Sunday, October 21, 2012

Welcome to Baby School

Baby H is 13 months old.  Most of H's day is spent observing his sisters playing, but I always try to fit in some new learning experiences that are geared just towards him (mostly sensory explorations and Montessori-inspired activities).  I figure that it's time for H to get his own Baby School weekly post showing all the neat things he has been discovering lately.  I didn't get a chance to capture all the cool activities we've been doing this week, but I'll share a handful of them..



Sensory Exploration
We did a couple seasonal activities this week.  H had fun exploring a variety of small gourds.  I let him play on his own, then joined in and pointed out the different textures, colors, and sizes.  When I had them on the table, he enjoyed throwing them down, so we moved to the floor.

When the older girls and I carved a pumpkin, H watched intently.  I put some seeds and pulp in a ziplock bag, sealed it with some packaging tape, and let him play with it (supervised, of course).  It had a really neat feeling, and H enjoyed mushing it and trying to move the seeds around with his finger.  When he started biting on the bag, I took it away.

Fine Motor Skills & Color Recognition

H plays with a lot of different toys, but each week I try to focus on one or two toys that get special attention until he can master them.  This week I took out these blocks and showed H how to build a pyramid.  We named the colors and said 'on' and 'off' as we assembled and disassembled pyramids, and by the end of the week he had mastered this skill.

Another favorite activity was putting plastic keys into a container.  The keys would not fit in the container unless they were oriented vertically, so this was a nice challenge for H, and good preparation for other fine motor skills which he isn't quite ready for yet (like putting straws and q-tips through small holes).

I also gave H two bowls, some Cheerios and a spoon to try some transferring work.  He had a good time tipping the contents of the bowl all over the floor.  I'll have to do more spooning/scooping/pouring work with him this week.


Music


We spent a lot of time singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments this week, but this is the only picture I managed to capture.  At first, H tried to suck on the recorder, but after I gently blew on his face, H instantly figured out that he was supposed to blow into it to make a noise.

I'll try to remember to capture more photos of H's Baby School activities for next weeks summary.  H is really reaching a fun age where he is learning new concepts so quickly, and I love coming up with new ideas for learning explorations for him.

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9 comments:

  1. Awesome baby activities! Bumpy gourds are awesome!!!

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  2. These are really neat ideas! I loved doing new things when my tot was a baby. It is so fun to see their amazement at new experiences!

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  3. Great ideas, I wanted to get some of those gourds for my 19 month old!

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  4. Thanks, everyone! I found the gourds at the supermarket for 50 cents each. My 3-year-old twins love playing with them, too, so they were definitely an affordable and fun addition to our fall-themed playthings.

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  5. Wheels loves to play with gourds and pumpkins too :)

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  6. Looks like he is having a great time. Good for you for providing so many wonderful opportunities for him. Just pinned this!

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  7. I love how you used the pulp and seeds! Looks like it was a ton of fun :)

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  8. Great activities and adorable photos, Lilac! Thanks so much for linking up with Montessori Monday. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and pinned it to my Babies - Activities and Ideas Board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/babies-activities-and-ideas/

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