Tot School: 16.5 Months

~16.5 Months~

I love everything about the Holidays but, I am looking forward to getting back to our normal schedule! I am one of those people who likes a schedule, and when I don't have one I tend to get a little stir crazy and often end up getting less accomplished than I would like to. With that being said, back to our normal tot school schedule!

The Stink bug received some fun, educational things for Christmas that we have begun to work into our tot school routine. One gift that she received was this little beauty:



If you notice, there are three empty "holes" in it. That is because the pieces that belong there are fairly small and, unless I am watching the Stink Bug closely, I tend to put them away. This has been an activity that I have left out for her to work on all week so, the pieces have been put away.



The pieces graduate by diameter, as well as height, and each color set graduates in size. You can also take them and nest them, as well as turn them over and stack them. The options for learning are WONDERFUL. This really activity feels very "Montessori" to me. What do you think?



We also received an easel from grandma and grandpa, which we have already put to good use. I don't love how difficult it is to draw on a vertical surface at her age but, the Stink Bug enjoys it. I think I may pick up a lap tray/desk as her interest in scribbling increases.





I brought out the lacing blocks again this week. Its amazing to watch the Stink Bugs fine motor skills grow!





We worked with her object magnates this week in a new way. The Stink Bug has really had more and more of an interest in practicing new vocabulary so, that's what we did! She would pull out an object, and I would tell her what was. She would repeat the word, and put it on the board. We did this through all of the magnates that she was interested in, which was quite a few!



Keep posted for some indoor gross motor play ideas for winter weather!

Tot School: 13.5 mo

~13.5 months~

The weather is getting a bit cooler now so, I fear that our outside school time is coming to a close. I am lucky that the Stink Bug hardly noticed the cool breeze and slight mist today though. She just kept on having a good time while I gritted my teeth at the cold drizzle. I am definitely a fair weather person but, the Stink Bug has a way of getting me outside regardless. I enjoy seeing her play outside too much to keep her in!



She enjoyed full out running around the yard this week. Testing out her new "gym" shoes and her new found confidence in picking up speed!



The first tot school activity that we worked on was lacing small blocks. Ok, I know what you are thinking. Really? Lacing with a 13 month old!? In my defense, I really just wanted her to play with the blocks but, soon realized that she wanted to try to lacing them when she saw me doing it. It is funny how little ones want to be doing exactly what "big people" do. I figured that I would let her try, and was pleasantly surprised.




She is able to put the lacing end through the block but, generally looses the string as she turns the block over. I will often hold the string and block for her, and model how to pull it out of the other side of the block. She can only pull it through if I am holding it and then, occasionally she would rather just push the string back into the hole, which is just fine with me! :-)







The Stink Bug got to experience home made "play-dough" for the first time this week. At first, she did not like it AT ALL and would pull back her hand when I pushed her fingers into it. She did not want to have ANYTHING to do with it. I even tried to push her bare feet into it, without success. I brought it out every day, and by the end of the week she was finally "ok" with picking it up, or pushing her fingers into it to form little craters. She has a long way to go to enjoying the texture.



The third activity that we worked on this week was scribbling. My local grocery store had dry erase washable crayons on sale for 70% off so, I figured that for just over $1, they were worth trying out! I love having the Stink Bug use dry erase markers but, I really don't like how they stain her hands.



I was very impressed with how well the crayons worked, and how easy it was to wipe off of the board.



The Stink Bug did a little bit of scribbling but, mostly wanted to put the crayons in and out of the box, and watch me draw her silly little pictures.



At the end of the day, the Stink Bug was very patient with the activities that I gave her to work on, even though they were a little bit out of her doable range. Next week, I will have to reign in my ideas and give her some activities that she can master without any help!