Fun, Educational Activites

I think we are all always looking for fun new things to do with the kiddo's, and the educational part always helps as well. I was just wondering what kind of educational activities you do with your LO's.

Here we do a lot of flash cards, reading, puzzles etc...but I am looking for some new things to add to the rotation.

 

Great topic Krystyn!
Right now we do a lot of reading of books that get their attention, while we read, we'll stop and have them point out different colors, shapes, animals. We also have counting books to help with counting, a leap frog toy that does the alphabet and we review body parts with them (we are currently working on the face). I am always interested in a new ideas as well!

 

Great topic Kyrstyn!

Our sitter got post-its cut out in the shape of letters and numbers. The girls love sticking them to the windows and walls and we identify what it is when they are holding it. We also have letters and numbers puzzles that my girls love. For younger kids, shape sorters are great! Its good for hand-eye coordination and you can identify the shapes and the colors.

 

GREAT topic! I'm also reading a lot to them and asking them, "where is the penguin?" "where is the lion?" and seeing if they'll point to it. We are also singing the ABC song, I'll count things out and they'll watch me doing it...

 

We have these Color discovery boxes that we have been working a lot with as well. I would love to hear some more ideas for learning colors!

I was thinking about getting a magnadoodle (or even a small white board) so we can work on letters, numbers and shapes without wasting a ton of paper. My girls can say every letter of the alphabet, so now we just need to work on identification and then onto sounds.

We have also been working on opposites, but I don't know that they really grasp that concept just yet. Any ideas for that?

Leighann-Where did your sitter get those post its? That sounds very cool!

 

I don't know where she got them. I think she found them at Michael's, but I'll ask her.

Also, a lot of what we do with the girls (DH, sitter, me) is all in the context of playing with them. So if we are running around the yard we sing "Up up up the hill" or "down down down the hill" (to row row row your boat). Big and small has been by noticing that mommy and daddy are bigger and Ana and Meara are smaller. Inside and outside comes from them running into and out of their little play house while I sing. My voice is terrible, but they've tolerated it so far (although sometimes I get "Don't sing mommy!" :laughing.

For colors, we have lots of books and we identify the colors, we have different color blocks, we use crayons and paints a lot too. If they reach for a crayon I say "Ooooh you have the red crayon. What a pretty RED crayon! What color is that crayon?! RED!"

Its amazing how they are little sponges right now and can learn things so quickly! Even though its maddening to read the same stories over and over again to them, its amazing to see them pick up that same book and read it to a dolly (or a car- yep they play with cars like their dollies and make me make the cars talk to them).

 

I use one of my Special Ed teaching methods called "Say what you see" - so basically, all day long (it feels like) I'm commenting on what they are doing if I'm not actually talking to them. If Finley picks up a spoon and starts stirring in a pot while I'm washing dishes, I'll say "Oh Finley, you're stirring with the spoon." Or if Sullivan climbs up in a chair with his book I'll say, "Look at you, Sullivan, you climbed up in your chair with a book!" It sounds silly - but it is a great way for them to learn language. You can do it all day long - even when you are doing things that are directly playtime with the kids.

For other activities, we do a lot of cooking in the play kitchen, we fill a tub with water and do water play, shape sorters, reading, stacking and knocking over cube towers, reading some more, singing, etc.