Counting Presents ~ Simply Made

During the month of December, most tots are fascinated with the presents that start appearing under the Christmas tree. Little ones find the mystery packages almost too much to resist, but with this activity, they don't have to be off limits.

Materials:

• Miniature Christmas Tree (ours is less than a foot high and was purchased for a $1)
• Miniature Christmas Presents or small jewelry boxes (The mini presents are ornaments with the string cut off)
• White Board & Marker or Number Cards (optional)

Directions:

Play a fun counting game with your tot. Depending on your tot's skill level, you could place gifts under the tree for them to count. Then, they could write the number on the white board. Or, have your tot pull a number card and place the correct number of mini presents under the tree.

At our house, we are focusing on simple addition, so we practiced with our presents. My little guy had fun choosing who would get the presents in our number stories.

   For the younger tots, you could have them sort the presents by color or make a simple pattern.

Hopefully this will give your tot a chance to play with presents, without unwrapping the real ones under your tree!

Merry Christmas!

Turkey Hand Puppet ~ Simply Made

Here's a simple Turkey Hand Puppet to make for your tot. You can use the puppet as a prop for stories, songs, or fingerplays.

Materials:

• New Garden Glove
• Felt Pieces
• Googly Eye
• Hot Glue Gun

   Directions:
Cut your felt pieces to look like feathers and a turkey body.

Glue the felt and googly eye to the garden glove.

Play! The Turkey Hand Puppet is fun to use with the puppet theater or with songs and fingerplays. Our favorite turkey song is below.

Turkeys Big and Fat Song
(tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)
We are turkeys big and fat, big and fat, big and fat.
We are turkeys big and fat, Strutting all around.

Hear the gobble sound we make, sound we make, sound we make.
Hear the gobble sound we make~Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

I hope you and your tot have fun with this simply made activity. Happy Thanksgiving!

Fabric Sensory Box for Toddlers ~ Simply Made

My tiny tot is at the stage where he wants to pull everything out of the toy box, cabinets, or anything else left unattended. While annoying and messy at times, I know that exploring his surroundings is a part of his learning stage and teaching him about the world around him. Instead of fighting his natural exploration by taking everything away, I set up up a box for him to explore safely.

Materials:

• Empty wipes box
• Fabric and ribbon scraps of all sizes and textures (I used corduroy, felt, cotton, soft minky, silk, chenille and flannel fabrics)

Directions:

1. Place the fabric scraps in the wipes case.
2. Let your tot explore by pulling and stuffing fabric in and out of the top hole.
3. Let them explore the fabric textures. As you play, describe the fabric to them by saying things like "This piece is soft", "This piece is red", "This piece is silky", etc.
4. When they've pulled them all out, help them put them back in and do it again!

Variation:
As your tot grows, help him sort the fabrics by color, size, or texture.

My tiny tot loved this and sat with the Fabric Sensory Box for longer than his normal attention span. I hope your tot enjoys it as well!

Gel Sensory Bags ~ Simply Made

Gel Sensory Bags are such a versatile tool for your tot. They are great for writing practice as well as tons of sensory fun. Toddlers to school-age children are sure to be drawn to the irresistibly squishy bags--I know this from the shrieks that erupted at my house when I only made one bag. My one year old made sure I knew he wanted his own gel bag for some sensory exploration, too.

You will need:

• Hair Gel (I bought mine at the Dollar Tree)
• Ziploc Bag (I used a Freezer bag because they are thicker)
• Clear Packing Tape
• Scissors
• Optional: Glitter, small items (I used beads)

Since I only needed the hair gel, I only spent $1 for this project!

To make:

Squirt some hair gel into the ziploc bag. If you are giving this to your older tot to practice writing, you will want to make sure you don't fill it too full. When the bags are too full of gel, it makes it hard to see where they have used their finger to form letters. If you are giving this to a younger tot for sensory fun, then more gel is fine. Now is the time to add any extra items to your bag that your tot might like to explore.

Use the packing tape to reinforce the top of the bag to prevent leaking or exploring hands from making a mess. I went over the closure several times.

Explore! Write! Play!

 

 

 

Extra tips:

• You can place small objects inside the bag for sensory play for little tots. They can explore and squish to their hearts content.
• To keep the bag from sliding around, use tape to adhere the bag to the table for little tots.
• Place letter cards under the bag for your tot to trace with their finger if they need help.
• If you want to let your little one practice writing with something, try a q-tip! It is soft enough that it won't rip the bag.

Counting Boxes ~ Simply Made

With a baby in the house, we have gone through a lot of baby food. Since I'm always repurposing things as educational tools, I've been hanging on to all of the containers to use along the way. I decided to use some of the containers to make counting boxes.

 

You will need:

• Small containers (I used Gerber baby food containers)
• Permanent marker
• Small items to count (I used small foam shapes)

To Make:
Using the permanent marker, write numbers on the containers.

Now you're ready to play! Help your tot use small items to count and place them in the container.

 

 

Want more easy ideas to make for your tot? Check out all the Simply Made posts!

Number Punch~Simply Made

I don't know about your little one, but my son is in the stage where he thinks he is big enough to use grown-up tools. I'm guessing that if your tot is anything like mine, then you are nodding in agreement right about now. Another thing I've noticed about little ones is that they love office supplies. Using both of these things together, I came up with an activity that you could pull together very easily. Chances are you probably have everything you need at home!

You will need:

• Paper (any kind will work)
• Scissors
• Marker
• Single Hole Punch

Directions:
Fold your paper. I folded mine into eighths, but you could do something different. Cut the paper on the folds.

Write numbers that your child knows or that they need to practice.

Let your tot punch the correct number of holes.

They might need your help to hold the paper steady. This activity will help your tot strengthen the hand muscles they need for writing.

Variations:

• Pull out your old scrapbook punches and let them punch different shapes. If you end up with too many punched pieces, put the extras in the collage box.

Name Puzzles ~ Simply Made

One sure fire way to make sure that kids want to join in during learning activities is to make the activity appeal to their interests. For example, my little guy is a puzzle fanatic. He absolutely loves them. We've also been working on spelling the names of people in our family. I combined these two things and quickly made Name Puzzles.

 Materials: 

• Sentence Strips (I've seen these at the Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Target, or you could get them at a school supply store.)
• Marker
• Scissors
• Ziploc bag for storage

Directions:
Use the marker to write your tot's name on the Sentence Strip.

Cut between the letters. You will want to make different "designs" with your scissors for each cut. For example, wavy lines, jagged lines, curved lines, etc.

Allow your tot to put the puzzle together.

If they need help, make another strip that has their name on it and leave it intact. Allow them to use it to help them find the next letter. They can use it as a reference, or use it to match up the letters by laying the pieces on top.


Other options:

• If your child already knows how to spell their name, do this for other names they might need to know~Mommy, Daddy, siblings, etc. Don't forget to add a picture to help them "read" the name!
• Putting numbers in order
• Sight Words
• Simple sentences

Shape Builders ~ Simply Made

I like things that can be done quickly when preparing for my tots so we can get right down to the business of fun learning. In full disclosure, it took me longer to take the pictures for this blog post than it did to actually make this activity. Now, that's my kind of project prep!

 

 

Using simple pipe cleaners and straws, tots can build shapes, letters, or whatever they can imagine. This activity promotes fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, shape recognition, and problem solving.

 

Materials:

• Pipe Cleaners
• Straws
• Scissors

 

 

Directions:

1. Cut the pipe cleaners in half, and then half again.
2. Cut the straws. I cut mine just below the "joint" where they bend. You will want more than one length available for your shape building (example: rectangles need both long and short sizes)

To build shapes:
Bend a pipe cleaner in half, slide on a straw, and build!

You aren't limited to just shapes...you can build letters, too!

Providing these simple materials to my son has brought tons of enjoyment and open-ended fun. Sometimes I lead him in the activity, asking questions and using shape vocabulary, but other times I let him explore. I showed him how to make the shapes three dimensional. From then, he explored with his imagination.

Want to observe how I talk to him while I lead him in the activity, while trying not to tell him how to do it the "right" way? I posted a video on my blog to help you!