Tootsie Takes the Lead

Tot School this week didn't play out as planned but that doesn't mean we didn't do anything or I wasn't satisfied with the results.  Just goes to show that it really does pay to let the little one take the lead sometimes!  Tootsie was excited to get going but really just blew through a few of her trays and then moved on to her own projects.  We read a ton of books, spent quite awhile with her Mega Blocks and played a few of her games.  It was actually a pretty low key day for Tootsie.  I was able to redirect her to some more trays throughout the week so I feel that she at least was introduced to the concepts.

This week's Tot Trays:

Tootsie worked at putting the pipe cleaners in the shaker and then adding foam shapes.

I prepped a page with the same number columns as letters in her name then stamped them in order at the top.  Tootsie used the stamps to add the correct letter to each column to make her name.  We are really working on recognizing the letters in her name and ordering them correctly.

 "A is for Alligator" magnet page.  We are slowly working on the Animal ABC's from Carisa at 1+1+1=1.  I added this as an extension.

 She loves looking at photos of herself!  I made a collage of some from different time periods and printed two copies.  I cut one up and had her match them.  I also spread them out and had her close her eyes while I took one away.  She compared the cut outs to the page and decided which was missing.  I think I will probably cut up the other and make a matching game soon.






Tootsie has had these nesting dolls for about a year but she still really likes them.  When I first gave them to her she worked at matching the tops and bottoms.  Eventually she began nesting them. It was fun to watch her figure it out over time!

 I wanted to do a snowflake counting game with her but knew she really wouldn't be enthused about just counting into containers so I  made it a grab bag game.  I used the numbers from her number puzzle and covered the cake mix box from last week with a snowman.  She added the snowflakes to the box as we counted.

Tootsie considers my I Pad her new toy! 

We spent a lot of time with Megabloks 80pc Lrg Mega Bloks Bag.  First we built a "really, really big" car for her teddy bear.  

Next, we got out the GROOVY GIRLS and built a house for them.  She laid one out in her sleeping bag and then read her stories.  When she was all done she turned off the light, kissed her goodnight and said, "See you in the morning!"

Tootsie got this memory game for Christmas and has been enjoying it.  Right now we just choose about twenty cards to play with at a time.

I brought this game, Oh Rats, home from school for her to try out.  She likes it because it has a individual puzzles and a spinner.  I like it because she works on color recognition, something that hasn't clicked for her yet.  It came from Discovery Toys but I couldn't find it on their website.  I think it's been around awhile.

So this photo didn't turn out that well but she looked so cute sitting on the steps working on her Tot Time Notebook from 1+1+1=1.  She loves it and does it quite often.  It kept her entertained in the car this weekend too!

Our girl definitely does not like to get her hands messy but she does like using utensils with shaving cream.  We added food coloring and when she was all done made a very cool print.  I saw this idea at chasing cheerios awhile ago.

More work on the letters of her name.  This idea came fromluvin my bug

Water play again this week!  I am amazed at how long she will stick with this!

Thanks for checking us out!  

Kate

Tot School Begins!

We did it!  This week marked the beginning of our Tot School!  I had been looking for projects and educational activities to help further my three year old daughter Tootsie's learning at home.  She spends three to four days a week and the preschool center in which I work so it was important to me that the activities have a somewhat different approach than those she is introduced to at school.  I began following some fantastic homeschooling/tot school blogs (1+1+1=1 Tot School being one of my favorites) and have been collecting ideas and materials and making projects.  Unfortunately many of these projects haven't seen the light of day and all of it has ended up in one big, unorganized jumble.  Our previous attempts at Tot School have been frustrating for both Tootsie and myself.  I found myself running around to gather materials from the jumble or print things while she grew more and more impatient.  The wheels quickly fell off from there.  So I spent a weekend organizing and bagging all materials and projects and made a plan for our next home day together.  I put together tot trays, planned art (always Tootsie's favorite) and movement activities and gathered new things for the sensory tub.  As her attention span tends to be short, I made sure I had plenty to do and was more than willing to follow her lead.  The result was a success!  Check out our first organized week playing and learning together!

Our Tot Trays for the week:

A combination of a few ideas I found:  I traced the letters of her name and then hid the sticky letters around our living room.  She found then and then stuck them on.  Tootsie loved this so much I ended up opening up some repositional letters and hiding them many times.  I then made ABC letter cards with the repositionals and laminated them for future use.

I made this as an alligator letter project to coincide with the Animals ABC's by Carisa at 1+1+1=1.  I found the project at No Time For Flashcards.  We haven't completed it yet because Tootsie hasn't been too excited by the Animal ABC's.

Cutting practice!  Thank you to 2 Teaching Mommies for the pattern strips!

Pouring pony beads into a tall and a small glass jar.  She loved this work and did it a few times throughout the week.

Spooning flat marbles.  Tootsie didn't like the spoon I initially provided for this project so she went and picked one of hers out of the silverware drawer!

Our art project was supposed to be making dot snowmen using q-tips.  After just a few dots Tootsie requested glitter paint and a roller.  A few quick swipes and she was on to the easel below (a great buy at Ikea!)

We danced to Swingset Mamas Swing, Dance and Sing DVD.  Tootsie and I both love this video!

I saw the idea for muffin tin lunches at Chasing Cheerios awhile ago and loved it.  Tootsie had cheese, humus, pit chips, strawberries, veggie lunch slices and tomatoes.  She ate it all!

Later on in the week I caught her playing with the sensory tub filled with blue and white things, tongs, clothespins and a few containers and a sorting tray.

The girl loves to play in water!  I usually just set out a big bowl and a tray on a towel.  She started with some pouring things and began collecting things from her kitchen set to use.  She stayed at this for at least a half an hour, which is a miracle for her!

Tootsie had to go to the doctor this week to get her cough checked out - turns out it was bronchitis!  While the doctor was examining her she let Tootsie make cupcakes via an app on her I Pad.  She loved it so much we downloaded at home and have spent lots of time decorating cupcakes.  We decided to make some real ones to enjoy!

After decorating them, she didn't do much more than taste the frosting!

Here's a look at another sensory tub we have right now - colored rice with scoops and funnels.  Messy but easily swept up.  Tootsie also added some things from her kitchen set to this tub and then decided that the rice needed to be microwaved!

We can't wait for this week's Tot School!  Will be sure to take photos an post soon!

Thanks for checking us out!
Kate