I talk with moms every day who struggle with finding good, educational, but fun activities for their toddlers. They’re tired of perusing Pinterest, only to get lost in a sea of partial, segmented activities that are too advanced for their 1 or 2-year-old. I feel obligated to create this academy because it’s the ultimate solution for moms with toddlers because…

• being a toddler mom is hard! Let’s make doing activities easier.
• perfection doesn’t exist. Let’s throw it out the window and focus on DOING and being PRESENT with our kids.
• time. Time is precious. Time is limited. Let’s skip the planning, guesswork, and adapting and start doing thematic activities our kids will enjoy and learn from.
• our toddlers are more capable than we give them credit for. Let’s see what they can do!
• we think we don’t have time or the resources. You do! LIFE is learning. Let’s fine-tune what you’re already doing so that you’re using the best strategies for engaging and teaching your toddler.
• we’re concerned and overwhelmed by the thought of a mess. Messes and mistakes will happen, but there are ways to minimize both. That’s where I come in! 🙂
• we’re worried about “messing up” our kids. The fear of failure or not being good enough stops us dead in our tracks and prevents us from DOING stuff. I promise you, doing MORE activities with your toddler, trying NEW stuff, and exploring new ideas and concepts will NOT mess up your child. Quite the contrary, actually!

I created The Academy because I’m passionate about teaching children, especially at an early age. Children are SO much more capable than we often give them credit for! It’s my mission to help parents teach their little ones at home, so that our children are prepared for more formal schooling.

Your child’s education is important and I don’t take helping you teach your child at home lightly.

I promise you that all the activities and products I recommend are things that I have done with my own children or would do with my own children. There is an educational or developmental purpose to everything I recommend. So, if you’re the mom who is on the fence, perhaps a bit skeptical, and wants more details and info, please continue reading this section (I get it! My brother’s that way). If you’re short on time, and just want the details, please skip down to the next picture (I get it! You have a gazillion and one things to do. The “Cliff Notes” version is just fine.).

Before I go any further, I want to clarify what I mean by “teach” because it’s a bit of a misnomer here. Children learn best through play. It’s their job while they’re young. So, it’s YOUR job to help your child discover, create, explore, and learn through play. Following your child’s lead can be a bit intimidating at first, but that’s where I come in to support and help you through the process.

As a former classroom teacher, I saw firsthand how unprepared children were for school.

This is preventable. That’s right! It’s within your control! It’s time to stop wasting time and start taking action. Do it for your kids. Do it for their futures! YOU are your child’s first teacher. YOU can do this. YOU are enough and you can do a great job. And, I’ll be right there with you, helping you each step of the way.

Most people are telling us that our toddlers aren’t capable of activities. That we basically need to just get through toddler-hood and fill the time until they’re “old enough” for “real” learning. NOT true! Your toddler is VERY capable!

There’s almost NOTHING out there for our 1 and 2-year-olds, yet they DESERVE to learn and have fun activities to do, just like 3 and 4-year-olds. There’s no “magic” age that’s right for learning and exploring! But, that’s not what we’re lead to believe with the lack of resources available.

Ask any toddler mom. Being a toddler mom is HARD. Our little ones are more independent and want to learn. They’re NATURALLY curious about the world around them and want to know everything about anything. Yet, we’re left without resources to help them learn. So, we spend our days struggling because our toddlers are bored with push button toys and electronics that don’t allow their rapidly growing brains to fully develop.

Why do you think consignment stores and garage sales are FILLED with toys that don’t offer much room for open-ended play or creativity?

Why are toy manufacturers constantly trying to create new and more interesting toys?

Because the old ones are boring! So, let’s stop wasting money on fancy gadgets that our kids play with for a week and then grown bored of, and start spending quality time using open-ended materials and things we have around the house.

But, first, I need YOUR help.

It’s beta testing time!

Let’s fine-tune and make sure that the activities are just what you need and are in a format that works for you!

What do you get?

• Themed activities to try out with your toddler
• Access to me via email or private message

What do I need from you? 

• Your honest feedback!
• Each week, you’ll receive an activity to do with your toddler. Do the activity and let me know what you think! Yup, it’s that simple!

The Academy is now closed, but you can get all of this and MORE in The Activity Room from Hands on as we Grow. Check it out here and get started doing easy, fun activities with your little one.

A little about me

I’m Connie, the mom of a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old. Before I became a mom, I was a classroom teacher. I taught elementary school and middle school English. I also taught both children and adults who were learning English as a second language. As a mom, I help run a local co-op for children 0-6 years old and their parents and a homeschool preschool co-op. I started Lessons and Learning for Littles because I noticed that there’s not a lot out there for children who are under 3, and when there is, it takes forever to find and piece-mill together, and who has time for that? Plus, children learn best through play. Why not capitalize on their natural curiosity and help them learn through play and discovery-based activities? However, we also need all of this to be doable. We’re busy and don’t have time for lots of setting up before an activity (who wants to spend all of nap time doing that!?) and cleaning up (not fun!). That’s how Lessons and Learning for Littles came about- as a place to help busy parents help their toddlers and preschoolers learn at home through high interest play-based activities.

Next steps:

• The Academy is closed, but you can get all the activities from The Academy in my ebook. You can also check out The Activity Room from Hands on as we Grow , which offers all this and MORE. Check it out here.