Letter Races - Letter Practice

First, If you don't own letter mats, get some! I found mine at the consignment shop - super cheap! They are a blast. 

We have the out and about most of the time. My children work best when we rotate toys in and out of our playroom/family room. I got these back out when grandma came to visit - any extra back up activities are always appreciated. 

Kids LOVE jumping! I asked if he wanted to jump/stomp (as a dinosaur) on letter tiles - of course that was a YES! 

 

I started by throwing tiles on the floor and asking him to find the letter and jumping on it. It was a good refresher to call/drop them on the floor in order and let him jump on them right as they fell.

We called a few of his favorites several times so he could really stomp.

Send the kids on a hunt for certain letters and let them call letters out to you. He loved telling me to find various letters then saying, "Good Job, Mommy"!!!! Kids love to teach also, give them the chance! 

When people get the chance to teach, they learn 90% of what is presented to them!!!!!!

Let them teach you!!!

We created our letter race track. He and I would find the letters and connect them in order. We took turns so he wouldn't burn out.

Even, little lady and our pup started racing and having a blast!

I started calling letters as he ran. CP would run up and down until he found it and jumped/stomped/sat/squatted on that tile. He was ecstatic when he got it correct. He's normally very good with his letters, so this was hysterical!

 

 

Finally, he started jumping and moving his legs out from under him, landing on his bottom. Hysterical!

 

Have fun with letters, make things a game, and always talk to your child giving them the words to communicate with you!

Inside Garden from Tomato Containers

Indoor Easy Garden

As my little man and I created these little indoor gardens, I become more excited about summer coming and having him learning about gardening, plants, and growing. 

We were invited to the neighbors for a dinner party and there was no way I was showing up empty handed. I created an easy and DELICIOUS tomato and olive salad that was a HUGE hit. 

I rinsed the cherry tomatoes and realizes I NEEDED to keep these containers for something and it me later to use them as a little terrarium or mini green house.

 

I purchased little violets and used some extra dirt from the backyard. I had little man join me in the backyard to gather the dirt. It had just rained and he wasn't too thrilled with the 'mud' aspect. 

   

Conversation during this activity was all about how plants grow. We got to see the roots of the violets and spent time feeling how small and thin they are. It was cool to talk about how the roots soak up water and nutrients (I related it do plant food) to help the plant grow strong and beautiful. I showed him that trees are plants, too. We discussed plants are large and small but they all have roots. 

 

We have these in the kitchen window. I would love to put them in the play room on their art table however, the dog would love to help redecorate our home with these. :)

 

I love reusing containers. Anything works. Get Creative on your own terms. 

Remember: Every activity is an opportunity to help build your child's vocabulary. Don't worry about talking 'above' there head as long as you connect it to something they already know and can give them a visual. 

Tangrams

Tangrams are a wonderful activity to help children learning spacial awareness, shapes, colors, and above all problem solving. 

 

Melissa and Doug produce a great set of wooden pieces that are durable and easy to practice beginning skills.

 

This activity helps create an independent learner. Be sure to model with your child first before you can expect them do to it on their own. (We started do this when little man had just turned two, older children will be able to follow the patterns without modeling). 

 

Remember: every activity is an opportunity to increase vocabulary and spend meaningful time with your little ones. 

Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks/ Tangrams

 

Baseball

Hand-Eye coordination is so important for kids.

 Allow your kids to practice various types of sports. Here we purchased a basic tee and bat for CP to practice. We demostarted to him out to set up the tee with the ball. It's now his job to put the ball on the tee.

 

We spent a bit of time showing him out to hit the ball of the tee instead of hitting the tee itself. This took time since he likes to do everything by himself. 

 

Now he does everything by himself and loves 'running' the bases in the background.

Indoor Pool

Stole this idea for a girl friend of mine! She found a pool that was small enough to be inflated in the house and used as a ball pit, sand box, toy box, or pool! It came with a small set of balls. I know you can buy a extra pack of balls fairly cheep on amazon or find it at your local store (target, mejier, etc.) 

"Entertaining the Baby"

This may be one of the professional photos we had taken with Jenni Kenney Photography but this happens frequently at our house. This is a great activity to help big brother understand gentle and slow. We spend time pushing and pulling our stuffed animal "friends"  and baby sister around.

Now, let me remind you that I am right beside him as we do this and am engaged in teaching the different parts of the wagon (wheels, gears, handle, etc) as well as opposites (fast, slow, gentle, rough, etc)

Little Tykes wagon (great for indoor spaces)Little Tykes Wagon (great for indoor use)