Tot School Tuesday - Matching

Matching is similar to sorting, but it's a totally different skill set that can be practiced in many ways. Matching is important for visual discrimination, language building, noticing patterns, and teaching focus.

Zeke loves matching activities. There are so many things you can provide for your child to match:

• colors
• shapes
• animals
• numbers 
• letters
• pictures
• shadows
• sizes
• socks

We do a lot of hands-on matching activities, but I also create plenty of matching worksheets for Zeke to use. He loves cutting and gluing, so I try to incorporate that into his tot school. He loves to match color pictures to their black and white outlines, which is a great visual discrimination skill. We also do shape matching worksheets, color matching worksheets, and shadow matching worksheets. 

Here are few of Zeke's matching activities that he enjoyed.

He is matching farm animals to picture cards I created.

I used a sand sensory tray and some starfish shape cards to make this matching activity.

I used our alphabet flashcards and Learning Resources letters for Zeke to match.

He is matching pom poms to ice cream scoops. This is available in my Etsy shop.

He loves Fruit Loops! He matched the cereal to the same color of the rainbow.

He used dot markers to dot the matching ice cream scoops.

I love these shadow puzzles from Voila! This is a great visual discrimination toy.

He matched his Melissa and Doug wooden cards to flashcards I created.

I love clothespin activities! He matched the clothespins colors to the bear card.

These are just a few of the matching activities Zeke has done. When he was younger, we would do these almost every day. Look around your house for items you can let your child match. Colored bears to pieces of felt? Animals to matching animal print fabric? Cereal to colored paper?

What has your child matched lately? 

Tot School Tuesday - Sorting

It's Tot School Tuesday, and today I'll be talking about sorting activities. These are some of the first activities I introduced to Zeke when he was around 18 months old, and he still enjoys them at 3 years old!

WHAT IS SORTING? 

Sorting is classifying objects based on their attributes. The most common categories of sorting for toddlers and preschooler are sorting by color, shape, and size. 

WHY IS SORTING IMPORTANT?

When your child sorts they are actually working on beginning math skills. Learning to sort objects is important because your child is comparing similarities and differences in the attributes of objects and grouping like objects together.  

This is also a great visual discrimination exercise! Visual discrimination skills are important skills to have when your child begins learning math and reading. It's important for your child to be able to decide which objects belong in sets. 

WHAT SHOULD MY CHILD SORT?

You can literally sort anything! Household objects are great for sorting activities because it brings real-life into play. Sorting laundry, utensils, or canned goods are all easy ways to work on this skill.

I'm also going to list some ideas for each of the three top sorting categories I mentioned above - color, shape, and size.

SORTING BY COLOR

I provided an empty popsicle mold and craft sticks for Zeke to sort.

This is the first sorting activity Zeke did, and I introduced two colors at a time for him to sort. It did take a few tries before he understood what to do, but it wasn't long before he was sorting the six main colors.

Zeke sorted buttons onto these colored pumpkins available in my Etsy shop.

A few ideas for sorting by color:

• counting bears
• linking cubes
• crayons or markers
• pom-poms
• craft sticks
• toy cars
• buttons

I always provided the same-colored bowls or cups for Zeke to sort items into. You could also use colored paper, felt, or foam for sorting mats. Once they master sorting by color, you can provide a sectioned tray for your child to use.

Zeke sorted bugs into colored paper cups.

SORTING BY SIZE

This is an activity I introduced to Zeke once he was 2 years old. Sorting by size takes a little more critical thinking, but it's a great early math activity! I started out with two sizes - big and small. Now Zeke sorts three or more sizes at a time. This is also a great opportunity to learn some vocabulary - small, medium, large.

Zeke sorted dinosaurs by large and small.

A few ideas for sorting by size:

• plastic animals
• pom-poms
• craft sticks
• rocks
• buttons
• fruit 
• blocks

I usually provide a sectioned tray for Zeke to sort by size. I always put one small object in one section and one large object in another. He could usually figure out what to do without any direction from me.

I used this dividing tray for sorting buttons into three sizes.

SORTING BY SHAPE

We didn't start sorting by shape until Zeke was 2 1/2 years old. I did the same thing that I did with colors - I started with two shapes and gradually added more. This is how Zeke learned all of his shape names.

Contact paper and magformers made a fun activity!

A few ideas for sorting shapes:

• Magformer Magnetic blocks (triangle, square, hexagon)
• buttons 
• legos (rectangle, square)
• foam stickers
• felt pieces cut into shapes
• pattern blocks
• plastic gems
• pieces from a shape-sorter

I made this sorting box from an old box and buttons.

Remember to start out with just two or three categories so your child doesn't get overwhelmed. You can eventually add in more and it will be a fun challenge. Zeke can now sort things by type, like coins or different types of animals. What's the neatest thing your child has sorted?

The Peaceful Preschool - Letter E

 This week was all about eggs! Zeke's books were "An Egg is Quiet" and "Rechenka's Egg." Some of his activities this were:

EGG TRANSFER & 10-FRAME

I had these wooden eggs leftover from a project several years ago. I placed ten of them in a basket with a spoon and his wooden ten-frame. He enjoyed scooping them into the ten-frame! It was a great fine motor activity.

MAKING A NEST AND EGGS FROM CLAY

This was his first time to really use modeling clay, and he did fabulous! He made his own nest and four eggs to go inside. I let him paint them once they were dry.

PAINTING AN EGG

After we read "Rechenka's Egg", I was thinking I should let him paint an egg. My daughter beat me to it, though! She collected an egg from her chicken that had a hole in it, so she cleaned it out and let it dry. She then helped him paint it!

SHADOW MATCHING

I have had these shadow matching wooden puzzles for years. I pulled them out and set a few on a tray for Zeke. He came back to this activity several times this week.

LACING BEADS

He enjoys lacing beads, and these are just beautiful. 

ALPHABET MATCHING CARDS

I set the uppercase and lowercase cards for A-E in a basket. Zeke practiced matching the uppercase and lowercase letters. It's a little easy because the pictures match on the cards, but that does help him and he is still learning!

EGG SHAPE PUZZLES

I ordered this set from Amazon for around $13, and Zeke has played it with almost every day! He loves putting the eggs together according to their shapes.

MATCHING

We also used our tactile letters and moveable alphabet to match the upper and lower case letters. We do this each week and he loves it.

WORKSHEETS

You know me - I had to add plenty of fun egg-themed worksheets. All of these are created by me. 

Next week is letter F!

Tot School Tuesdays - Transferring Objects

Tot School Tuesday is when I share tips and ideas for tot school. Zeke is 3 years old so technically he is still considered a toddler. We do some preschool work as well. Today I'm going to talk about transferring and why it's an important skill.

Transferring is exactly what it sounds like - it's transferring objects from one container to another. We have done this is many different ways. There is no right or wrong way to practice this skill!

Transferring is important because it helps build the fine motor muscles in your child's hand needed to do harder tasks later on - cutting with scissors, writing with a pencil, and buttoning their own clothes. It's also an easy way to practice crossing the midline (which is also exactly what it sounds like - crossing from one side of the body to the other).

An invitation for Zeke to transfer plastic bugs with tongs onto bottle caps

You can introduce transferring activities to your child as young as a year old. Zeke began transferring objects with his hands at about that age. The older they get, the bigger variety of transferring tools you can offer. Transferring tools can be as simple as a spoon or as complex as a pair of tweezers. You can find many great tools at your dollar store - mini tongs, large plastic serving spoons, kid's plastic tweezers, magnetic wands, and even salad servers. In fact you may have many of these at home!

Zeke (3) transferring cotton balls with tongs

Zeke (18 months) transferring cotton balls with a spoon

There are so many options for what your child can transfer, too! A few of the things we have transferred are:

• dried beans
• cotton balls
• pom poms
• water
• plastic animals
• glass beads
• wooden eggs
• rice
• rocks and pebbles
• beads
• buttons
• jingle bells
• plastic gems
• small pinecones

To introduce transferring to your toddler, simply gather two small containers, a transferring tool, and objects to transfer! If your child is new to this activity, be sure to begin with something easy. Cotton balls and a spoon work well for the first time. If they resort to using their hands, let them! You want your child to be comfortable with this activity before making it a bit challenging.

Zeke (2.5) transferring colored water with syringes

Even though Zeke has been transferring objects for about two years now, he still enjoys the activity and reaps benefits each time. I've watched him go from using his hands to learning how to manipulate a pair of tongs and move objects! We continue to transfer objects because it's continually building those fine motor muscles! 

Zeke (2) transferring rocks with a spoon

What objects has your toddler transferred?

Tot School Week in Review: August 2-6

 This was our last week of relaxed tot school before we start formal homeschool next week! All of my kids will begin on Monday - an 8th, 6th, and 4th grader along with my preschooler, Zeke! We did some fun toddler school activities, but we mainly played and enjoyed some outside time. Here are the tot trays Zeke did this week:

Craft Stick Sorting

I gave Zeke some craft sticks in six colors and a popsicle mold, and he sorted them all by color. Sorting by color is definitely something he is comfortable with since he's been doing it well over a year now. These "easy" tot trays build his confidence and help foster independent play. 

Mini Sensory Bin

I also tested out a mini sensory bin with Zeke this week because I'm planning to have one new one each week for him. This one contained two bags of colored fish tank pebbles from the Dollar Tree, a wooden scoop, and two small plastic containers. He had so much fun with this and it kept him entertained for about half an hour.

Clothespin Color Clip

I made these colored pencil cards, laminated and cut them apart and gave Zeke some colored clothespins. He had to clip the matching clothespins on the pencils. He did such a good job with this! He finally got the hang of using the clothespins, which is great because I have plenty of ideas for this!

Silly Straw Threading

This is an activity Zeke and I tried months ago, and he didn't have the fine motor skills to thread the felt squares on the silly straws. This time, he did! He did an excellent job and repeated the activity several times. Definitely one I'm keeping for him.

Tracing Shapes

Zeke used a dry-erase marker to trace the shapes on his shape flashcards (available in my Etsy shop). He loves doing this, and his tracing skills are impressive!

Other Activities

He also pressed golf tees into a styrofoam block, picked peas with the big kids, played with his busy binder (available in my Etsy shop), and worked in an activity kit we won in an Instagram giveaway!

Next week, we will begin homeschool! In celebration of that, I have created a "Back to Tot School" pack for all of my blog subscribers!