Tot School- T is for Train

Last week was a great week in Tot School!  Little Guy recently received some new trains, so last week we did T is for Trains!  We had a great time with lots of train-themed activities, and actually completed all of them!  Little Guy is 33 months old.

We read some great books this week.  These were all books that we already had, but enjoyed reading them to start off our work time.  

The first activity was number matching from 1+1+1=1.  Little Guy had to match the number card with the card showing that many, as well as put that many trains with it.  I had put glue in the outline of the numbers, making them raised and, therefore, tactile.  This was a fun activity that he did several times.  He really liked feeling the numbers.  We have not worked on number recognition very much, so this was a good way to start simply.

 The next activity was gluing a train track in the shape of a T.  This idea came from the blog Counting Coconuts.  I glued down the long sides, so Little Guy just had to glue on the cross pieces.  After it had dried, he enjoyed pushing his train on the track!

 I included another puzzle this week, which was the first thing he went for, and the activity he completed the most.  It is from the transportation set from Melissa and Doug.

 The next activity was building a train out of pattern blocks, following a pattern.  Little Guy only did this once, and only did the small train.  The large train pattern was found here.

 The name train was next.  I think this is one of the cutest crafts we have done in a while.  It was inspired by this pin from Pinterest.  I had pre-cut all the pieces, so Little Guy just had to glue it all together.  I love how it came out!  We hung it on Little Guy's door!

 The last activity was printables.  I used several printables from Royal Baloo's Zoomin' Movin' Alphabet.  Little Guy cut apart trains to glue on a T and stamped T's on a train.

 And a bonus...we completed his rainbow name from last week.  He had only done one letter, and started slowly again this week.  However, after hanging his train on the outside of his door, he wanted to hang this on the inside of his door, so he completed the last three letters in one sitting!  Gotta love what a little inspiration will do!

 This was one of our best weeks in Tot School.  What have you found that helps make a great week?

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

ABC pointers

Last summer, I bought this bag of foam letters at a garage sale.  They are not stickers, just foam letters.  We have used them for a variety of things, such as a letter sensory bin, to spell words, and to make Little Guy's name, but this weekend I came up with a new idea.  I made ABC pointers!

All I needed was one of each letter (I only have capital letters), 26 popsicle sticks, and a hot glue gun.  I sorted through the bag and decided to make all the consonants blue and the vowels red, for future ideas.  I simply glued the letters on the popsicle sticks, pulled off all the annoying little strings, and here they are!

 We already started to use the letter T pointer this week in Tot School.  Little Guy is using it to point to the days of the week on his calendar as we sing.  Another simple way to reinforce the letter we are practicing!

What have you done with foam letters?

Tot School- R is for Rainbow

Hello!  Can you believe that we are halfway through March?  Spring has now sprung!  I am ready for warmer days and picnic lunches.  What about you?  Last week we did R is for Rainbow in Tot School!  It makes me think of warmer days ahead (I try not to think about the rain that is needed)! Little Guy is 33 months old.

The first activity this week was the salt tray.  Little Guy really likes when we get this out, so I only try to get it out every few weeks so the novelty does not wear off.  Since we had a rainbow theme, I made a rainbow base, then put the salt on top.  I have some cards with the letters we have practiced that I also put out, so Little Guy can try to copy them in the salt.  We also do a lot of him pointing and Mama moving his finger in the salt.

A new activity for us this week was to make a letter out of Duplo Legos.  I found these pattern cards for capital letters at Wildflower Ramblings.  I printed them on cardstock and and then worked with Little Guy to copy it with the real Duplos.  This was hard for him, and so we completed it together.  Its nice to have a variety of ways to "build" the letters.

The next activity was to build a rainbow name.  Little Guy needed to cut each colored strip into small pieces, then we would glue that onto a letter in his name, with the first letter red, the next letter orange, then yellow, green, and blue.  However, we only got one letter done last week, so this will be in our work bin for this week, too.

The next tray was puzzles.  Little Guy loves puzzles!  There was a racecar puzzle and a rocket puzzle.  The racecar is from this Melissa and Doug set.  This is the first puzzle that Little Guy has done that has regular, interlocking puzzle pieces.  This was the first activity that he chose to complete, and I think he wanted to do the puzzles everyday!

 The next activity was simply gluing paper onto a large letter R.  I cut the R from a cereal box and had a basket of paper scraps.  Little Guy could cut the scraps up, then glue them onto the R.  I thought he would like this one, as he likes to use scissors and glue, but he really was not too interested.

 The last activity was a variety of printables.  This weeks printables came from Gift of Curiosity and from 1+1+1=1.  Again, these were hit and miss, and I think he completed 2 during the week.  He did enjoy the rainbow pack of dot markers we got out!

I hope you enjoyed the start of spring!  How is Tot School going for you?

We linked up to the Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1!  (Little Guy was featured for last week!)

Tot School- P is for St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We worked on P is for St. Patrick's Day last week.  Here is what we did!

The first activity was Little Guy's favorite activity.  It is from Mummy Musings and Mayhem and will help with crossing the mid line.  I drew a large figure 8, then put it in a sheet protector and sealed it closed with packing tape (I don't have a laminator).  I stuck it in a ziplock bag and squeezed some hair gel into the bag.  I closed the bag and sealed it with packing tape (I didn't want Little Guy trying to get it open!) and the activity was ready!  It was fun to squish the gel around.  We tried rolling a toy car and a wooden train, and the train was easier to move around.  I think Little Guy did this activity every day this week!

The next activity was making shamrocks out of hearts.  I got out our heart punch again.  Little Guy could punch 4 hearts, then if we glued them with their points together it made a shamrock.  He experimented with how to make the hearts (like holding the punch up in the air, using one finger to push, pushing with his entire hand, etc.).  Being purposeful about how we are gluing things on is also a learning task for him.  I think his final picture came out great!

We had more printables this week from the St. Patrick's Day pack at Gift of Curiosity and the letter dot page from School Time Snippets.  He seemed to enjoy them this week (his interest in these comes and goes).

A new letter practice idea was lacing the letter from No Time for Flash Cards.  I cut the P out of a cereal box and punched holes all the way around.  Little Guy could lace the P however he wanted.

Another activity from the St. Patrick's Day pack at Gift of Curiosity was a color sort.  Little Guy first had to cut all the items apart, then identify them and if they were green or yellow.  He did a great job cutting them apart, and struggled to identify a few (which is to be expected, since they are not common objects).  We did not glue them on, thinking that we could sort again later in the week, but of course never did.

We tried an activity we had not done for a while from the St. Patrick's Day pack at Gift of Curiosity- Shadow Matching.  Little Guy had to match the leprechaun to his shadow.  I was a bit surprised at how well he did.  He did this activity twice during the week.

The last activity was playdough!  We made new green playdough for this week.  Little Guy even helped to make it.  We used the letter P playdough mat from Homeschool Creations.  It is always fun to get out new playdough!

How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

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