A fun activity for your toddler

Your toddler will get endless enjoyment out of rolling things down a ramp. Almost anything that rolls will work – balls, cars, even toilet paper tubes. She'll also develop her understanding of gravity as she witnesses the downhill action over and over again.

Good for age: 23 months (but older and younger kids might enjoy it, too!)

Skills developed: gross motor control, spatial awareness, shape and size recognition

What you'll need: balls, cars, trains, tubes, oranges – any object that rolls. You'll also need something flat and long for the ramp – try an upside-down tray, cardboard, or even a large hardback book.

Set up the ramp, propping the high end on the edge of a sofa or a pile of books, and start rolling things down. Explain to your toddler that things need to be round in order to roll.

Have her help you find more round things to send down the ramp. She may choose some things that aren't round, like blocks or books. You can use this as an opportunity to explain that square or rectangular things slide instead of roll, though she'll learn more from her own observations than from your explanation.

For a fun variation, try "racing" two different objects down the ramp – a ball and a car, for example. Or, use a tunnel instead of a ramp. A long cardboard tube, like the one inside a roll of wrapping paper, is ideal for this.