M is 41 months old.
Well, M is still feeling camera shy. For this reason, I took a lot of pics of the activities as they were set up. I love action shots more, but I’ve realized he really needs my attention to be on him when we are spending this precious time together. I hope you all don’t mind the boring pictures!!
FINE MOTOR SKILLS:
This was a quick, simple activity to put together – I just punched some holes around a heart cut from fun foam and set it out with a lace from some lacing beads.
For this activity I set out a jar (filled with glass pebbles to keep it from falling over while M worked with it) and some elastic ponytail holders. He stretched each one out with his hands, then manipulated it over the top of the jar and slid it down. He really, really, really enjoyed this and it was definitely a challenge for him. I got this idea here.
M made these sweet little beaded hearts for the grandmas. Each one was made with a 3” length of pipecleaner and pony beads. Once the beads were strung on we formed them into tiny hearts.
This was a great idea found here. I cut slits in some red and white felt hearts, sewed a button onto a length of ribbon and M made a button snake. He really enjoyed this once he started it. Sorry there’s no “after” picture!
MATH SKILLS:
M enjoyed doing his Bob the Builder truck size sorting activity.
I turned these little valentines from our most recent High-Five issue into pom pom counting cards. M used the tweezers to put the correct number of pom poms on each card.
We played a memory game with our shape sorting cards. This was a little more difficult than a regular game of memory because we weren’t matching pictures, but shapes of items. M did very well with this and really enjoyed it much more than simply sorting the cards into shape categories.
SCIENCE:
We bought some tiny seed starter kits at Target and planted some forget-me-nots and a shamrock plant. :) M has been checking them every day to see if anything is growing yet.
SENSORY:
We made a batch of valentine playdough – pretty red with glitter in it and a dash of cinnamon too – yum! M wanted to make a snowman like we did with our white playdough in December… so that’s what we did! I called them *Valentine Guys*. M just called them red snowmen, heh.
Then he made me the sweetest little playdough valentines (“These are just for you, Mommy!”):
And here was the big hit of the week… a tissue paper sensory bin.We actually used our old baby bathtub for this because our regular bin was being used for something else. We had fun tearing it up, feeling it, and hearing how crinkly it is. Then we tossed the pieces in the air and watched them float down. M thought they float “probably because they aren’t very heavy”. :) Then we had the best time blowing them up into the air and across the room. Finally we just took handfuls and threw them at each other. We both had a LOT of fun with this! Thank you so much to April, who gave us this idea with her great post. Visit her blog if you haven’t already, she is full of good ideas and has the sweetest little girl! :)
CREATIVE PLAY:
Well, there were actually 2 big hits this week and this is part of the second one:Our lovely friend Elise sent us these tumbling goannas in a little package. They stick to the fridge or window or wall and flip flop their way down, sometimes tangling each other up. We’ve been having a lot of goanna races lately, they are so much fun! Thank you, Elise, Savvy, and Blake!! This was such a treat! More about what else was in their package in a little while.
We also found out this week that our town has a toy lending library. What?!?! This is something I’ve read about on other blogs and I’ve been soooo jealous! Well, it turns out we have one too and I’ve lived here for 10 years without knowing about it. Not that I would’ve cared more than 3 years ago, but still. So of course we went the very day we first heard about it. M brought home this cool building toy set. It’s mainly wheels, bolts, nuts, and some yellow connecting pieces. We’ve made a cart for his pretend grocery shopping and a truck! It’s really cool and I’ll hate taking it back.
He also picked out this fun bulldozer floor puzzle. I’m really looking forward to making the toy library part of our weekly or bi-weekly routine!
MUSIC:
Ok, here’s the other part of what we got in Elise’s package. Really, she was so generous and she is truly one of the people I’m most thankful for having “met” via blogging… she’s a great mom, full of energy and fun ideas, and just has such a cheerful outlook. I’m always inspired by her. I want to move to Australia and be her next door neighbor. :) Oh wait, would that be weird at all? ;)
She and her sweet children sent M these great Australian animal flashcards and the BEST cd of music. This is such a good cd; we’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop since receiving it and, honestly, I’m not tired of it yet. I’m actually really enjoying it and that says a lot! It’s fun to dance to and we are just having a great time with it!
Speaking of music, here’s what I videotaped one day this week. Check out M’s bedhead. :) (But please don’t look at the messy background.) This cracked me up and I thought you might get a kick out of it too. I apologize in advance for my obnoxious laugh (sorry!)… the reason I thought it was so funny is because M normally does not have such a serious frown on his face when he’s singing, and his sweet little voice is not at all like this. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he was adamant about making a video. :) Enjoy…
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Have a beautiful day! :)