February 2011 Week 2

Tot School

33 Months Old

Zoo

The weather has been so beautiful that we decided to go to the zoo.  Little Sweets loves the animals.  She told me her favorites were the monkeys, lions, and fish.  She also loves playing on the animal statues throughout the zoo.

Fine Motor and Sorting Activity

Little Sweets used tongs to pick up pom poms.  She placed them in a muffin tin, sorting them by color. 

Math Activity- Hi Ho Cherrio Game

Little Sweets, Daddy, and I played this game several times this week. This game is a great counting game. 

Capital and Lower Case Letter Identification

Little Sweets circled the capital and lower case A's on the page.  I found this worksheet here.

(I put the worksheet in a plastic page protector so we can use it again.)

Counting and Fine Motor Activity

Little Sweets used tongs to place the correct number of pom poms in the muffin tin.

 Listening Skills

I hit the drum a specific number of times then Little Sweets repeated it back to me. 

Alphabet Game

 I printed this game from confessions of a homeschooler.  You can get the game here.  Little Sweets spun a number and moved that many spaces on the game board.  Then she told me the letter she landed on. 

For more great tot school posts go here. 

Tot School February post

Tot School

33 months

Drawing Lines

We have been working on Little Sweets fine motor skills.  I bought a kumon tracing workbook.  I placed the workbook page in a plastic page protector so we can reuse the pages.   Little Sweets enjoyed drawing straight lines. 

Candy Heart Color Game

I bought candy hearts for Valentine's Day.  Little Sweets told me the color of the heart before she ate it. 

Lacing Beads Patterning Game

I found these lacing beads at the dollar store.  I used them to make different patterns.  Little Sweets extended the pattern by adding more beads. 

Sorting Colors

Little Sweets sort the beads by color. She also worked on hand eye coordination as she put each bead on the rod.   I actually made this manipulative.  You can see how to make it here.

Valentine Eraser Math Game

Little Sweets placed valentine erasers on number cards.  She counted the dots on each card and matched the number of erasers  to each dot.  Then she matched the popsicle with the corect number to each card. 

Read-Alouds

We go to the library almost every week and Little Sweets picks out books to read-aloud. I love reading with her .

For more great tot school posts go here.

Tot School Winter Theme Week 2

Tot School -Winter Theme

30 Months

We welcomed our newest bundle of joy on January 14th.  She was 8lbs 2 oz and little sweets loves being a big sister.  We haven't had much time for tot school. The activities from this post are from a few weeks ago. 

Cotton Ball Snowman

Little Sweets had fun gluing cotton balls to a snowman cutout.  I was very surprised that she didn't make a mess with the glue.  She made sure she put one dot on the snowman and then placed the cottonball on the glue dot.  She did such a great job I think I will let her use the bottle more often. 

Winter Patterns

Little Sweets loves her pattern blocks.  I printed some winter pattern block sheets from the prekinders website and Little Sweets loved working on them. 

Puffy Paint Snow Picture

After Little Sweets came in from the snow I thought it would be fun to paint a snow picture.  I tried remembering a recipe I had seen to make puffy paint.  I mixed poster paint and glue and it didn't really turn out that well.  I just found a recipe that calls for equal parts of shaving cream and glue.  She still enjoyed painting, but I think I will try again using the shaving cream and glue instead. 

Snow Sensory Activity

Little Sweets had so much fun playing in the snow that I decided to bring some into the house as a sensory activity.  Little Sweets really enjoyed scooping it up and putting it in cups.

Colored Snow Experiment

We  brought some snow inside and Little Sweets added two different colors to the snow.  When it melted it made a new color. 

Playing in the Snow

This is our second snow storm in 3 weeks and we live in South Carolina!!!  We don't usually get snow so this has been a treat for Little Sweets.  I only wish we had boots for her.  When she and daddy came in her little toes were so cold. 

For more great tot school posts go here. 

Tot School- Winter Theme

Tot School

30 months

I am due to have the baby next Friday and wasn't sure if I was going to make it so I decided to post some activities we are doing and will be doing this month a little early.

How Many Buttons?

Little Sweets loved playing in the snow so I tried to come up with some fun snowmen activities.  This activity is fun and easy to make.  I drew a picture of a snowman and made a number spinner.  The spinner was simple to make. I printed off a picture of a circle cut into fifths, wrote numbers in each piece, laminated the circle, poked a hole in the middle placed a metal clasp in the center, and attached a paper clip to the clasp.  To play the game we took turns spinning the spinner, identifying the number the spinner landed on, and counting out the correct number of buttons.    This is a great game for Little Sweets, she can count to twelve, but is still having trouble identifying some numbers.  I am glad I made the spinner because I plan to use it with other activities too.

This activity reinforces counting, one-to-one correspondence, and number recognition 

Button Sort

  This activity happened by accident.  Little Sweets wanted to look at the buttons so I handed her the bag and she dumped them all on the floor.  I should have known it was going to happen.  Instead of having her simply pick them up I grabbed a cupcake tin and she sorted the buttons by color.  I wouldn't suggest doing this activity around little ones because it is definitely a choking hazard. 

This activity reinforces sorting, fine motor skills, color discrimination and identification.

Mitten Lacing

I've been trying to come up with fun activities to reinforce fine motor skills so I decided to make my own lacing card.  I thought a mitten would be fun for winter.  I cut out a picture of a mitten from construction paper and laminated it.  Then I used a hole puncher to poke holes in it.  I tied

a shoe lace to the end of the mitten.  I've seen lacing cards at education stores, but if you have your own laminator and hole puncher I wouldn't waste the money. 

 I don't have any pictures of Little Sweets because this was the first time we attempted this type of activity and she was on my lap the whole time.  She struggled with it at first, but I am sure her skills will improve over time. 

This activity reinforces fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. 

Big and Little Sort

This activity was a little too simple for Little Sweets she was finished with it in a matter of seconds. I printed out two different sized snowmen and had Little Sweets sort them by size.

This activity reinforces the concept of sorting. 

Snowman File Folder Game

I found this activity here.  I  printed off the game and laminated the pieces.  The object of the game was to match the color snowman with the color word written on the snowman.  I printed it out in color since Little Sweets is just learning to identify colors and color words.  You can also print out the color words in black and white if you are focusing on learning to identify color words. 

Little Sweets enjoyed matching the snowmen.  We also talked about the color words as she matched the snowmen. She would say the color and then she would try to identify the letter the color word started with.  She did a great job. 

This activity reinforces the concepts of matching, color identification, and color word identification. 

Shape Snowman

I wanted Little Sweets to make a paper snowman so I found a pattern on this website.  This is a fun craft to teach about shapes.  I cut out the shapes, but if your child is older they could cut them out themselves.  Then I told Little Sweets to find a specific shape, like the big circle.  She would find the shape show me and then put glue on it.  Then she glued it to the page.  I had to show her where to glue the shapes she is still working on learning position words.  She really enjoyed this activity.

This activity can be used to teach about shapes, following directions, fine motor skills (cutting), and using position words. 

Five Snowmen Song and Activity

This was a song I would sing when I was teaching.  Five children would come up and pretend to be a snowman and act out the words.  I only have one child so instead I improvised.  We put five snowmen on our white board.  ( I used the laminated ones from the file folder game).  Then we sang the song and took one away when it melted in the song.  Then Little Sweets would count and tell me how many snowmen were left.  I also used this activity as an opportunity to teach about colors.  We would say each had a colored had instead of silly hat.  Then I would tell her which snowman melted by the color on his hat.  She had to find the right snowman with the right colored hat.  This is an activity I think we will be doing over and over again.

Here is a link to the song. 

This activity reinforces the concepts of, counting, subtraction, and color recognition. 

Mitten Bingo

We haven't had time to do this activity, but will do it later this month.  I printed out pictures of colored mittens and laminated the pictures.  Then I made a spinner. Each player takes a bingo card.  When it is there turn the spin the spinner.  If the spinner lands on a mitten color they have then they get to put a chip on that mitten.  The first to cover up all their mittens wins.  If you have older children who are learning there color words you could write all the color words in black and have them read the colors.  I used thematching colors since Little Sweets is just learning to identify colors. 

This activity reinforces the concepts of color identification, color word identification, and taking turns. 

Playing in the Snow

  We don't get much snow in South Carolina so this was a treat for daddy and Little Sweets. 

For more great tot posts go here.

Christmas Activities 2010

Here are some activities we did over Christmas.  I know it's a little late to be posting, but you could always try them next year. 

God's Gift

This activity came from the preschool book " More Toddlerific Fun Faith-Builders "  I printed off pictures from the book and placed them in different gift boxes.  Little Sweets opened the boxes and pulled out the pictures.  Each picture told a part of the story of Christ's birth and emphasized that God's gift to us was Jesus.

Magnetic Christmas Story

This was easy to make.  Print out coloring pictures that go along with the story of Christ's birth.  Color and laminate the pictures. Put magnets on the back of the pictures and use the magnets to tell the story of Christ's birth.  I used the back of a cookie sheet as the magnet board.   

Birthday Cupcakes for Jesus

We usually make a birthday cake for Jesus for Christmas.  This year we made cupcakes.  We made 12 cupcakes to remind us that we should remember Jesus all 12 months of the year.  Little Sweets likes to help cook so this was a fun activity for her. 

Tot School December post 1

Tot School December Post (1)

(30 Months)

 Shape Sort and Simple Ornament for Toddlers

We had some foam shapes we were planning on using for an ornament.  Little Sweets sorted the shapes  before me we made the ornament.  She then decided to mix all the shapes together again before we made the ornament. 

Simple Ornament for Toddlers

Little Sweets loves art activities.  I thought it would be fun to have her make an ornament as a keepsake.  I took a piece of paper and cut a hole in the middle.  Then I placed a piece of contact paper on one side.  Little Sweets placed foam shapes on top of the contact paper.  ( You could use tissue paper or construction paper instead.)  We talked about the shapes as she put them on the contact paper.  Then I took another piece of contact paper and put it on top of the sticky sided contact paper.  We put a hole through the circle and tied a string through.  Little Sweets placed it on the tree.  It looks pretty when the lights shine through it. 

Homemade Star Puzzle

Little Sweets loves doing puzzles so I thought I would create one with her.  I printed out two star shapes.  Little Sweets and I colored one star and then I cut it out.  Little Sweets placed the pieces of the star on top of the second star shape that I printed out and glued the pieces on.  She needed a little help with the placement of some of the pieces.  Afterwards, she decided the star needed glitter so she painted it with some glitter glue.

Shaving Cream Fun

Little Sweets and I enjoyed  playing with shaving cream.  This is a great sensory activity.  Little Sweets practiced her fine motor skills as she made straight lines and circles in the cream.  She even made a few letters, t, d, and p.  I also wrote letters in the cream and Little Sweets identified them.

Reading with Mommy and Daddy

We spend a lot of time reading. This week Little Sweets picked out  several Karen Katz books.  She is a great author for toddlers and most of her books have you interacting with your child.  Little Sweets loves these books and calls them the baby books because the characters are usually babies. 

Lately I haven't been posting tot school activites.  We are always doing activities and spending time playing together I just haven't been taking a lot of pictures.  I want to keep track of Little Sweets learning as well as keep a portfolio of her activities as a keepsake.  I plan to continue to keep posting in the future, but I am beginning to realize you can't capture everything on camera.  

For more great tot school posts go here.