Tot School: Letter N

~Caden is 25 months old~

{Theme}

This weeks focus letter is the letter Nn. I’m not sure I am going to continue with an alphabet focused theme. Caden isn’t quite ready or interested in learning the letters or their sounds. I think I will focus more on building up his vocabulary. Caden has an average vocabulary, that is growing everyday and I am okay with that. But recently he has become interested in learning the names of objects or characters, therefore I’d like to focus more where his interest lies. This week was all about BUGS. During the spring and summer Caden really enjoyed finding bugs outside and would call them either ‘ant’ or ‘spider’ (we had a lot of those).

 A katydid we found in the yard this past fall.

{Printables}

I am still using the Tot School printables from 1+1+1=1, but very sparingly. Caden hasn’t been interested in them and it became a waste of paper and ink and laminating sheets. Now I print out a couple of the coloring/dot marker/stamp pages and the vocabulary cards. If he uses them, he uses them. If not they go in a scrap pile and he can color on the back later.

{Progress Report}

Caden picked up a few new words this week such as ‘buff-fly’ (butterfly), ‘mouff” (mouse) , ‘rocket’, and ‘Lorax’ (we watched that movie this week).  And he reached a new milestone this week too! He created him own sentence! Up until now his phrases and sentences have been something he has heard. But this week he was watching Super Why while I got ready and he comes running to me saying “I got a rocket! I got a rocket!” At first I had no idea what he was saying, then I recognized the word ‘rocket’ and thought “oh the show must be talking about rockets”. And sure enough when I went to check what was on the TV, they were in outer space! Caden has really started to enjoy watching Super Why on PBS and even tries to sing along saying “power” and “super”. It’s very cute.

{Tot Trays}

I had fun creating the tot trays for this week, even if Caden showed little interest in playing with them.

In the red tray are foam stamps and large stamp pads. We used them once and it was a bit of a disaster because Caden tried to take the ink pads out of their container which made an inky mess. In the blue tray in a foam puzzle with bugs and numbers on it. I got it recently from the Dollar Tree. The yellow tray is a ladybug eraser sort. Caden liked to dump the cup of ladybugs instead of using the tweezers so this activity didn’t last very long. The green tray has B. bug pop links. They are pretty difficult to pop together and pull apart and require some strength which Caden doesn’t have the patience for, so he didn’t play much with these at all.

I also placed this magnetic bug puzzle by Melissa & Doug on the tray shelf. Caden needed a new puzzle challenge and I thought this would be just the trick. Turns out he didn’t have much patience for this either and he would rather complete a puzzle he has already mastered.

{Sensory Bin}

Caden and I really like the sensory bin that I created this week. It is one of the first sensory bins that I tried with Caden prior to blogging so I am excited to share it with you!

It is filled with black beans, bugs from the Safari, Ltd Insect toob and bug catcher tools from the Dollar Tree. Caden enjoyed digging around in the bin while we named the different insects. I used the bug vocabulary card from 1+1+1=1 and tried to get Caden to match up the bugs, but he was more interested in playing with the beans.

I also used the sensory bin as a way to hold his attention and give him something to play with while I read a book about insects.

Did you know that bean will jump if you press on them with your finger? Caden figured out this neat trick and did it over and over and over. His concentration with this activity was pretty cute to watch.

{Early Literacy}

Along with a new focus on vocabulary and language I am also trying to make sure that I read more to Caden. I know it is very important to read to your children, but I haven’t always been the best at remembering, and Caden isn’t exactly the type to sit and read for large chunks of time. I’ve learned that if Caden is a little sleepy his is more receptive to cuddling up with a book and letting me read to him. So everyday before nap and bedtime I made I read to him. This week we read The Very Busy Spider and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I also read The Very Busy Bugs pop up book which Caden really liked. He enjoyed this book as a baby too.

{Science}

While at the Dollar Tree I found this bug that grows in water and I thought Caden would enjoy this simple experiment. I brought a bowl of water over to his little table and Caden placed the bug into the water. I told him that tomorrow when we look at the bug it will be bigger. I’m not sure how much he understood be he did enjoy the activity.

{Arts & Crafts}

To go along with the reading of The Very Busy Spider, Caden did a craft that I read about in Story Stretchers for Infants, Toddlers and Twos. (This is a great book with many simple activities to go along with some great books. I borrowed it from the library, but I think I am going to get my own copy.)

Caden made a spider web, using black construction paper and white glue. It is a very simple and quick craft. Even Caden who had never used liquid glue before did really well and had a good time.

I had to help him squeeze the glue out as he moved it across the paper. Another way to make the web, which might have been better for Caden is to squeeze some glue into a shallow dish and allow the child to use a q-tip to paint on the glue.

He asked me to make a circle and then he just had to touch the glue to see what it felt like and then wiped his finger on his cheek. After that he was all done creating his spider web. This is a really neat project, after the glue dries clear you can feel the spider web just like in the book.

{Practical Life}

This week Caden helped me to make some cookies using a new recipe that I found on Pinterest (of, course ;)). It called for mashed bananas, rolled oats and chocolate chips. That’s it! While Caden had fun mashing and mixing the dough (and tasting the chocolate chips!) he didn’t enjoy the cookie. Actually no one in the house like the cookies. I think we will stick to old-fashioned, unhealthy cookies from now on.

Caden also practiced the practical life skill of wiping clean the chalk board. He really enjoyed this activity and it kept him busy for several minutes. I think when he was done he even wipe the windows a little.

{Extra Fun}

 We did a few other fun things this week. To go along with our bug theme I got some Love Bug Valentine gel window clings. Caden did a great job placing them on the window. It added a little color to a gray day!

On Tuesday we played at Gymboree. Caden always has a good time at Gymboree!

We had one nice, warmish afternoon so right after nap we headed outside to play before it started to cool off. Caden was so happy to play outside in the fresh air after being cooped up inside for days.

I also made a light box this week! Caden had fun exploring it. I need to come up with some fun ways to play with it. Any ideas?

 

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