Right and Left

Theme of the Day: Right and Left

Age: 21 months

Tracing Hands

We identified which hand was right and left, then I traced my hand as an example. She actually kept her hand still long enough for me to trace them. So I outlined them in marker, and let her color the page with pencil afterward. It was a nice introduction to today's theme, and tiny hand art always makes a nice keepsake. :)

Bracelets

I cut a toilet paper roll in half and let her decorate it with markers. Then I put a flower from my scrapbooking stash on top. The idea was to place it on her right wrist as a way to help her identify her right hand throughout the day. But of course, being the girl who doesn't let you keep a hair tie in her hair for more than a second, she pulled this off quickly too.

Hokey Pokey

No right and left unit would be complete without singing this song! I slipped Honey Pot's bracelet back on her right hand for a little bit, and we went through the motions of the song. Not surprisingly, she liked the "turn yourself around" verse the best. We'll have to work on this again.

Which is Right/Left?

It was a lazy day for us, so we basically kept it simple for the remainder of the day. This was an ongoing game where we just asked her to identify her right from her left. "Where is your right hand?" "Which is your left foot?" "Which cup is on the left?" etc. I know it is a 50/50 chance that she would answer correctly, but she did surprisingly well with this game.

Number: 2

Theme of the Day: Number 2

Age: 21 months

Which Is Two? - Numeral and Pictures

I created these sequences in Photoshop Elements. She kept pointing out the pictures with one image in it though, so I'm not sure that she quite understands two yet! I've concluded that once we've covered 1, 2 and 3 separately we will have a day devoted to all three of them before moving on.

Sesame Street Videos

These were such a hit last week with the number one that I had to find some more for this lesson too. Here are the two videos that I showed her today. Please note that I do not own the rights to these videos - I found them on You Tube and they belong to Sesame Street!

Lauri Puzzle

I gave Honey Pot the next in her set of Lauri puzzles to play with. She again loved poking out the shapes and pushing them back in again. We worked on counting the pears a little bit. Then I showed her what 2 looks like with my fingers. Although she tried to imitate me, she couldn't get her little fingers to stay in place yet. We'll have to work on that before her birthday in May!

Paper Towel Art

I found this idea on Pinterest - here is the original post. With washable markers, I wrote the number 2 a few times on one paper towel, and on the second paper towel I drew shapes in pairs of two. Then I gave Honey Pot a paintbrush and a small cup of water. She really enjoyed painting with the water, and the result was fun for me to watch too. It was a fun craft that we can return to for various themes. And cleanup was super easy too!

Here is what they look like immediately after finishing.































And here is what they look like once they have dried. Pretty!

Magnetic Pom Poms

I know I was going to give this activity a rest this week, but when Honey Pot found the magnetic pom poms in my closet she asked to play with them. So I quickly created this in Photoshop Elements and let her play with it. :)

Shape: Circle

Theme of the Day: Circle

Age: 20 months

Circle Hop

I had seen similar activities, where the child walks onto various textures placed across the floor. So I incorporated the idea into our circle unit. I found six images of common circular items, and glued them onto paper plates. "What do all of these pictures have in common," I asked her. "What shape are they?" She answered correctly, and we named what was in each picture: sun, cookie, clock, wheel, M&M and ball. "Jump on the M&M!" I'd say, and she'd run over to it and jump. "Jump on the wheel!" and so the game continued.

Originally, we did this activity in her carpeted room, and the plates slipped all over the floor. Although she fell down almost every time, she had so much fun! When we returned to it later in the day, I taped the plates onto the hardwood floor. This was definitely better, and she didn't fall down once. That is, until, we changed the game to the following: "Spin in circles on the cookie!" (See last game of the day.) She loved this game, and it was a great energy buster. I may alter it for other themes in the future.

Do-A-Dot

This seems to be a very popular activity with young children. I created my own circles in Photoshop Elements, and added white circles within each one for Honey Pot to daub with the markers. Trying to be frugal, I had her use my Bingo markers instead of buying a set of washable Do-A-Dot markers. So in her natural curious state, she tapped the top and stained her fingers. Point taken. They've been added to my Amazon wishlist. I was impressed though that she was able to daub with the markers, instead of drag them across the page as she had last time I introduced these to her. A job well done! But we'll have to work on doing it inside the white holes. :)

Does It Fit?

Remembering something I found on Pinterest, I pulled this activity together impromptu. I gathered circular items from around the house, as well as an empty toilet paper tube which, I guess I've been keeping in my craft supplies "just in case". We reviewed big and small as Honey Pot tried to drop various items into the tube. She had fun with this, and eventually created her very own Chinese Hand Trap out of it. She wore it as a bracelet too, which is actually a nice craft idea for another day!

Stacking Cheerios

The classic toddler snack is in the shape of a circle, so we had to work this into today's circle theme. I found this activity on Pinterest and thought we'd give it a try. After having Honey Pot identify which shape the Cheerios are, I had her stack them onto the spaghetti noodles. She did fine for a while, but of course they are much more fun to eat. So snack-time it became!

Spinning in Circles

What circle day would be complete without doing more of this? "Whooooa, I'm dizzyyyy!"

Letter: B

Theme of the Day: The Letter B

Age: 20 months

Magnetic Pom Poms

As with last week, I printed the Do-A-Dot pages from this site, and created my own for the actual upper and lowercase B. Perhaps I need to bring this activity out less often, because she didn't take much interest in it this time, having seen it for the letter and number days last week. She did point out the bear and butterfly, so I continued with a verbal list of "B" words. She repeated them, but it'll be a long time before she contributes her own I'm sure!

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics and Which is B?

I had brought out Honey Pot's fridge magnet B, so she could hear its sounds. She ended up bringing more letters over afterward, so I made a "Which is B" game out of it. She was very good at spotting the "B" among groups of three letters. We also reviewed the letter "A" from last week. Eventually, Honey Pot started pointing out some of the other letters she knew too, such as "O" and "M."

B is for Bike, B is for Blue

I have no pictures, but the unseasonably warm weather prompted us to get outside and moving. Under the guise of "Guess what else starts with B?" I brought Honey Pot out for a ride on her bike. Once she was "all done" we dropped the bike off in the driveway and went for a long walk. She just loves being outside! I spotted an opportunity and said, "I spy with my little eye something blue. Do you see something blue?" She quickly caught on, pointed out a blue sign, and asked for another one. So we continued this game as long as we could.

B is for Buttons Craft

Honey Pot loves to use glue! And she is always quick to point out the buttons on our shirts too. So when I saw this craft, I had to let her try it today. She really seemed to enjoy squeezing the glue out and placing the buttons on, however haphazardly. :)

"Mess!"

Play-dough B

We revisited this activity from last week, using a letter B cookie cutter. She loves to play with her Kool-Aid play-dough, and had just as much fun with it.

B is for Bus Craft

I found this idea on Pinterest - you can see the original link here. Honey Pot loves to point out school buses while we are driving, so I thought it would make a nice craft for today. She seemed to have lots of fun with it too. I squeezed the glue out for the wheels, but let her take full reign after that. We read "The Wheels on the Bus" afterward!