Sticky Mosaics

I usually don't review many products on this blog because, well, I haven't been approached by any companies to do reviews, so if I mention a specific product it's because I really really like it.  I do want to mention something fun that engaged both my girls (almost 3 years old) for well over an hour this week.  It's the My First Sticky Mosaics activity from The Orb Factory.  It is basically little foam stickers in various shapes and colors which are placed on color-coded spots on sturdy cardboard to make a mosaic.  We've had this product since the girls were 2 years old, but at the time, only L had the fine motor skills (and patience) to complete a picture (with a lot of assistance from me).  Earlier this week, I took this activity out and was amazed at how carefully and patiently the girls finished their mosaics...

When each girls wanted her own pet to make, I was thinking that there is no way either of their projects would get done.  But to my surprise, the girls worked and worked so diligently on their pet mosaics:

L was completely self-directed, choosing the colors/shapes she wanted to work on next and removing them from the sticker sheet (which is something she hasn't been able to do successfully in the past).  She aligned all the stickers so they covered the placeholders completely and were facing the correct direction!   I handed the stickers to E and she placed them on her dog all by herself.  Even the smaller triangles which were hard for her little fingers to turn sticky-side-down and align did not produce any fits of frustration! 

After over an hour of work, both girls were done:

L and E were very proud of their accomplishments, and I was quite proud of how patiently they had worked and how far their fine motor skills have come.