H (25 months) wants to do everything his older sisters do, so when he gets to work on his own learning activities, he just glows and I can tell he feels like a "big boy". I've been trying out some new tot trays on him lately and he tackles each new challenge with so much enthusiasm. Here's a glimpse into what he's been up to..
H has been doing a lot of transfer work lately using chopsticks, tongs, spoons, tweezers, and all sorts of other tools I hand him. You can just tell by the look on his face that he's loving it, and repeats these activities over and over again.
There is all sorts of fine motor skills practice during our Tot School time - stickers, cutting, gluing, drawing, and more.
After going on a nature walk and collecting fall leaves, twigs, and rocks, we did a bit of rock painting. H did a good job (and didn't throw the rock at his sisters like I worried he would), but still prefers painting on paper:
He is suddenly starting to use his left hand for creative work (while previously he was very right-dominant in everything), so I'm curious to see which hand he ends up using for writing.
I've been taking out manipulatives and turning them into little learning games. Here, H has to match up the animals. This is easy for him but it uses a lot of skills beyond matching like fine motor skills for getting the animals to stand up straight and language skills for naming each animal.
We talked about the different seasons as H placed the pieces in their correct locations on this felt board. He obviously doesn't really get the concept of seasons yet, but he understands that the snowman goes on the snow, etc.. H can also describe what happens to the leaves on the trees through the course of the year.
H loves dinosaurs, so this dinosaur matching activity is one of his new favorites. I took out seven of our dinosaur flash cards (specifically the dinosaurs with easily distinguishable features) and we worked together matching up the plastic dinosaur figures with the correct card. After a couple rounds of working side by side where I describe each feature and what to look for, H understood the concept and can now match them up by himself.
Of course there is plenty of time in our day for role playing, physical exercise, and general fun!
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Love how you are using manipulatives ~ fun! Bo loves the seasons mat - he pointed and said,"Mine" which means he wants it. :) Hope you have a great week!
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