WEEK OF JULY 18 - NUMBERS

~Punkin is 23 months old.~

I decided to do a week focused on numbers, as it seems Punkin suddenly is confusing a few numbers even though she used to know them all very easily. However, it ended up being a very busy week, and we didn't get to spend the time on stuff that I would have liked. But we did get to do quite a bit, just not as in depth as I would have liked.

TOT TRAYS

Punkin got a Leapfrog Jr. for her birthday, along with 5 books. I put them in her trays, and she has LOVED "reading" her new books this week. She always goes for this tray first....and would spend the whole time on this one if I didn't prod her to do other trays.

I saw this fun idea on Counting Coconuts. I made a placemat template of how to set the table, and put a plate, cup, fork, knife, and spoon in her tray with it. She really had a blast "setting the table." I didn't think she would. But she is really into pretend play right now, so I think that is why she liked it.

I set out this "oldie but goodie" and she had fun with it again. Simply putting rings into an empty wipes container. She also really enjoyed just pushing the button to make the lid pop up, putting the lid down, popping it up...over and over again.

She used our homemade foam lowercase letter set to put in our pocket chart....a new skill for her to figure out how to get them in the pockets. Then, she also had fun using our pointer to hit the letter I told her to find...Notice I said HIT, not point. She wanted to HIT them....hard. I had to finally stop her and ask her to be more "gentle." LOL.

I left this one in the trays for this week since she had so much fun with it last week. Again, she had to test the objects in her basket to see if they fit in her tubes.

NUMBERS

Here are our favorite number books we read this week

We got out our foam number tiles, and Punkin and I jumped, hopped, and ran along the number line as we counted the numbers. Then, we threw a bean bag and hopped until we reached the number it landed on.

I used this sheet from Carisa at 1+1+1=1. I had Punkin use her Do-a-Dot markers to mark the dots on each number. We counted the dots as we did it and then when we were done as well. I also had her identify "the yellow dot number" or the "purple dot number" for me.

I also wrote numbers on paper and had her dot them to create the number. I added dots for her so she had something to aim for.

And we put cheerios around the outline of numbers as well. She was really enjoying eating them, though, and it took forever to get the cheerios on the numbers. LOL. But she didn't mind. She had fun.

I made a sheet that had numbers at the top with the correct number of circles below. Punkin had to choose the matching number to glue at the top next to the one already there, and then we used small circle stickers to count out that number.

And of course we practiced counting them by pointing as well.

I made fish cutouts and laminated them and put a paper clip on the end by their mouth. Then, I got out her fishing rod from her Melissa and Doug puzzle and had her go fishing for numbers. She didn't want to do it when I introduced it to her, so I just let them set out for her if she wanted them. Sure enough, within a few hours, she was tempted enough to play with them. I had intended for her to "catch" a fish and then "feed" the fish that many snacks. But I decided to skip that last part for now as she was just having fun catching the fish.

I think I got this idea from The Activity Mom blog...but I'm not sure. I wrote numbers on bottle caps and floated them in the sink. Then, I gave Punkin a slotted spoon, and she had fun scooping them out and putting them in the other side of the sink. I'd have her scoop me a certain one or I'd ask her what number she got. She also had fun trying to get them to stay under the water, but those silly things always popped back up! :)

I was THRILLED when Punkin finally got out the bowl of number rocks I made a few weeks ago and began to play with them on her own. I had purposefully set them out for her on her table to "tempt" her this week. She would set them out in lines and turn them all over and then back again. I sat down with her and we played "Peekaboo Rocks" and had fun seeing which number we would turn over.

So, the next day I took a gamble and tried this game with her where I hid a number rock under one of her little cups, and mixed them all up on the table and she had to try and find which cup the rock was under. She loved finding the rock, and she always squealed with delight, "It's 3!" or "It's 7!" when she found it. Then, she wanted to do it for me. That was hilarious.

MISC. STUFF

We finally finished our ice cream letter match file folder game. She wasn't as into it this time, though, as last time.

She found a new way to use her Tot Trays.

We went to the 4H Fair this week, and Punkin loved seeing all the animals. Even days later, she'll suddenly start naming the animals she saw and tell you the sound it makes.

Well, that was our condensed Tot School Week. Check out 1+1+1=1 to see what other Tots were up to this week.