Tot School Tuesdays: Using Trays

We've always used trays in our tot school activities! When Zeke was around 16 months old, we began tot school. I would have one activity per day for him to explore and I always presented these activities on trays. There are several reasons I think using trays is helpful for toddlers and preschoolers.

Presentation

I know you think your child is just a toddler so why would they care about presentation? Trust me - it matters! When Zeke would wake up to a beautiful tray full of an inviting activity, he was more excited to sit and engage with that activity. Interesting presentations always grabbed his attention and spurred on his creativity. 

The first tray I used was from the Dollar General that I purchased for around $5.00. It worked so well that I purchased another! I have also bought some from Amazon and repurposed Melissa and Doug wooden trays from our toys. Some of the Melissa and Doug trays make really great sorting and classifying trays with their different compartments! I've also picked up some plastic trays meant for chips and dip from the Dollar Tree that we have used for sorting.

Containment 

Besides an aesthetic element, the tray does have a helpful purpose. It keeps the activity (mostly) contained to the tray. Instead of being spread all over a table or the floor or both, your child will likely keep all of the pieces inside the tray. When Zeke began using his tot trays, one thing I taught him was that the activity needed to stay on the tray. It didn't take long for him to understand, even though he was a year and half old. This really cut down on the mess and made it easy to put everything back when we were finished.

Availability

Having the activity contained on a tray allows me to leave the activity out for most of the day. Zeke will usually come back to an activity several times a day. When he is finished playing, the pieces to the activity are still on the tray so I can leave it on a table or move it to his shelf. He knows he is able to go back to the activity to play some more whenever he wants to. I don't feel the need to clean up the activity because it's on one tray and I don't have to worry about leaving a mess just so he can repeat an activity at his leisure. 

As we have moved more from tot school into a modified preschool, I still find the trays helpful. I love setting up tray activities for him to do and he loves having the activities on the trays. I usually put several trays on a shelf for him now as opposed to the one tray a day he did when he was younger. I feel like learning how to use a tot tray when he was younger has really helped prepare him for a shelf of activities now that he's a bit older. He knows he is allowed one tray at a time and that he must make sure all of the parts go back on the tray if he takes them off before placing the tray back on the shelf.

Tot trays are so much fun to set up and so helpful for keeping your toddler busy. Do you use tot trays with your child?