Tot School: Textured Ball and Rock Bin, Letter B, Counting Honeycombs and Cubes, Shape Tossing

B is 41 months Z is 11.5 months It is our second week of returning to organized tot trays or what I now refer to as tot school along with 1+1+1=1 blog.  I have primarily decided to share these on my blog, because I have found other blogs who share their ideas extremely helpful and motivating.   If you want to read a little more about how I set up my bins it can be found in my first Tot School post.   
*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.

• Exploring Bin- I filled the exploring bin this week with smooth rocks and small neon textured balls (both purchased at the Dollar Tree).  I added our plastic penguins, nesting barrels, stacking cups, tweezers, and a few other empty containers.  This was one of B's favorite sensory bins to date.  He love the neon textured balls.  He refers to them as, "nature sauts!"  I have no idea what that means or where it came from, but he had a blast with them.

Zoe wanted to get in on the action too.  No, I would not recommend this activity for children her age.  However, anytime she is playing with something small I sit and watch her.  It was totally worth the few rocks I had to remove from her mouth, because she thoroughly enjoyed herself.  B usually plays with these bins when she is sleeping, but he asked to play with it in the afternoon and I said yes deciding I would watch her closely. 

• Alphabet Bin- Last week we focused on the letter B making the bee craft from Totally Tots.  He traced the upper and lower case B on his alphabet dry erase cards (which I found for $1 at Target) and we read What If There Were No Bees? and Bear and Bee which we checked out from the library.

I would recommend both of the books seen below.  What If There Were No Bees is a book about how our world would change if there were no bees.  The illustrations are great and the text is simply enough and help a young child understand the importance of bees in our ecosystem.

Bear and Bee has a very sweet story line.  The bear has never seen a bee, so he is clueless that he is talking to a bee.  He assumes bees are big and scary, but the bee convinces him otherwise.  B really enjoyed this book and asked me to read it several times.

• Manipulatives Bin- I found this counting puzzle at the Dollar Tree that went perfectly with our B week and our bee books.  The puzzle required B to count the honeycombs to figure out where it fit on the puzzle board.  

The puzzle was a little difficult for him, because the pieces had to be turned multiple times before they would fit. 

We then used our Wood Counting Cubes to build towers on each number.  B really enjoys the wood counting cubes.  We have been using them a lot for counting.  

• Later in the week I switched to a Counting Floor Puzzle which he really enjoys, but we still made towers with our counting cubes on each number.

• Free Bin- I filled the bin with various shaped buttons and and spread flashcards with matching shapes on the floor.  Directions were to throw the shaped button to the matching shape card.  B does not naturally gravitate toward throwing activities, so this was a good way to incorporate the activity.

• I gave Zoe a box filled with various plastic lids that B used for Flip Top Lid Fun when he was about 18 months old.  She enjoyed herself, but is much more interested in doing what B is doing.  

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!