Tot School - Week 5

Sprout is 20 Months

This week's theme was "All About Me."  This theme incorporated body parts, family and home/community.  We will be getting together with JGD's family for Passover shortly and want to make sure that Sprout is well acquainted with the family members she doesn't see as regularly.

Sprout and I are finally getting rid of our colds and getting back to normal. 

Tot Trays

This week's Tot Trays were 

• House Shape "Pattern" Blocks
• Family Matching
• Play Dough with people, body parts and house cookie cutters
• Boo Boo Bear
• Lacing Beads
• Transferring

I added velcro to the House Pattern to see if Sprout might be more interested in using this "correctly" with it.  Not so much, but she did enjoy pulling everything off the velcro and walking around the house with the pieces.  

I made a family matching for Sprout using her immediate family.  I made this using half a fold and laminated one set of the pictures on.  Again, this was an experiment to see if this would get Sprout's attention more than a traditional matching game.  She did 3 pics and then was on to something new.

Sprout actually pulled the play dough off the shelf this week, so we played with it for a little while, but it didn't keep her attention for long.  She was definitely interested in the rolling pin and cookie cutters though.  In fact, she really enjoyed piling the cookie cutters on other trays and moving the piles around.

She was not interested in the Boo Boo Bear activity at all, and I don't have any picture of her using the lacing beads because I was too busy trying to show her how to lace the beads to the middle of the string and add more than one bead.  We did a little transferring this week, but Sprout was definitely not as interested this week.  I'll change this one around a bit for next week.

Projects

We only did a couple projects this week.  One was very minor, we did a dot paint house.

While doing this project, I thought I would see if Sprout could match the tops to the right markers like she did last time.  This time she was good with getting the tops on, but they weren't the right colors.  We'll keep working on that.

Our other project this week was our stART/Kiddos Create Project.

Tot Packs

I didn't make a full Tot Pack for this week, but I did make a couple activities.  The matching game that was used for a Tot Tray and book of family members.  I made the book to help Sprout start placing names with faces.  Sprout had different ideas.  She loves the books and definitely loves looking at her family members, but every picture (including the dog) was "Daddy."  (She also pointed to a picture of some kids on her shampoo bottle and said "Daddy" so maybe this is associated with pictures of people in general.)

Sensory Activities

Sprout wasn't overly interested in Tot Trays a couple days this week so I searched the house for something to use for a Sensory Bucket.  We used the decorative shredded paper used in gift baskets that I found lying around the house, both from baskets and for them.  We also added some ribbon scraps and some scraps from the blanket JGD is making for Project Linus.  

Sprout enjoyed rolling around in the shredded paper too!

The mess this made, made me really happy that I decided to use something like this which was easier to clean up instead of the rice that I had planned on using.  We'll be saving that one for a while!

Sprout also played with shaving cream this week.  She had done this before when we was younger, but it was like new again this week.  She was very hesitant to begin with, but it didn't take long for her to get into it.  This was always a favorite activity (of mine and my "students") when I taught a 3 year old class., so I'm sure we will be doing this more in the future.

Practical Play

This week Sprout thought she would help me reorganize the pantry.  She actually did this a couple times this week.  I might be able to find everything one of these days!

Sprout also tried on some new clothes this week.  We'll have to work on fit!

And front and back.

JGD hurt his back and was given some exercises to do.  Sprout thought she would help out (Sorry about the glare).

She also thought she would help JGD with his blanket for Project Linus.

We had a really great week this week, and it ended with a visit from one of JGM's closest friends since I was a little older than Sprout.  It was great spending time with a long time friend and Sprout had a great time cuddling up to make a car for Handy Manny's race and read a book or two.  Wish we lived closer!

Next Week

Nest week we will be learning about Passover as we get ready for the holiday to begin the following Monday night.  I can't believe it's here already.  I have several projects in mind, we'll see what we get to!

To see what other Tots were up to this week go to 1+1+1=1.

Tot School - Week 4

Sprout is 20 Months

This week we focused on colors and shapes. We spent most of our time focusing on colors, but we played games that were both colors and shapes.

We had a pretty laid back week around here. As Sprout and I caught the cold that JGD brought home from Alaska. So most of our time was spent taking it easy.

Tot Trays

Our Tot Trays this week include 

• Shape "Pattern Blocks" activity
• Cutting, Gluing and Stickers
• Playdough - with circles and heart shaped cookie cutters
• Lacing beads
• Bingo Markers
• A Transferring Activity from Tot Trays

Sprout enjoyed using her lacing beads this week.  She understands the whole idea of putting the string in the bead, but from there we need more guidance.  We will continue working with this one next week.

Sprout really enjoys using these dot markers in a 6 pack at Michael's. Maybe the whole "scented" idea wasn't the greatest idea, but we love them anyway! We found the printables for Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and some other great Brown Bear activities at Making Learning Fun.

Sprout was able to match up the bigger pieces of this "puzzle." She really enjoyed walking around with the shapes though, which gave of us several opportunities to talk about the shapes she was holding.

Sprout hasn't used scissors before so this was completely new for her. We have these scissors so all she has to do is squeeze to cut. This is still tough for her but she really enjoyed trying. We will probably try these out too.

Now for the stickers, Sprout loved playing with her Mickey and friends stickers. She chose to put Donald on the paper, and then take him off!

Projects

This week our only real project was our stART project for this week. This project was based on My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. See my post for more about this project.

Tot Books

We use the Brown Bear, Brown Bear Tot Pack from 1+1+1=1 a lot this week. Sprout didn't necessarily understand all of the components, but she had fun checking everything out. Her favorite activity from this pack was the Shadow Match from Making Learning Fun. I was really impressed with how well she did this, since she shows absolutely no interest in the traditionally matching activities we try. In the beginning, she needed a hint here or there to find the right shadow, but by the end of the week, she didn't need any help at all. I also think she loved playing with velcro that attached the pieces to their shadows.

Sprout also played with her Little Einsteins Tot Book a lot this week. For the most part she was just pulling out the matching cards and walking around with them, or pulling out the accordion activity, but I'm glad that she is getting more familiar with this type of activity.

Practical Play

Because we weren't feeling all that great this week, our practical play this week was mostly trying to get better (we're getting there slowly).  This meant we spent a lot of time trying to get liquids into Sprout.  She really enjoyed JGM's "Lemon Tea."  

Towards the end of the week Sprout decided she needed some exercise and started running laps around the island in our kitchen.  

She also decided that she needed to practice her stunt falls.  

We thought that some fresh air might do us some good so we went to the Florida Renaissance Festival.

Next Week

Next week's theme is All About Me.  I plan on focusing on body parts, clothes, home and family.  We are getting ready to get together with JGD's family for Passover, and they would be thrilled if Sprout could say their names.  Though I don't really think this is going to happen, we'll give it a try.  I made a book with all of Sprout's family members in it, and I'm looking forward to going through it with her.  She loves looking at pictures of people so this should be a lot of fun for us.

To see what other tots were doing this week go to Tot School.

Tot School - Week 3

Sprout is 20 Months

This week our theme was Dr. Seuss in honor of his "birthday" this week. What a great theme! There is always another project that we can do or book to read. We were quite busy this week!

This week we had some more defined activities, though mostly Sprout had a choice of what she wanted to do, and she made most of the activities into a game of her own creation. 

Tot Trays

I did set up Tot Trays this week to develop some activities that are more focused for Sprout. I found the idea for Tot Trays at 1+1+1=1. Carissa has so many great ideas, her site has really helped me to focus our play more.

Our Tot Trays this week include 

• Baby's Boo (from Growing Up Learning) --  This is to help Sprout with her compassion for others, while she takes care of Mickey when he gets hurt.
• Knock It Down (also from Growing Up Learning) -- Sprout really like this activity, as she go to throw a ball at cups that I arranged for her on the floor
• Playdough
• A bag of red treasures to look at and sort
• A Small Spaces activity from Tot Trays
• A Transferring Activity from Tot Trays

Projects

We started the week painting the Cat in the Hat's hat. This was Sprout's first time using an easel. I was very happy with how well she did. Though she does seem to be in a "minimalist" phase.

As an added bit. Curiosity may not have killed the dog, but he did have something to show for it. Now this wasn't Sprout's fault. Simon just got too curious and got in the way. (Though I've cleaned his head, there is still a pink tint to his fur in this spot.)

We also did a Green Eggs and Ham coloring page. I gave Sprout the green dot paint and a green crayon.

Our final project for the week was our stART project that went along with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish.  Please check out my post on this project.  I would love to get more opinions on this kind of art project.

Tot Books
This was the first time we have used a Tot Book or a Tot Pack. Though in some form, I probably did have high hopes, I wasn't expecting all that much from these this week. Sprout has never seen them before and is very active. She is not a big fan of activities where she needs to sit and play with someone, using "directions."
I started using the Dr. Seuss Tot Pack I made. Sprout was interested in taking the matching cards out of their envelope and putting them back in, but that was about it. She found the Little Einsteins Tot Book I made, and wanted to play with that. She was a little more into this because she knows those characters far better than Dr. Seuss'. Most of his books are a little long for Sprout to sit through.

Practical Play

Sprout also had some "real world" learning opportunities this week.  She found a Mickey and friends magnet of the fridge this week, and of course was drawn to play with it.  She learned that magnets don't stick to cabinets (sorry about the camera strap in the picture, I was using JGD's camera, and I'm not used to the position of the lens).

We also "washed the dishes" this week. I had planned to make Oobleck, but never made it to the store to buy more cornstarch, so I decided to give it a go with what I had. It didn't work, and I was looking for another sensory opportunity for Sprout. So we washed dishes. I got this idea from Montessori for the Earth. Sprout had a lot of fun with this activity, and the mess didn't get too bad.

What did we read this week?
Well, we read several of Dr. Seuss' books. And we were able to finish most of the ones we read. Sprout even decided to read them on her own.

Next Week
I got jumbo lacing beads for Sprout to start using next week when our theme is colors and shapes. She found them, and wanted to play with them. I was quite impressed when she was able to lace one after I very briefly showed her how to use them. Then she dumped them all over the floor and we had a talk about treating our toys and properly and what happens when we don't.

To see what other people did this week go to Tot School.