I have had this work on the shelf for some time and it’s been pretty much ignored so I thought that as A is getting into counting I would demonstrate this and let him have a go. This work consists of a tray of mixed shells and a piece of wood that I have drawn lines on to create a ten frame board. We did a bit of comparison between shells and then decided to use the cone shaped shells. I showed him how to place the shells within the frames, then away he went, picking out shells and putting them on the board. He wanted a variety of sizes. He especially likes tiny ‘cute’ things at the moment so the baby shell had to be included. He talked about the smallest, biggest and ‘mediumest’ shells.
And then of course we practised counting the shells. A still has trouble with one-to-one correspondence, he will sometimes count the same object twice.
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This is over a week old now but we’ve been using scissors around here. I have a little bowl of pretty card pieces with a pair of scissors. The pair in the bowl is a pair of safety toddler scissors which does okay but doesn’t chop as well as real ones. A wanted to try with his other hand but seriously dude - you are right handed. Then I busted out a proper pair of scissors and much mess was made, which he picked up, packed up and put back on the shelf... pity about the rest of the house!
Also meet our rag doll kitten named Fish and Chips. In our house my husband gets to name the animals. They other cat is called Squish. 😂 Today was a sick day for A. So we cuddled on the couch and watched ABC kids. I’ll admin we watched YouTube too. I was pretty tired. A said, ‘We’re busted Mum.’ Yep. We did play some and did some ‘shelf games’ which is what we call the stuff on our Montessori shelves, but most importantly I introduced the metal inserts. Our set arrived last Friday with some of the other Montessori materials we had ordered. I set out one of the shelves, but I was unsure if we should start using it yet. A was attracted to the shapes as a puzzle so I left it at that. I have been watching ‘Alison’s Montessori Writing Workshop’ pr wanted by Susan Scheibenzuner on YouTube and among other great tips, she spoke about children using the metal inserts at their level - having their own experience - and using felt pens. So I got out the tray, the paper box and presented our new pens in my butterbeer mug that I got from Japan’s The Wizarding World if Harry Potter. I showed him how to place paper in the tray, then select a shape frame. We took it over to a mat and then I showed him how to use the pen to draw within the frame. Then he went to town! We have sticky taped the shapes up above our new metal insert area. I’m hoping he will want to go back to this work because it is pretty awesome!
2 1/2 years A has been counting lately... well trying to. He has trouble with four but sometimes he can get right up to ten. I bought this ice try from Daiso during the holidays and figured now was a great time to introduce him to the counting box. It’s pretty cool because the moulds are large and it has a lid. I’m looking for a similar one now with 10 spaces. To introduce it I acted excited about what was in the box - I held it upside down so he couldn’t see. I gave hints like it starts with a ‘b’ sound and it’s something you could eat. So once I flipped it over he was pretty into it. I had put a banana in each space - which also helps with one to on correspondence. I took the lid off and then we counted them together. I asked A to take out the bananas and put them on the lid - one at a time - and then we counted again. I then asked A to put them back again - one and a time - and he counted them as he did so. He put them back in the spaces fairly randomly but oh well... I think he did a great job of counting! The only issue is that he loves miniature things so much he has now pinched all the bananas and put them in his pocket 😆
The next time we play I’ll swap out the banana for something else... maybe cars. It’s been windy here lately but I hadn’t thought of kites until we read a couple of stories here at home and the library that had kites in it! After we finished ‘Rhyme Time’ at our local library we ducked into Searle’s. Searle’s is like a cavern of almost anything you could ever want. When we first moved here we used to go in every weekend to ask the owner Bearnie Searle for odd things. We gave up when we asked if he had a boat, and he replied ‘I think we have a zodiac out the back still.’ 🤣 Anyway, of course they had kites. We bought a cheap one for $4.95. Bernie told us that he used to make kites, and that his son took one to school but it was blowing so hard that he let it go. It travelled out to the cattle yards before it landed. 🤣 It was so much fun! I’ve now looked on eBay to see if we can get a better one because this one won’t last long in our wind!
2 1/2 years Well, it’s my first week back at work, and I’ve been planning tot school for my mid-week days off. Our first focus is the ‘T’ sound. Atlas already knows the letter T but we are focusing on the sound. The theme is ‘T for tools’ simply because this book finally came in the mail! It has lovely illustrations although the fact that the toolbox belongs to the dad is a bit eye roll worthy. In our family I own the tool box but in our society it seems that tools are men things. I love Safari Toobs - eh who am I kidding - I love toys. I have a small collection of Toobs, so it’s exciting when I use them! We’ve played with this set before. I saved the images from the internet and put them into a word document. I made sure they were similar in size as the real toys and labelled them. A loves miniature things so these tools got a work out during the week! I also let him use them in free play. I might have to get a spare set 😆 I laminated a set of tool three part cards as well. I’ve only put out the labeled card and kept the other two aside. I bought these from The Wise Owl Factory. This link also has ideas for tool activities. The other card set we used came from ABCs to ACTs. This link goes to the printable page - you’ll have to look through all the cool things! 😜 They are for playing memory, but A still hasn’t got the hang of playing this game. We keep trying, but we usually play it with all the pictures facing up and A can find the pairs. I had set out a colouring sheet that I got off a Google image search, which I didn’t take a photo of. Since A is interested in shapes I also included this Do-a-dot printable from mpmideas.com. The last thing I had set out was two Montessori knob puzzles that I bought off a random eBay store a while ago. Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end 😄
So our first real tot school was a success! The idea of Tot School came from http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com. You need to read browse through the archives there! A must read! 2 years 5 months Christmas trees! When I search Pinterest for Christmas craft ideas there are a lot of snow related images, but unfortunately there is no snow here. In fact there is no hope of snow forming when even the bitumen melts! This one seemed like a no brainer after I saw this activity from You Clever Monkey, but I was too lazy to download and print, plus I’m running out of toner. So I folded a green piece of paper in half and chopped into it. A and I glued it into his book and then A drew on it while I got the stuff we needed for the rest of the activity 😆 We covered it with Stampin Up demensionals that you can get from here. Kristy Coromandel is a friend and an awesome craft presenter. Then came the buttons. We love buttons around here! So tactile and they make such pretty sounds. So on they went. And when he was done, he added glitter glue. And who can blame him? And finally the finished product!
2 years 5 months I found a bag of rollers left over from when I taught visual arts. So I was looking forward to when A suggested painting next. He wanted yellow and blue paint so they got plopped onto the plate. I showed him how to use it and then he was off! And to finish it off A added glitter glue. Please don’t lecture me on the use of glitter and the environment. I’m very aware of it, but Atlas and I are glitter fans so I’m researching alternatives. What a masterpiece!
2 years 5 months Brown paint plus gingerbread man cutter = five minutes of stamping fun. Then clean up = ten minutes of water play at the sink fun.
I have a lovely collection of washi tape and Atlas has been allowed to use washi tape before. We usually use to it ‘fix’ up broken cars. I selected some bright and geometric designs for this activity and project. Afterwards A made a tower with the tape. He ‘counted’ them as he stacked them, he also talked about whether this one was bigger then that one. With his help I laid down some strips of tape. The activity was originally for him to pull them up, but I think he liked the look of it so refused to do that. Earlier I had prepared an empty soft drink bottle by cutting off the bottom and giving it a clean and dry. I covered the end with some green masking tape. We then wrapped washi tape around it. A pointed and I put it on, he helped smooth the strips. it was meant to be a telescope but A used it as a musical instrument. 🤷🏼♀️. Not that it matters because he can’t wink yet.
Both of these activities technically failed, but A still enjoyed them and that’s the main thing. I got the ideas from Hands on as We Grow, and bought their Early Years Bundle of Activity Plans from here. There are some great ideas, some of which I am sure I could have made up myself or gotten from a search in Pinterest but I would rather start a folder of ideas that I can just go to without much though. |
AuthorHi, I'm Pamela. A nail crazy lady with green hair. I live in outback Queensland with my toddler and my husband. I love books, writing and crafting. For more info about me go to my 'About' page. Archives
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