Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: Toddler Ideas Tuesday: January 28th, 2014

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Toddler Ideas Tuesday: January 28th, 2014

It has been awhile since I have posted a Toddler Idea Tuesday post. In fact, the series really never took off like I planned, just not enough time to post a separate post about what I was doing with Hannah. I would like to revive this linky and start sharing what I am doing with Harold. While I share our fun times I would love to see what you are doing with your toddlers. Additionally, I would love to feature some of the posts that link up each week. More details can be found at the end of the post.

I have been including Harold in our lesson time for a while now. I would prefer he not be wandering too much and getting into things while I am busy with his older sisters. Here, let me share some of the ways he has been involved.

He likes to color and glue.

I just found out last week that he really enjoys cutting too. He can cut some very nice fringes.

But, I was feeling that he needed more. Something to help develop his skills. So, while the older girls are working on their work from their workboxes, Hannah and Harold and I have been getting comfy on the living room floor.

We have a few activities that came with the preschool curriculum from My Father's World. We really didn't use them very much last year, so I figured it was high time we put them to use. These activities are labeled as being for ages 3+, however, as long as we are working together, I am not concerned about Harold placing them in his mouth and choking on them. As, I am assuming that is why the are labeled this way.

I started with the Fit-a-Space Activity

I thought Harold would love to help take out the puzzle pieces.

I wasn't prepared for how well he was able to match the colors and the shapes in order to put the puzzles back together.

Though he has a bit of trouble with fitting some of the shapes back in, he has no problem figuring out where they go.

I then pulled out the Number Puzzle Boards and Pegs. He enjoys both stacking the pegs...

...and putting them in the holes one at a time.

Stacking is by far the favorite! We count them and I tell him what the colors are.

One of the things the girls do every time we have a new letter is try to figure out which letter is in the feely bag. They feel the letter and whisper to daddy what they think the letter is. As the bag was out from earlier when they told daddy that we were learning about the letter z, I decided to take some of the numbers and place them in the bag for Harold to pull out.

Though he doesn't recognize them yet, I figured it would be a great way to really get him to interact with the numbers.

Yesterday I also pulled out the Fit-A-Space Activity again.

This time Hannah decided she wanted to thread them on the string that comes with them. I was surprised that Harold was able to thread them too.

He helped his sister with her "necklace."

And then he wanted to make his own.

Along with these fun fine-motor activities Harold helps during our Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen time. He is learning to measure and cut.

With a little help of course.

He also loves music. He has been enjoying our time with Kinderbach, clapping or banging along with rhythm instruments.

What sort of activities do you do with your toddler? Do you have some favorite fine-motor activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on my Toddler Ideas board and I would love to feature 2 or 3 different activities each week from what is linked up. Please know I will share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our toddler time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your toddler, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.