lettering 101
    • Best Hand Lettering Supplies
    • Hand Lettering Workbooks and Bonuses
  • For Kids
    ▼
    • Dress Up and Costume Tutorials
    • Disney Fun
    • Crafting for The Kids
    • Kid Crafts
    • Activities and Games
    • Book Activities
  • Food
    ▼
    • The Recipes
    • Christmas Meals and Holiday Treats
    • Cookie Decorating
  • All Posts
  • Treasure
    ▼
    • Printables
    • Site Policies
    • Sponsors and Advertisers
  • Consulting