Band-Aid Art

Band-aids are the cure all at my house.
Even a cure for the hyper little toddler.

Let me explain. . .

BAND-AID ART

This is such a simple art project, because almost every home has band-aids of some sort and paper.

Here are the instructions:

1-Toddler picks out their favorite color paper
2-Adult grabs a couple of different types of band-aids
3-Have a little lesson about how to open up a band-aid
4-Let your toddler open up the band-aids all by themselves.
5-Stick the band-aids on the paper
6-Use a glue stick to stick down the wrappers of the band-aids


***Extra Bonus Points: Talk about the letter Bb and glue some Bb's on to the page or use some Bb magnets to hang it up on the fridge!

Sorting some more

Mega Blocks:
A favorite at our house. We love to build towers to the ceiling, and knock them over, but lately Little R has been begging me to let him

SORT the MEGA BLOCKS.

Little R helped me make our sorting cards for his buckets and bins.
We used construction paper glued onto regular white card-stock.
Then we decided which bucket or container should go with what color.
We had to dig a little bit to find more containers.
Another day, while I was doing laundry,
we used our empty laundry baskets and it worked really well.

Sorting the blocks is a great way to get a little bit extra play time out of your Mega Blocks. After Little R is tired of playing with the blocks, I pull out the buckets and sorting cards and let him play for another 30 minutes. More time for me to clean or have one on one time with Madi. Plus, I know that he is glued to this project for a while and is learning at the same time!

SIMPLE CLEAN UP STRATEGY!!!After a little bit of sorting the buckets and bins got full. He simply emptied them into the Mega Block Container. Hooray, no complaining about cleaning up and the best part is you don't have to help pick up a thousand blocks.
Critical Thinking
This little car had two colors. Little R was very confused as to which container he should put this one in. He decided after a while to put it in the blue bucket, because "the wheels are blue".
Good thinking Little R.

Have fun sorting those blocks!

SORTING: Words Their Way

I love the program Words their Way. I used to use this spelling program when I taught second grade. Now, I just started using this same program with my little ones. If you have never sorted with your toddler, there is never a better time to start than now. Words Their way was written by Donald R. Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shande Templeton, and Francine Johnston. I love their way of thinking. It just fits the way that we learn the best. How does it help toddlers? In the third edition of their book it states, " The human mind appears to work by using a compare-and-contrast categorization system to develop concepts and attributes. The sorting activites build on and reinforce this natural tendency." (Page 102) Sorting also builds vocabulary skills. Toddlers learn names of pictures, items, and categories. Great for organizational skills too.

As little R and I sort, we talk a lot. I ask him questions like, "Why did you put that there? or What made you think that? Where else could we put that?"
Little R has really expanded his vocabulary just by simply sorting things.

What do we sort? You might ask.
We sort just about everything.

Each week I am going to post at least one sort that we have done. I try to do one everyday. They take about 1-2 minutes and any mother or caregiver can do it.
NOT A BIT HARD.

Here was a sort that we did just this week:
SORTING HALLOWEEN CANDY
Step #1: Dump out Halloween Candy

Step #2: Talk to your toddler about making piles, groups, or rows. Tell them that you are going to sort the candy today. Little R talked about finding "matches." Make sure that the sorting is done by your toddler:)
Step #3 Keep sorting and ask questions to your toddler to get them using vocabulary. What do you call this pile? Why did you put that there? etc.
Step #4 Let that toddler of yours have a treat! I couldn't tell him no, so I let him pick one to eat, after he told me why he picked that one. "Because it is skinny and long!"
Want another fun idea to do with that Halloween Candy?
Click here to make some fun candy art.

Crayola Alphabet Activity Posters

Want a fun way to practice writing those letters? I bought this crayola pad at STAPLES. Used our rewards points, and got them for FREE. Little R does one sheet a week. We focus on the same letter that he is doing in preschool. He loves doing these. We first start off, talking about the letter. Then I let him trace the letters on the side. Next we practice those coloring skills by coloring the pictures on the other side. Finally we end by circling all of the letters that we know on the page. These are such a must have if you have a preschooler. We started in August when little R was 2 years and 9 months old. I wish I would have started doing these sooner.