Springtime (??)- Letter Recognition and Sounds

We have been staying so busy with visitors, MOMS Club activities, soccer, and illness, somehow we have lost Springtime and landed ourselves right into summer! We upgraded our very tiny blow up baby pool into this bigger 8-foot blowup pool to beat the heat and enjoy even more time outdoors. After two days of just fun in the pool, today we added a set of foam letters to work on letter recognition. At first, E was just grabbing any letter, identifying it, and bringing it to me to put into the collection bucket. She was doing pretty well, especially considering that some of the letters were upside down, facing the wrong direction, etc. I would ask her to manipulate them into the right position before removing them from the pool.

The second round we mixed things up a little. This round I would ask E to go find the letters, one by one, in the order of the alphabet. When she brought them to me, we would talk about things that start with that letter, focusing on the sound of the first letter. Sometimes E couldn't locate the letters (mostly because with all the letters, toys, and even her big ole mama in the pool, it was difficult to find each little letter). So, this started a couple of other skill games. The first one she learned the basic of in a game of hide and seek with her grandparents during their visit. That was the hot or cold game. As she would "swim" around the pool, I would tell her if she was hot and close to the letter or cold and far from the letter. Another way I would narrow it down for her was to tell her what color the letter is. I think there are six total colors, so that was a great way for her to have less to focus on.

Now, I guess I need to decide on our next unit since the springtime seems to have come and gone here in OK!

Springtime- Book and Fishing for Letters

After having a few days away from "formal" activities (instead we were actually outside enjoying the very springtime weather), we were stuck inside when the March downpours arrived! So, we got back on track with the nonfiction book, Every Season by Shelley Rotner and Anne Love Woodhull. It is filled with great photos from each of the four seasons showing popular seasonal activities and how nature looks in each of those seasons.

After reading the book, we moved over to our fishing pond I set up while E was napping. It is a colorful beach towel covered with the magnetic letters needed to spell each of the four seasons. Also, I put a magnet at the end of the fishing pole so E could use the pole to catch the letters she needed to spell the words from the clings (see next post) she was using to practice her letter identification.

Catching the letters were more difficult than what I anticipated. A lot of the time E was sitting on my lap and we worked through it as a together activity. My advice would be to spread the letters out as much as possible on the pond. It is definitely a great lesson in motor skills and hand-eye coordination!

Also, if you take a peak at the fridge, E made a little pattern of her own with her letters and magnets. It was interesting to see her make the pattern on her own! What a fun rainy day activity!

Filler Activity- Loaded Desk

Over the weekend, we were planning on taking a road trip (about four hours in the car), so I loaded up this desk with items for E to play with in the car. Unfortunately, the stomach bug got the best of this mom, and we ended up not going :(. Instead, this loaded up desk became a great filler activity for me when I was more interested in doing nothing than planning and executing activities for E. I know it would have been great in the car, too, because it held her attention for about 30 to 40 minutes.

So, what's in the desk? Here is a list: ColorWonder markers and drawing pad, dress up doll stickers and paper to put them on, a Velcro shape activity book (with a CD that would have been great for the car), a couple of books, a Colorform type habitat and cling page, pony beads and pipe cleaners, and a snack.

Obviously, this is nothing super unique or special, but it is very useful for a car trip or to fill a little time when Mommy is feeling under the weather.

The Five Senses- Touch Activity

From my own childhood, I remember doing activities that focused on using the sense of touch to identify objects. I was pretty sure that E would struggle if I simply put objects in a box and had her identify them with nothing to reference, so instead, I picked pairs of objects. That way, she could see one of the items on the table while she looked for the matching item in the box.

I cut out some hand/arm holes in an old shoebox for E to use. When we started doing the activity, E really wanted to look into the holes instead of simply use her hands. If I were to start this project over again, I would probably try to attach some material to cover the holes to make it difficult to see inside. E enjoyed this activity enough that she asked to do it the following day. It was a good way for her to rely on her sense of touch to help her to identify objects!

Filler Activity- Patterning

A few weeks back, E and I attending a preschool type class where E was exposed to patterning, probably for the the first time formally. She did not do well, and I felt horrible for not really exposing her to this before. I have had some trouble in my journey as a first-time mom with allowing myself to become complacent and not challenging E enough. But, I am a learn as I go mom, so I gathered some of the foam stickers and sheets I had in the craft room, and I created some patterning activities. These are similar to busy bags, but these particular activities are not easily reusable, so they aren't busy bags in the truest (or best) form.

All of the bags have a similar premise, copy the pattern I already made. Sometimes (like the ones on the left) the pattern is on half of the sheet, and E's job is to copy the pattern with similar types, positions, or colors with the half already created. The one on right is the same idea, but starting with her own foam sheet. It also focuses a little more on the spacial aspects of patterning. In some bags there are exactly the right foam stickers to copy the pattern, in others there are extras.

In the few times we have worked on these bags, E has struggled her way through. She gets really excited when she sees stickers, and just starts peeling the back off. I guide her through the thinking process behind creating the patterns, and try to give her a couple of ways to go about it: 1)look at what is first in the pattern using the standard left to right top to bottom, find the corresponding sticker, then put the sticker in the right spot 2) pick out a sticker, find the matching sticker on the pattern already there, then put the sticker in the right spot). It is a complicated process, and these bags aren't much of a filler activity YET, but I have faith that each time we work on these, E will "get it" more.