April 24, 2013

What is a game I can play with pattern blocks and pattern block templates?

Today’s pattern block activity templates consist of a fun fill in the shape activity. I made them just by putting random pattern blocks on a piece of paper in such a way that all the pattern blocks were touching. Then, I traced around the outside edges of all the pattern blocks. After I made a few pattern block templates, I showed Little Bear how to do the activity.

 

I put one template in front of him and told him to use the pattern blocks to fill in the empty space. He recognized right away that specific pattern blocks had to be used in specific places.  He realized that even though he couldn’t see the each individual line from the pattern blocks, that only certain pattern blocks fit in certain places.

 

He had a fun time discovering the exact placement of pattern blocks on the template in order to make the shape on the template. As I was creating these fill in the shape pattern block templates, I was worried that the activity would be a little bit too difficult.

 

Luckily, I was very wrong. This was the perfect difficulty for Little Bear. It wasn’t too easy and he definitely had to think about which shapes to use, but it also wasn’t too hard. He did sometimes need a few hints like, “That diamond looks like it’s too big to fit there. You probably need something skinnier. Can you find a skinnier diamond?”

 

Since the activity was such a huge success, I made some free printable pattern blocks templates. You are welcome to download them and use them with your child. However, you might have to make a few just by tracing because your child will have so much fun, they won’t want to stop at just 3 pages. I was really happy about how fun this activity was and I plan to play it with Little Bear several times throughout the next few weeks.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

March 4, 2013

How can I make my toddler’s Montessori inspired tot trays St. Patrick’s Day themed?

Smiley Man is 22 months old.

We love tot trays!!! Seriously, I cannot say this enough. It is the perfect “homeschool” to do with my toddler. Our trays are all about playing, but Smiley Man thinks he is doing work just like his big brother. So far, Smiley has loved all of the activities and trays that he has done. This St. Patrick’s Day set of trays is no different. I got almost all of the materials from around my house or from the dollar store. Smiley Man definitely isn’t ready for school, but he is a toddler that likes to be involved. Check out his awesome tot trays and hopefully they will give you some ideas for your tot school.

Erasers on Pencils

Smiley Man put green and yellow erasers onto the ends of pencils.

Open and Close Containers

This tray has a bunch of containers to open and close. A few, but not all, of the containers have a piece of gold in them. The gold makes this tray very exciting to Smiley.

Matching Cards

I printed off these St. Patrick’s Day Matching cards, cut them out and laminated them. All of the cards go on the tray along with a cup or bowl. Smiley Man matches a set of cards, and then puts them into the bowl. I make sure to only have 2-3 types of pictures on the tray at a time, but if your child is older, use as many cards on the tray as you see fit.

Golf Tee in Styrofoam

Use golf tees to cover the shamrock that is colored onto the Styrofoam. We did a similar activity when we did our Valentine’s tot trays and Smiley Man loved it so I knew I had to think of a similar activity for St. Patrick’s Day.

Fold Washcloths

I got some green washcloths from the dollar store. They were unfolded on the tot tray and Smiley folded them. I demonstrate each of these trays before Smiley Man does them, but this one took a bit extra demonstration. He’s getting it though. :)

Color Game 9

(Each color game is only on the tray for one week. The rest of the activities are on the trays for two weeks. That means I go through two color games, but only one of all the other activities.)

Here is a link to the full post.

Color Game 10

Here is a link to the full post.

St. Patrick’s Day Tot Book

I read this book at least once during the time that these trays are out. If Smiley Man uses this tray while I am working with Little Bear, he can color the pictures or just look at the pictures as he turns the pages. I do not in any way expect Smiley Man to learn how to read by looking at this book. This book is simply for exposure to words and letters and concepts of print.

Printables

St. Patrick’s Day Tot Pack: St. Patrick’s Day Matching (pg. 18), Shape Tracing (pg. 19)

Featured Toy

Wooden ABC Blocks

Themed Books

St. Patrick’s Day Touch and Feel Board Book

St. Patrick’s Day by Ann Rockwell

The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day by Natasha Wing

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! by Lucille Colandro

Treasure Hunt

There are five gold coins and an empty green top hat. When Smiley Man chooses this tray, I take about 2 minutes to hide all 5 coins. I hide them in pretty obvious places and Smiley Man often watches me while I hide them, but he still LOVES this tray. He just finds the coins and puts them into the hat.

Pull Cup

I made our “pull cup” using a black cup from the dollar store and ribbon in all the colors of the rainbow also from the dollar store. I simply made some slits in the bottom of the cup using a very sharp knife. The slits are small, just barely big enough for the ribbon to fit through. There are six slits, one for each color of the rainbow. I cut each ribbon into a 12 inch piece, then pushed one end through a slit. Finally, I made a knot on the top and the bottom of the ribbon. I repeated with all the colors. To play this, start with all of the ribbon on the inside of the cup. Set the cup on the tray and have your toddler pull each ribbon until the knot on the bottom stops it. You’ll end up with a rainbow coming out of a pot of gold look. This is also a great activity to practice colors!

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

February 18, 2013

What are some toddler school activities that have a ball theme?

This is our fourth set of Montessori inspired tot trays. Smiley Man (21 months) does tot school while I am doing homeschool preschool with Little Bear. So far, Smiley really loves these trays and I love it because they are getting my toddler ready for school. Hopefully you can find a few tray ideas and activity ideas for your preschool or toddler as you look at Smiley Man’s trays.

Ball Themed Tot Trays

2 Part Puzzles

Print off these 2 part ball puzzles. Put all of them or only a few puzzles on the tray. Smiley Man matched the two parts together and then put the puzzle into the container.

Round Sponges and Water

This was definitely one of Smiley Man’s favorite tot tray, but it was also the messiest. I filled one bowl halfway with water and added a drop of blue food coloring. I also put three circle sponges (to look like balls) and another empty bowl on the tray. I showed Smiley how to fill a sponge with water and then squeeze the water into the empty bowl. My toddler loved this activity so much! The mess was worth the fun he had. I do want to note that I kept this tray in the kitchen when it was not being used. Since Smiley’s tot trays belong on a bookshelf that sits on carpet, I didn’t want the tray on the bookshelf. :)

Color Match Spike Balls

Okay, these aren’t really balls, they are jacks, but they do kind of somewhat look a little like balls, right? I figured they were close enough for a toddler. I put four colors of jacks, two of each color on the tray. Smiley Man found a match, then set it to the side.

Bead Paper Towel Rolls onto Straws

There were two straws set in a small amount of play dough on this tray. There were also several paper towel rolls cut into “beads.” Smiley Man beaded the paper towel rolls onto the straws. This has been another favorite.

Numbered Cups and Spike Balls

This activity also uses jacks, not balls, but just use your imagination. ;) There were three cups numbered 1, 2, and 3. Smiley Man put the correct number of balls into each cup. He isn’t quite old enough to understand the concept of this game, but he loves the sound of the jacks when he puts them into the cup and he LOVES dumping them back out again.

Color Game 7

(Each color game is only on the tray for one week. The rest of the activities are on the trays for two weeks. That means I go through two color games, but only one of all the other activities.)

Here is the Color Game 7 post.

Color Game 8

Here is the Color Game 8 post.

Ball Tot Book

I read this book at least once during the time that these trays are out. If Smiley man uses this tray while I am working with Little Bear, he can color the pictures or just look at the pictures as he turns the pages. I do not in any way expect Smiley Man to learn how to read by looking at this book. This book is simply for exposure to words and letters and concepts of print.

Printables

I made this ball pit printable. I cut out the balls and gave Smiley Man a glue stick so he could glue the balls into the ball pit. I also printed off some ball coloring pages.

Featured Toy

This tray just had a bunch of balls from our toy collection. Since Smiley Man’s first word was “ball” and balls are practically his favorite thing in the universe, we have quite a collection of balls. He loved this tray.

Themed Books

We don’t really  have any ball books. Sorry. I just grabbed some books we haven’t done on a tray yet.

• Dinosaur Roar!
• Fly Guy Vs. the Flyswatter
• The Berenstain’s B Book
• Read to Me

Here are some ball books:

• Balls
• A Ball for Daisy
• Ball

Pompom Stuff it in

I made this game using a small bowl with a lid that we used when Smiley Man still ate baby cereal and baby food. I simply cut some holes into the lid using a sharp knife. I put the bowl, with the lid on it, on the tray along with several pompoms. Smiley puts the pompoms into the holes and then he dumps them out and does it again.

Sensory Bottle

I made this sensory bottle using a Perfect (that’s the brand) water bottle. I added water, corn syrup, 1 drop blue food coloring, and a bunch of things that looked like balls (beads, pompoms, small bouncy balls, etc.) In hind sight, I think I should have added a bit more corn syrup (I added about 1 ½ Cups) and maybe a bit of glitter. Smiley does love the sensory bottle though.

Be sure to check out our other Tot School Posts:

• Winter Themed Tot Trays
• Valentine Themed Tot Trays
• Car Themed Tot Trays

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

January 11, 2013

Where can I find a baby themed preschool pack?

My sister just had a brand new baby which is always a very exciting thing! She also has a boy and girl (twins) the same age as Little Bear and they already love their new baby sister. I remember when I was in the hospital after Smiley Man was born. Several people brought presents for Smiley Man, but a few people brought a present for Little Bear, too. I was really grateful for those gifts because they really helped Little Bear feel special with all of the commotion that a new baby brings.

Since I’m the best aunt ever ;) , I wanted to bring a little present for my niece and nephew to help them feel special with a new baby around. I decided to buy them some bingo markers from the dollar store, but of course I couldn’t stop there. :) I figured it would be fun for them to have some preschool activities with a baby theme with dot marker activities, of course. There are so many preschool packs all over the internet, I thought I would find a baby themed preschool pack in no time.

Well, I was wrong. I couldn’t find anything. I found a baby animal pack, but that wasn’t really what I was looking for. So, I did the next best (and most time consuming) thing. I made a baby themed preschool pack. It is over 30 pages long with lots of fun activities.

Of course I went all out and printed these preschool activities in color and laminated some of them. Luckily, my niece and nephew are pretty smart kiddos who like to learn, so they really enjoy this preschool pack. Plus, it is all baby themed, so it keeps them excited about their new baby sister.

This preschool pack can be used anytime with your kiddos. However, it is perfect if you have a new baby in your family (or will be having one soon) or know someone with a new baby.

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me