Play The Giving Game

What You Need

Suggested Items to Use At Home:

• Small toddler-safe toys, such as stuffed animals*
• A soft ball

*Your toddler may have a hard time giving up that special toy or stuffed animal. Select items that she may not be as attached to.

Suggested Items to Use While Shopping:

• A firm, easy-to-handle fruit, such as an orange
• Small bag of dried beans
• Small box or bag of dried pasta
• A set of plastic toy keys that you keep in your purse

How To Play

At Home:

• Gather together several of your child’s stuffed animals or a soft ball.
• Sit with your child across from you and begin by saying, “Mommy gives Sarah a ball.”
• Once Sarah has the ball, give her praise and then say, “Now, Sarah, give Mommy the ball!”
• Praise her again when she gives the ball back to you.

While Shopping:

• Play the game with the suggested items listed above in the same manner while your toddler is in the shopping cart.
• Once she has mastered giving items back to you, ask her to put them into the cart or into a small grocery bag.

After your child has mastered giving the toy to you, ask her to pick up the toy you call out and hand it to you.

Add colors and shapes to your requests as your toddler gets older.

Before you know it, she will be naming the toy as she hands it back to you!