Pre-Writing Activities that do not involve Crayons

It's been a while since I've posted some activities I do with my 3-year old.  Blue Rock is not really into coloring with crayons like some kids are.  This wouldn't matter too much except that I like him to practice holding a pencil the correct way and build his fingers for future writing.  Thankfully, there are a number of activities that don't involve crayons to achieve this. Blue Rock already has great hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.  There are several other mediums he enjoys such as painting and drawing with sidewalk chalk which strengthen his hands and fingers. He also has always loved molding things with play-doh which is another great pre-writing skill.

Here are a few activities we've been doing lately.  The first activity includes a colander and pipe cleaners.  I had him put the pipe cleaners in different holes of the colander.  He did great and sort of liked this activity especially after he decided he could make a hat with it.  We've done this several days this week.  I wish I would have thought of this a year ago because I think very young children would enjoy this as well.

The next activity is beading.  I had him sort the beads by color and place them on the pipe cleaners.  These are just the regular Melissa and Doug beads.I've been very impressed with how well he is able to bead things.  This is something we just started doing and he seemed to naturally know what to do.

I bought this awesome Turtle when he was almost 2 to take with us to church and work on his fine motor skills.  He still likes playing with it from time to time.  He mastered matching the magnetic bead in the correct color slot when he was about 2.5.  Now he will go back and forth between putting them all in the matching slot and trying to get all the beads in one slot.

This last activity he does on his own.  He's taking a part a small flash light.  He loves taking apart things and trying to put them back together.  This is also a fun fine motor, pre-writing activity. 

Our 2 year old is starting to read

Blue Rock loves books.  We have been reading to him since the day we brought him home from the hospital.  A nurse gave me some advice, she said, "when you are feeding him, read to him."  I did this quite a bit, but only during daytime feedings.  Now we typically read to him 30 min. to an hour a day.  

There are a number of books Blue Rock has memorized.  The ones I can think of off the top of my head are: Are You My Mother?; Goodnight Moon; Old Hat New Hat; Goodnight Gorilla; and Bless Me.  He actually "read" Are You My Mother to my step-mother when we were in Texas a few months ago.  She was quite impressed as he was very dramatic as he read.

Blue Rock is starting to sound out words and he knows quite a few.  However, he doesn't usually see a word and tell us what it is unless it's his name, which he knows very well.  Numbers and letters are a different story.  He started pointing out letters when he was 17 months old.  We first noticed this when we went to dinner in Mannheim one evening and he was pointing and saying the letters on random signs.  Last night was different.  While we were eating dinner, Blue Rock read his first word, out of context, that was not his name.  He seems to know a lot of words but usually tells us them when we're reading a book.  Or if he sees his name written somewhere, he is quick to point it out.  Last night was different.  He noticed one of his trucks on the floor near the wall.  He said, "I would like that cat, please."  My husband and I looked at each other then looked to where he was looking to see if his stuffed cat was over there.  There was only one thing, his Caterpillar truck that says, "CAT" on the back, which was facing the table.  It was solely lying on the floor near the wall.  Neither my husband nor I have ever called one of his trucks a cat or caterpillar and he knows what a truck and a cat are.  He also usually calls his trucks, trucks.  We were both amazed.  Reading is such an important part of life and we are glad he loves books and learning.

Blue Rock and his CAT

How to Make a Picture Book out of a Folder

I created this nifty folder photo album for an upcoming trip to the States.  I'm always thinking of inexpensive things I can create and wanted something that was light and portable for traveling.  Since Blue Rock doesn't see his extended family but once a year, I thought I would create something fun for him to look at on the airplane. He loves pictures and recognizes all of his grandparents and my sister because of Skype.  Other than that, this will be a great refresher.  I'm missing a picture of one of his great-grandmothers so I'll have to create another one once I get a picture of her. I only included greats, grandparents, and aunts and uncles due to space.  In the future I would like to make another photo folder with extended family. 

How to make a picture book out of a folder:

- Print the pictures you want to use.  Ask people to email you a picture of themselves if you don't have one.

- Cut the bottom folder out of the folder so it's flat.

- I used a glue stick and pasted the pictures on the folder.

- Write the names of the family members under each picture. 

- To seal, use clear contact paper and place on top of the pictures. I cut the contact paper into four strips and placed it inside the folds. By sealing your folder, your child won't be able to tear the pictures off and if he/she spills something on it you can wipe it clean.  In Germany you can buy contact paper at places like Kaufland.

Very simple and cheap.  I think Blue Rock is going to love this.  Enjoy!

Trees and Mountains Folder Numbers Game

Trees and Mountains Number Game

Here is another folder game I created. I took a cheap folder and cut the inside pockets off.  Then I printed numbers 1-50 and pasted them on the folder. Simply print my template, cut it, and paste it inside a folder.  This is a cheap, easy, portable, and fun game.  My son loves this game too!  To download this game, click here.

To play: 

1. Select a place holder.  We usually use a plastic animal but you could use anything, including a cap off a water bottle.

2. Roll the dice and move that many spaces.

3. When you land on a number, say what it is.  Practice counting spaces and saying numbers up to 50.  If your child doesn’t know the number, say it and have them repeat what you say. 

4. There are 4 tree spaces and 4 mountain spaces to add.  You can put these anywhere you’d like.  When the player lands on a number with a mountain below it, the player slides down to the number below.  When the player lands on a number with a tree over it, the player climbs the tree to the number above the tree.

5. The first person to reach the finish line wins.

*If you have an older child playing, you could have them practice saying the numbers in another language such as German, French, or Spanish.

**When assembling the game, it's faster to keep the numbers in a row when pasting, rather than cut each number out individually. 

You may also like: Folder ABC Game

Folder ABC Game

I'm always thinking of games to play with my son.  I came up with something I call folder games.  This is the first game I created.  I took a cheap $0.25 folder, cut the inside pockets off.  Then printed the letters of the alphabet and pasted them on the folder. Simply print my template, cut it, and paste it inside a folder.  This is a cheap, easy, portable, and fun game.  My son loves it!  Of course he loves anything to do with letters. To download this game, click here.

To play: 

1. Select a place holder.  We usually use a plastic animal but you could use anything, including a cap off a water bottle.

2. Roll the dice and move that many spaces.

3. When you land on a letter, say the letter's name and the sound it makes. This is great phonics practice.  If your child doesn't know the letters or sounds, say it and have them repeat what you say.

4. The first person to reach the finish line wins.

Dot Paint is Fun!

I bought my son the Alex Toys Dot and Dashes Paint Set and Do-A-Dot Book: Discovering My World. He loved dot painting. I don't like messes and was not sure how this would turn out. Well, dot paint was not messy and my 2 year old had a blast painting with it. In fact, he even stayed mostly inside the lines. I was very impressed! I recommend dot paint to anyone with a young child learning how to paint and draw.

A fun, mess-free, indoor activity

First dot paint picture. Love it!

Make your own fraction circles

He was super excited about these!

Is two too young to start learning fractions? I personally don't think so. =)  I'm always looking at ways to save on educational games and activities.  I bought some foam sheets for a craft I am planning on doing with the Moppets (preschoolers) in my MOPS (Mother's of Preschool) group.  I am in charge of Moppets this coming year and am planning on doing some cool things with that.  But until then I was thinking, what else could I do with them? Then it hit me, I could make some fractions!  My son loved them! He's only two so he doesn't necessarily get what a fraction is, but they were an instant hit and he loved putting the pieces together.  

Here's how to make fraction circles.  I took 4 colors (green, yellow, blue, and white) of foam sheets and drew a circle on each one.  I left one circle whole, cut one in two, another in three, and the last one in four.  I wrote on the circle pieces what they represent (1/1, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4).  Then I explained it to my son and let him put the pieces and colors together.  I would say something like, "this is one-half of a circle.  If you have two halves and put them together that makes one circle."  He also counted the different color pieces and enjoyed playing with them.  There are a lot of ways you can use this inexpensive learning tool.  Eventually I'll make more fraction circles but I thought four was plenty to start out with.  If you have an older child they would get even more out of this activity.

How to Create a Sensory Box

Green / Letter Gg Sensory Box

I have been wanting to create a sensory box for a while and finally did. A sensory box is a box or container filled with different objects, colors, scents, and textures. We have been having some crazy weather in Germany these past few weeks and have gotten more rain this summer than the past two. The parks near our house turn into mud pits because of all the sand. It can get easy to run out of things to do with a 2 year old so I decided to make a sensory box. Here is how to create a sensory box using dyed rice.

You can put anything you want as the base of a sensory box. I bought 10 lbs of rice and dyed 9 cups green - so between 4-5 lbs. You can also use pasta and dye it, water, or anything else that would be fun to play with. A few weeks ago we started doing the Hooked on Phonics for Preschoolers, which gives a good review of the alphabet and the phonic sounds.  My son has been obsessed with letters since around 17 or 18 months when he started noticing letters on signs when we went out. He still loves our letter games but I wanted to do something more with him. I did some research and decided to buy the Hooked on Phonics for Preschoolers. Although it's pretty basic, at least it has him attempting to write the letters (fine motor skills) and reinforces of the phonic sounds (which will help him learn to read). Since we were on the letter "G," I decided to dye the rice green the day before.  I filled the box with objects that started with "g" or were green.  My son had a blast digging through the rice and looking at all the objects.  One of his favorite books lately has been Goodnight Gorilla so I brought that out as well. 

The only downside of this activity is that rice will get everywhere, unless your child is older and/or understands better than mine.  I had to remind him several times to keep the rice in the container and on the blanket.  He wanted to put it rice everywhere!  Thankfully he did pretty well except when I left to get my camera upstairs, he put a few handfuls on our couch.  Besides having to stay near him while he played, this was a great activity for him. 

How To dye rice: Put dry rice in a large bowl, add about a teaspoon at a time of rubbing alcohol, and a few drops of food coloring, mix and adjust coloring as needed. Dry on wax paper for at least an hour before storing. I got this idea from Totally Tots. 

I had to make two batches for 9 cups