Bugs and Insects Theme Activities - Part 2

On top of the activities we have on the shelf, we also filled our days with many fun and creative bugs and insects related activities!

1) Toilet Rolls and Egg Cartons Bugs

 

2) What's in my Garden Mix Medium Collage

3) Pom Pom Snail

4) Insect Theme 1 to 5 Number Chart

5) The Very Long Caterpillar Color Matching Activity
Xue loved this activity so much that we went on to make an even longer caterpillar the next day.

6) Bugs Colour Sorting Sensory Bin

7) Do-a-Dot Insect Theme Worksheets
These amazing worksheets are from Gift of Curiosity.

8) Insect Stickers and Matching Activity

And this concludes our fun-filled Bugs and Insects month!

Tools and Construction Vehicles Part 2

This month, we expanded from tools to construction machines. He was so fascinated with all these big trucks. Whenever we are on the roads, we will be looking out for these construction vehicles for Xue. Sometimes, he is quicker than us to spot them and will be squeaking with excitement as he points them out to us.

Here is a round up of the rest of our tools and construction theme activities:
1) Totbooks
The idea and most of the resources came from the amazing 1+1+1=1. A totbook is basically a small self made book for a toddler that is filled with early learning printables to expose early learning skills. I made the construction theme totbook first (you can download it here) and added three more activities to the original construction theme totbook package:
i) match the machines line drawing page
ii) big or small machines
iii) spot the machines

Seeing how Xue had fun and learnt so much from his first lapbook, I quickly followed up with a second Handy Manny tools totbook (you can download the resources here) and added the following pages:
i) match the tools line drawing page
ii) spot the tools with a photograph of the real tools

 

2) Cut and paste number charts
Another cutting and pasting activity where Xue cut up different numbers of tools and made a number chart. I divided this activity into 3 sessions, so he did numbers 1 to 5 first, then 6 to 8 and finally 9 to 10. For numbers 8, 9 and 10, he probably got tired with the cutting and decided he wanted to stick the strips of papers on the chart immediately.

3) Construction sensory bin

I couldn't believe it when I saw that these 5 mini construction vehicles were going for only $6 on Amazon. They are just what I needed for my sensory bin! I used green beans here as the fillers which were good to demonstrate the different functions of the machines and clean enough for us to do this activity indoors. I also planted some pink pebbles which added a dimension of treasure hunt to his tub. Xue had a lot of fun digging and scooping up the beans. Of course lots of beans ended up on my carpet but they were easy to clean up with my vacuum cleaner.

 

And here is a photo of Xue waiting so eagerly by the side as I take some photographs before he can get to play with it.

4) Construction theme party
Xue turned two last month and we held a construction theme party for him! The highlight must be the cake with the safety cones and dump truck on it. He was beaming with joy when presented with his cake and that made the effort all worthwhile.

5) Books, books and more books

Fortunately for us, the town library is just 5 minutes drive away and visiting the library is a weekly affair for both of us. The library placed the toddler books according to themes and this made my search for tools and construction vehicles books a breeze. We got some great books at home too like The Usborne Big Book of Big Machine. Xue still loves listening to us naming and explaining the functions of the different machines in the book. Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site is another of our favorite. The rhymes and illustrations in the book are too cute!

We have moved on to another theme now, I'm just really slow with my updates. I must say these construction and tools theme months have been a lot of fun for us!

Shapes sensory tubs

We have a shape sorter toy and only last month, he took more interest in the toy. Initially he was just interested in getting the blocks into the holes but he didn't know the different shapes, so he ended up so frustrated for trying to force a circular block into a square hole most of the time. A week later, he seemed to be 'enlightened' and learnt that the blocks are of different shapes. The first shape he recognised was a star and he even picked up our sign language for star. When we sang twinkle twinkle little star to him, we would close and open our palms like stars flickering in the night sky and he would do exactly that whenever he sees a star now.

When it comes to picking themes or activities for Xue, I like to adopt the 'one-step-ahead' method. During his playtime, I observe what he like to do or what he is trying to learn, be 'one-step-ahead' and provide him with more opportunities to practise the skill or build up the new knowledge. I feel that Xue is ready to learn more about shapes and so we declared an All About Shapes week at home.

I rummaged through all his toys and my craft stuffs for all the stars and circles to make two shapes sensory tubs. Only when everything is put together that I realised we have a lot of stars and circles stuffs around the house.

Here's the stars sensory tub:

And, here's the circles sensory tub! I think because Xue saw so many circles in that tray, there is no way not to recognise one after that. lol.

He's usually quite cautious when exploring any new stuffs, ok, at least for the first five minutes. How to tell that he's warmed up? See, everything will be on the floor. Anyway, the mess is easy to clear up and totally worth it because, learning objectives are achieved! Now, he can point out all the circles and will proudly draw a circle in the air with his little finger whenever he sees one.