Tot School - 22 Months

Baby H (22 months old) has been getting lots of Tot School time every day in his high chair while his older sisters complete their worksheets.  I've been trying to provide a variety of games and learning activities for him, but I'm honestly having a hard time keeping up with this kid since he picks things up so quickly.  Here's what we've been up to...

H has been working on fine motor skills challenges (which often aren't that challenging for him, but he still enjoys doing).  There is lot of one-to-one correspondence work involving placing one object in each spot (we use paint palettes, ice cube trays, egg cartons, etc.. along with blocks, balls, cereal, and other manipulatives).

Putting these little flags in their bases is a good fine motor challenge.  They came in a plastic soldier play set that I got for $1 a couple years ago.

H just learned how to thread beads, which is a new favorite activity. 

I'm always trying to re-purpose the toys he's outgrown into new activities.  In the photo above, his task is to get the wooden puzzle pieces to stand up.  I not only like being able to get a bit more play out of toys, but also to show my kids that there isn't just one way to play with toys and they can be creative and try out their own play ideas.

Peg puzzles are getting too easy for H - I does them once and then throws all the pieces on the floor so I'll give him the next activity.

H recently figured out how to get regular puzzle pieces to fit together by lifting one piece into place (instead of just pushing the pieces together and getting frustrated), so we've advance to some harder toddler puzzles.  I have some 12-piece puzzles I'd like to introduce to him next week.

The Water WOW books from Melissa and Doug are really great for keeping H occupied while I work with his sisters.  He loves painting with the water and uncovering all the hidden colors and objects (he literally gasps and says 'wow' when he finds something.. so cute!).

Since H has known his uppercase letters and their sounds for some time, I'm coming up with more activities for him to practice his phonics.  For example, I'll put a bunch of letter magnets on his board and ask him to find a specific letter either by name or the sound it makes.  He knows a couple sight words already so I'll have to start some sight words games soon.

  Of course there is lots of time for free play in our day.  H has really been interested in trains lately - he even takes them to bed with him at night!

 We took a trip to visit my in-laws in the beginning of the month and had plenty of adventures there.  It's funny that as much as H absolutely loves tractor toys and puzzles, and gets excited about seeing pictures of tractors in books, he wasn't quite sure about taking a ride with Opa on a real one..

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