I is for ice and igloo and other misc. items!

First off I would like to share our new "keeping healthy" process for outside.  :-) 

This has been floating around Pinterest.  What a great idea!  Have the tissue and trash right there!  Use double sided tape or hot glue to attach two boxes of tissue to each other.  Then rubberband together for additional support.  I created a visual to put on the front for my preschoolers.  I plan on laminating the label and attaching with sticky tac so that it can be reused.  I imagine that the boxes will need to be replaced eventually.  :-)  Someone had the thought of attaching a small bottle of sanitizer...I like that idea also, but I have a large one that needs to be used up.  I might create a little "box" on the side for a small pump bottle sanitizer in the future so that it's all one piece for easy transferring.

I is for Igloo

A great fine motor/scissors activity.  Reinforce upper and lowercase letter I.

I is for Ice Transfer

I loved what I heard from T.- 2.5 yrs old as he was transferring (pic on right).  A few of the crushed ice pieces were too big for that bottle he was using and he'd say "too big".  "Here small one."  Then after a couple of too big ones he started looking in his bowl and saying out loud whether it would fit or not.  This age is great!  They are transitioning from toddler to preschool behaviors.  :-) 

A Word about Puzzles

We had a puzzle day over the weekend.  Recently I found some puzzles on sale...then 2 more boxes on clearance at another store and that same week one of Donnie's coworkers gave him a box of 4-100 piece puzzles for the boys.  So!  :-)  I love puzzles and wish I had a space in my house to keep one up all the time.  A large one at the kitchen table really doesn't work well.  Cuts our workspace for daily activities in half and messes up our supper routine.  :-D  Well, some day maybe I'll have a puzzle table we can keep a puzzle going without getting in our way! 

Anyway...we have a ton of puzzles...from wooden knob puzzles, to foam puzzles to 4 piece+ jigsaws.  One thing we do with jigsaws is to flip them over at the end of the first time putting them together and writing a couple letters or a symbol on each piece to represent the puzzle title.  That way when a piece gets left out on the floor (which it will!) then we better know where they go.  It's wise to label the box with the corresponding symbol.  A word about puzzles and preschoolers...give them a chance!  I have a set of 12 piece alphabet puzzles that we work with frequently but seeing a preschooler capable of a 24 piece jigsaw is not uncommon.  :-)  Here's one we did today...

Color Wheel

Yesterday, we did the 12 piece Letter I puzzle so today I pulled out a 24 piece color wheel puzzle we got at a dollar store (they aren't always the best quality coming from the dollar store but this one wasn't bad!).  This was to reinforce the cool colors vs. warm colors lesson we had yesterday.  They did well working together.  One reminding them that "That can't go there it's has a straight part."  and another reminding "We need to look for the same colors."

Toddler Color Sorting

I find that having "tray work" out for Mr. T. here really helps our morning go successfully.  There are activities he's just not ready for or doesn't spend as much time with so having a variety of trays out for him to work with independently is very beneficial.  And since there is a big possibility we'll be homeschooling next school year...I wish for him to get accustomed to independent tray work.  Use one tray at a time, putting the tray back, etc.  Here I provided a variety of colorful items.  I placed one item in each section of the tray and he sorted the rest of them.  After he got over the fact that it was sort by object vs. sort by color...this activity really appealed to his natural sense of order.  :-)

Puzzles and Toddlers

Since we are on the subject of puzzles and toddlers...

These types of puzzles are great vocabulary builders.  He was manipulating/playing with the puzzle pieces and he'd show me one and I'd sing a little song to go with it.  Kind of like Old MacDonald's Farm.  Oh the simple things like adding a song.  :-P  They love it and it's very beneficial!

Rocks, pebbles

There are many ways to incorporate learning with rock play...and what child doesn't like rocks?!  I've not met many in the last 15 years.

*  Use them for counting. Remember skip counting as well.
I like this idea from The Artful Parent and plan to try to do something similar this year...so if you have a little more time on your hands you might want to also.  :-)  More to use indoors then outdoors.
Need: smooth rocks, fabric, and modge podge.

http://artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2011/01/heart-rocks.html 

*  For older children use the natural colors of the rocks to sort by color, design, shape, size, texture.  Or you can paint sets for sorting and graphing.

*  Use permanent marker and write numerals on them to encourage numerical order, counting forwards and backwards.

*  Use the rocks to talk about more/less and the concept of odd/even.

*  Use rocks in a scale to explore with weight.

*  A great fine motor activity: encourage your child to place pebbles in a narrow neck container.  You can add tongs, tweezers or just use pincher fingers. Add a little science by providing a set of the same container and encouraging to explore with sounds.  What do the bottles sound like if they have a lot of pebbles. What if there is only one or two.  Order the bottles by the amount of pebbles in them.
*  Use rocks to create their name, create shapes, letters, numbers, lines. 
*  Add a craft/fine motor/art activity by providing plaster of paris and a lid with edges (like miracle whip lid) and having them make a design with their rocks. 
*  Throw rocks (have a set area for them and remind that we only throw rocks in supervised activities so we all stay safe) and measure distance, using appropriate vocabulary.  This is a lesson in good sportsmanship also.
*  Use rocks to measure equipment or even a chalk outline of themselves.  A good lesson for them...nonstandard measurement...using objects that are the same size.  Can't measure with a big rock and a little rock.  They need to be similar in size. 
*  Talk about perimeter.  I use that term in our gluing.  "Glue around the perimeter then make a X across the center."  Children can collect enough rocks to form a path around the perimeter of a play item. 
*  Place a few rocks in your sand box.  Make sure you have sieves available.  Encourage conversation!  Amazing how many concepts they'll "touch on" on their own when you encourage conversation.
*  Rocks are a good way to touch on the science of what's living and what's not. 
*  Use rocks in water play.  It naturally leads to discussion about water displacement, capacity.  This summer we went camping and I knew this lake had an abundance of rocks so sons and I went on a rock hunt.  :-)  Checking them out in the water to find interesting ones then letting them dry out to see what they look like.  Always look different in water and that is something that really keeps the interest of the children! 
*  Encourage the children to find a set of 3-5 (or more for older kids) that order from large to small or vice versa.  Or for younger children, make a set for them.
*  If you have space and have access to large rocks, encourage them to create a path that leads to a "rock garden".  Builds self confidence, touches on design/art, and you can incorporate many a gross motor movement.

I'm sure there are plenty more ideas...those are off the top of my head that we've done recently or in the past.  Feel free to tell us about more!