Friday, September 11, 2015

"Tot School" this week

I am not one to do too much in the way of cutesy themes-- either for school or at home.  This is mostly because I'm lazy, but also that I think part of life is the randomness.  Since school has started though, I have may a conscious effort to play with my daughter, to give her experiences that I may otherwise skip because they are a pain.  

Here are 5 experiences we experienced in the last week or so-- All with the "Creativity" theme:



Playdough

Here is my Amazon affiliate link


We found this set at Kohl's about a month ago.  It was on sale and then I had a 30% off coupon.  As a bonus, if I spent $50, I got $10 Kohl's cash.  (I LOVE Kohl's!)

I really like this set.  It gives some scissors experience and is really good for "process" art with playdough.  (If you don't know about process art, it's basically where it's just playtime).

I think playdough is a great sensory toy with lots of squishiness.  Plus, we can decompose objects to try to build them.  We talk about how faces have eyes, ears, noses, etc. and try to build a face. 

Cards



I've written before about how I like to use my Cricut to make cards with my daughter.  We made a couple more cards this week.  We push the buttons together and then she "writes" in the inside.  Great pre-literacy skills.   

Beads


Our current fascination is beads.  We like to generally make a mess with them while occasionally putting them on a "necklace".  It's about 90% mess and 10% necklace making.  We talk about the shapes, the colors, and the sound they make when they go all over.  Plus, it's great for fine motor skills. 


Clothespin Decorations



 I bought some clothespins for a project a couple of years ago, used the 2-3 I needed and then put the rest of the bag in the craft closet.  The little girl found them while we were making cards and decided we needed to "decorate" them.  We used mod podge on them.  Great experience with a paintbrush.

Yoga

See the Youtube Channel here

I know this doesn't really "fit" with the rest but we found this yoga series on Youtube.  It tells a story while doing yoga poses.  It's good for winding down before bedtime.  I also think it's good for listening comprehension as we have to follow a storyline.

Speaking of winding down, that's it' for me.  I'm linking up to a couple of parties-- Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and #TeacherMom for her TotSchool link-up (she is much more organized than me!).




2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing that YouTube channel! Been looking for a way to introduce kids to yoga.

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  2. Ha! I love your candid transparency! I have so many things that would fall under the "here's how to do this the laziest way possible" approach!! Ha! But I think your activities are GREAT!! Organization is a hobby of mine, but really the point is time with our littles, right?! Thanks for linking up! I love seeing the ideas! :)

    Denise Hill, #TeacherMom

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