Tot School- A is for Animals

Spring is in the air, and we are loving the warmer weather!  Time outside is more frequent and this mama loves the sunshine!  Even though it was a nice week, we still found time to work inside on A is for Animals.  I should probably share that the letter A is one of the first letters Little Guy learned, as both Daddy and I wear a lot of UofA apparel!  Little Guy is 33 months old.

We had a fun week with just six activities.  Two of them were puzzles.  The first was a wooden puzzle that had several animals in the picture.  This was the first activity completed, and he did it every day, often two or three times in a row.  I had recently picked up this and a few more puzzles from a consignment sale, so I got a good deal on them.  The second puzzle was a a long alphabet train.  To do this puzzle, we would first sort the train cars by color, then Little Guy would either look on the box or I would tell him which animal came next and what color train car it was in.  This puzzle certainly took longer to complete, but it was a great way to go over all the letter.   Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures!

We also used a variety of printables.  We used some from 1+1+1=1, H is for Homeschooling, and Tot School. Little Guy seemed to enjoy them this week!

The next activity was counting and fine motor practice.  I had put the numbers 1, 2, and 3 in a muffin tin.  In the cup right beneath them, I put the corresponding number of mini animal erasers.  Little Guy had to use the tweezers to move the animals to the numbers and then back.  I would sit with him and count the erasers as he moved them.  We are also starting to work on basic number recognition.

He also built the letter A out of Duplos.  I gave him two pictures to copy, one from Wildflower Ramblings and the other from One Beautiful Home.  The main different is size.  The letters from Wildflower Ramblings come four letters to a sheet, while the letters from One Beautiful Home are one per sheet.  Little Guy chose to use the smaller card.  He also had to choose his own Duplos, finding the right sizes in his Duplo bin.  This was definitely an interactive activity, as Little Guy can't quite put the letters together on his own.

The last activity was spooning.  He had to use the spoon to get the beans from the bowl to the ice cube tray.  He started out by putting some in each little compartment, then when they all had some beans, he was done!  He didn't really want to work until all the beans were gone, but he did eventually.  I think there might have been some turn-taking in there!

Overall, it was a fun week.  Six activities seemed like a good amount, with enough variety but not so many that we don't have time to finish.  What tweaks have you made in your Tot School?

We linked up to the Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1!