Tot School

B is 41 months.

I am back to planning/preparing tot trays for Bennett.  It can be very time consuming, but I have learned that he thrives when he has structured one on one time with me.  When I get lazy with it, he gets lazy and will simply follow me around all day asking questions never touching one of his toys, books, or puzzles. 

Our "Tot School" may only last 30 minutes, but we typically do it during Z's morning nap (8:30 or 9 a.m.) which allows us to play on the floor without interruption.

Currently, I using white bins I purchased at The Dollar Tree.  I am preparing 4 bins on Sunday evening leaving them as is throughout the week or switching 1-2 up every few days.  If I am being honest, it has been a little discouraging that he has not revisited the bins throughout the week unless I ask him to do so.  

Here are my general bin considerations:

1. Exploring Bin (aka. Sensory Bin)- Contains a textured material that encourages learning through stimulation of the senses, particularly the sense of touch.  
2. Alphabet Bin- Currently, we are going through the Alphabet making a letter craft from Totally Tots, Now I Know My ABC's , so the bin includes the materials needed for our craft, Eric Carle's Letter Flash Card, Dry Erase Letter Tracing Card (we found ours for $1 at Target), a book that goes along with the letter, and any other printables or letter activities we may be doing.
3. Manipulatives Bin- Contains various objects that encourage "in-hand manipulation" and other fine motor skills along with cognitive thinking (example: puzzles, lacing, wooden blocks, marbles, etc.)
4. Free Bin- The 4th bin can be anything I want it to be.  It may pertain to counting, sorting, colors, a new game, characters he is enjoying, balls, a fun gross motor skill, books, etc.  It may expose a skill or simply be fun.

*Many of the links are affiliate links, so I will get a percentage if you choose to order something through one of our links, but at no expense to you.  We personally own (or have read from the library) everything I have included in this post.

With that said, I am linking up with 1+1+1=1 Tot School.  If I had one blog I would recommend for children's activities this would be the one. 

• After seeing a photo 1+1+1=1 posting on Instagram I decided to purchase a bag of aquarium rocks to add to our sensory bin.  I bought a 10 pound bag and am now wishing I would have purchased the 25 pound bag.  I may be purchasing another one soon.  I hid sea creatures under the rock and included a paper towel roll, an empty Crystal Light container, a plastic spoon, and a few other small containers.  He enjoyed finding the sea creatures and pouring the rocks from one bin to another.

•  Later in the week, I switched the bin to water beads with Grow Magic Capsule Safari Animals which I found at The Dollar Tree.  He LOVED these!!!  He had never seen them before and was completely mesmerized by them.  I also included a few spoons and a mini muffin pan.  

This one was a lion.

• Last week we made an Alligator A and read The Lady with The Alligator Purse just as Totally Tots recommended and Alligator Baby (both books we checked out from the library).  B enjoyed making the craft and asked me to sing "The Lady with the Alligator Purse" song again and again.

• Our next bin included lacing cards and plastic matching animals.  B still does not enjoying lacing.  He looks at them for a few minutes and is done.  

• Our last bin included this alphabet puzzle that I found at The Dollar Tree.  B really enjoys puzzles, particularly ones he has never worked before and includes letters or numbers.

• Later in the week I switched the 4th bin to include Alphabet Bingo (which I found in Target's $1 section) and Dominos.  He loved Alphabet Bingo!

I am hoping our return to Tot School will be beneficial for both B and myself.  It has been a rough summer.  Who am I kidding?  It has been a rough year.  

If you want to learn more about Tot School go HERE!  

Toddler Trays 7: Pattern Blocks, Counting Cans, Rainbow, Bean Bag Toss, Picnic Play-Doh, etc.

If you want to know a little more about Toddler Trays and why I started doing them with my son you can read more here: Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's.

(my son was 2 years and 7 months old when he completed all or these activities)

1. Mickey Mouse and Cars Foam Puzzle: These came from the Dollar Tree and have been great for B's fine motor skills and counting in order.  Every piece will fit together (it is not a self correcting puzzle) and each piece has a number from 1 to 9, so it requires some thinking to put them together in order.  
2. Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards: I actually found these at Lion Hearted Toys (if you live in the Tampa Bay area be sure to visit - they excellent toys at a very reasonable price) for less than $5.  The P.T. in me loves pattern blocks (although it is more O.T. related).  They are great for logic, spatial reasoning, shape recognition, pattern making, and fine motor skills.  
3. Learning Resources 1 to 10 Counting Cans:  We use these for counting, stacking, making soup, etc.  There are 10 cans and each can contains the number of food items printed on the front of the can (ie. 6 mushrooms, 9 beans, 1 tomato, etc.)
4. Wall Coloring: Occasionally, I tape paper to the wall allowing B to draw and color.  This teaches a child to apply pressure through their upper extremity without the assistance of gravity which engages muscles differently than when they write or coloring with paper on a table or the ground. 

1.  Water Bead Cooking:  I have talked about water beads before and how they are excellent for sensory play.  We use them in a variety of ways, but in the photo above B is using them for pretend cooking with his pots, pans, and utensils.
2. Alphabet Blocks:  What to do with alphabet blocks? Line them up in ABC order.  Build a pyramid in ABC order.  Make a tower and knock it over. Build simple words.  Place them in a container, draw one out and name an object that begins with that letter and the list goes on.
3. Number Bean Bag Toss:  I printed some Sesame Street numbers and arranged them in a semi-circle.  I would call out a number and he would toss a bean bag to that number.
4. Felt Rainbow:  This was part of our busy bag swap (tutorial can be found by clicking link).  He built the a rainbow while I read What Makes A Rainbow?

1. Play-Doh Picnic: You don't have to have the molds to have a picnic, just make your own play-doh pretend food.  B loved setting up a picnic with his stuffed friends and plastic plates.  We made them all sorts of treats and had quite the conversation going on.

*all Amazon links are affiliate links

You can view more Toddler Tray ideas here:

• Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's

• Toddler Trays 2 

• Toddler Trays 3

• Toddler Trays 4

• Toddler Trays 5
• Toddler Trays 6

Toddler Trays 6: Water Beads, Color Matching, Floor Coloring, Letter Puzzle, and More

If you want to know a little more about Toddler Trays and why I started doing them with my son you can read more here: Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's.

 (my son was 2 years and 6 months old when he completed all or these activities)

1.  Water Bead Play:  Water Beads are so much fun and provide a great sensory experience for little hands.  They come in very small packages and can often be found at the Dollar Tree, Michael's and we bought ours at Tuesday Morning for $0.48 a bag.  After allowing the beads to expand overnight I poured them into a a plastic bin with some plastic ocean creatures, palm trees, and a net.  B had a lot of fun catching the creatures and the beads.

2.  Ice Cream Color Matching- Free from Mr. Printables There are colored ice cream cones and popsicle sticks to match to ice cream scoops and popsicle sticks.

3.  Brown Paper-Floor Coloring- I kept some brown packaging paper that we received from Amazon.  I taped it to the floor and B had a blast coloring it with crayons and markers.

1.  Melissa and Doug Self-Correcting Letter Puzzles- This is a wonderful puzzle set to have when your child is beginning to associate objects and the letter in which they begin.  It contains every letter every the alphabet and one object that begins with each letter.  They are self correcting which is great for learning to match appropriately.

2.  Melissa and Doug Cutting Food- B received the wooden food as a gift for his 2nd Christmas and he still enjoys playing with it.  I rotate toys, so it is not left out all of the time, but when I pull it out he will play with it for several days.

3.  Melissa and Doug Going Places Floor Puzzles- This is a set of 4 puzzles that is pretty challenging.  B loves puzzles and is very good at them, but he had this set for almost a year before he could work them independently.

4.  Salad Spinner and Pom Poms- This is a fun, easy activity that can be completed with household items.  We used pom poms this particular day, but B is known to give small dinosaurs, coins, blocks, etc. a spin from time to time.

1.  Shaving Cream Sensory Play-  This may look a little outrageous, but remember you don't have to let your children get quite this crazy.  A better option is putting your child in the bath tub or outside in a plastic pool while playing with shaving cream.  B loves shaving cream, but remember to watch the eyes.  It does burn.  Fortunately, we haven't had a problem with it yet.

*all Amazon links are affliate links

You can read and see more Toddler Tray ideas here:

• Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's

• Toddler Trays 2 

• Toddler Trays 3

• Toddler Trays 4

• Toddler Trays 5

Toddler Trays 5: Glue, Flap Books, Brown Bear Matching, Duplos with Ribbon, Letter Puzzle, and More

If you want to know a little more about Toddler Trays and why I started doing them with my son you can read more here: Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's.

(All of these activities were completed when my son was 2 years 6 months of age.)

1. Construction Paper, Glue, and Stickers-  Simple, yet fun and engaging for young children.  I cut shapes out of construction paper.  I give B a glue stick and allow him to glue the shapes onto another sheet of construction paper adding stickers as he desires.
2. Mini Alphabet and Number Books-  These books were passed down to us from B's cousins.  I have not been able to find them, but B really enjoys them.  They include numbers, colors, and various pictures to help children learn.
3. Brown Bear Matching-  Most children enjoy Brown Bear Brown Bear.  This is a way to further engage them by encouraging matching.  These free printables can be found at DLTK (she has a number of free resources).  I read the story while he finds the corresponding animal.  
4.  Duplo Play with Ribbon-  This is another activity that I came across while searching Pinterest. Blog Me Mom shared the idea of adding string to your building blocks.  I thought it was a great idea since B plays with his Duplo's on a daily basis.  He had the most fun using the ribbon to make a Duplo train that he was able to pull around the house.

1. Flap Books-  Most parents with toddlers own a few flap books, but they often get forgotten.  B rarely chooses a flap book during story time, so I will occasionally pull the 3 we own out for him to explore or to look through during quiet time.
2. Melissa & Doug Self-Correcting Letter Puzzles- My son loves this puzzle, but he loves letters (there is a better photo of him playing with it below).  This puzzle is great for letter recognition, letter sounds, and matching the letter with the object that begins with the same letter.
3. Melissa & Doug Joey Magnetic Dress-Up-  I found this magnetic set on sale when B was really enjoying magnets.  It is great for fine motor skills, pretend play, encouraging self dressing, and matching.
4. Dinosaur Tracks with Play-Doh- My friend Branson's son loves this activity.  B lost interest rather quickly, but it is an easy activity and almost every kid loves Play-Doh.

You can read and see more Toddler Tray ideas here:

• Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's
• Toddler Trays 2 
• Toddler Trays 3
• Toddler Trays 4

Toddler Trays 4: Geometric Stacker, Alphabet Dot Paint and Tracing, ISpy Bottle, Counting Cans, Pipe Cleaner Threading, Feed the Hungry Caterpillar, Letter Sensory Bin

If you want to know a little more about Toddler Trays and why I started doing them with my son you can read more here: Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's

(All of these activities were completed when my son was between 2 years 5 months to 2 years 6 months of age.)

1. Melissa & Doug Geometric Stacker-  This toy is excellent for fine motor skills and advanced problem solving as one peg has shapes that will only fit on the peg if stacked properly.  Here is a post of 5 other ways to use the Geometric Stacker.  I was fortunate to find a used one for $3.  New it currently costs $12.19 on Amazon.  
2. Alphabet with Dot Paint- Carissa from 1+1+1=1 is a great resource for free printables and tons of ideas.  You can print 26 pages of alphabet dot paint fun.  B really loves this one.  He will sit for 15-20 minutes, which is a long time for a 2.5 year old.  
3. Alphabet Tracing- Again Carissa from 1+1+1=1 created this free printable and it is FANTASTIC!!!  He can't trace them perfectly (yet), but he loves trying.  
4. iSpy Bottle- We had these from the Busy Bag Swap Anna and I hosted.  A plastic bottle is filled with rice and various small objects that can be found on the photo he is pointing to in the photo above.  The goal is to find each object listed in the photo.

1.  1 to 10 Counting Cans- We purchased these with a gift certificate that was given to B for his birthday.  It is really helpful for learning to count and is a lot of fun if your child enjoys to pretend grocery shop and/or cook.  Each can has a number and a fruit/veggie printed on the outside.  The inside contains that number of fruit/veggie.  This day we were stacking the cans, counting the fruit/veggies, and hiding various fruit/veggies in our nesting barrels and guessing what was inside. 

1. Pipe Cleaner Threading- We simple use pipe cleaners and thread them through a colander.
2. Feeding the Hungry Caterpillar-  I found a free printable for each item from the book on Make It Cozee.  I printed and laminated them, then taped the Hungry Caterpillar to a gift bag.  As I read the story, B fed the caterpillar the food.  At the end of the story, we walked outside to get a green leaf to feed to him, so that he wouldn't have a stomach ache any more.  This was a really fun activity.
3. Letter Bean Sensory Bin-  We use beans and rice for most of our sensory bins.  Here B is searching for specific letters, placing them in the container, and covering them with beans.

You can read and see more Toddler Tray ideas here:

• Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's
• Toddler Trays 2 
• Toddler Trays 3

Toddler Trays 3: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Play, Painting Shells, Beanbags, Lacing Cards/Buttons, Nesting Barrels, Animal Flashcards, Dinosaur Colors/Sorting, Bean Sensory Bin

1. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Magnetic Letters - This summer B really enjoyed the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , so I searched the internet for a free printable of the tree to use with our magnetic letters.  The blog, That's What {Che} Said had just what I wanted.  I printed the tree, taped it to a cookie sheet, and we were able to make our letters climb the tree while reading the story.
2. Painting Shells- We live in Florida, so we always have sea shells around the house.  Why not paint them?  
3. Mini Cornhole- My mom gave us this set this summer.  I, honestly. was most excited to have some smaller bean bags for B to use.   The goal is to throw the bean bag in the hole.  You could use a laundry basket or cut a hole in the top of a box to achieve the same thing.
4. Lacing Cards and Buttons- B enjoys lacing the buttons, but could care less about the cards.  This activity is great for fine motor skills. 

1. Nesting Barrels - I found these for $2 at a local used toy store.  They are fantastic and often lead to play that stretches B's imagination.  
2. North American Animal Flashcards- B really enjoys looking at different animals, so when I saw these in the $1 bin at Target I decided to buy them.  Each card has a picture of the animal, it's name and a few other facts.
3. Dinosaur Colors and Sorting -I wrote an entire post about this activity.  Plus, I can't say enough about the MiniDinos Counters seen here.  We use them all the time.  We use them to make shadows.  We line them up for a parade.  We put them in water and freeze them.  We count them, sort them (color and type), and so much more.  Amazon also has a Mini Motors Counters.
4. Bean Sensory Bin- We play in our bean sensory bin on a regular basis.  This day we were talking about colors and hiding the colored blocks under the beans.  We were also filling the Nesting Barrels with beans and making shakers.

You can read and see more Toddler Tray ideas here:

• Toddler Trays: The What's, Why's, and Where's
• Toddler Trays 2 

Toddler Trays 2: Felt Board, Dot Paint, Pegboard, Noodle Lacing, Brown Bear Matching, Pattern Blocks/Boards, Cooking with Water Beads, Letter Matching

Here is the original Toddler Tray post if you would like to know more of the what's, why's and where's.

1. Seasons Felt Board (by Betty Lukens)-  We have 4 felt boards that I pull out from time to time, but mostly use for  long car rides.  These make great gifts.
2. Character painting with Dot Paint -We LOVE dot paint!!!!!  If your kids have never used dot paint consider buying them a set.  I got online, searched free coloring pages (these were Veggie Tales), and printed them for him to paint.  I usually search for coloring pages based on his current interests. 
3. Quercetti Pegboard Set- We love this set.  There are several picture cards that fit under the clear peg board.  There are blue, green, red, and yellow pegs that can be used to match the color on the picture card.  
4. Pool Noodle Lacing- We had these from the Busy Bag Swap Anna and I hosted.  At 2 1/2 years old Bennett still struggles to hold the string while lacing the pool noodle, so I hold the string and encourage him to place the numbers on correctly.

1. Animal matching while we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear-  I simply read the book and he finds the matching animal.  The animal printables can be found at DLTK for FREE.  I printed and laminated them.
2. Pattern Blocks and Boards by Melissa and Doug-  B is hit or miss with these.  Sometimes he loves them, other times not so much.  At 2 1/2 years old, he recognizes most shapes and can complete the pattern.
3. Cooking with Water Beads-  Water beads are wonderful for sensory play and they're cheap.  I found these for $0.49/package at Tuesday Morning.  We use them in various capacities, but here we are making pretend soup, stew, and other delicious meals.
4. Letter Matching-Eric Carle Letter/Animal Flash Cards and Wooden Alphabet Blocks-  B was obsessed with letters for a while, so we were able to play all kinds games and activities.  Here, he was matching the letters, but mostly he wanted to build a tower and put the letters in order, so that's what we did.