We started Day 1 of our Shapes Tot School week with the book Shape Capers. This was a really fun book that actually correlated well with our shape activities for the day.
We tried our hands at another round of Play Doh mats, and this time, Nolan had a little more interest in them than the first. We used correlating colors to make each shape on each printable (found here), and although Nolan needed help forming the Play Doh into the shape form itself, he did enjoy smashing it down! He also named off each shape as we did each card.
Next up, we played our Duct Tape Shape game, where I simply created a few shapes with duct tape to the floor and had Nolan place objects in each one as I called out the shapes name. This then moved to him running, jumping, walking or hopping to each shape as I called it out, and then I let him call out a shape and step into it, as well. He liked the game so much, I, on-the-spot, created more duct tape shapes and used our Shapes puzzle to have him match up the puzzle pieces by placing them in each shape that I would call out. He absolutely loved this game and we played even longer, for a total of over 30+ minutes.
For our arts/crafts project of the day, we practiced some Shapes Resist Painting that we found on @Simplylearning's Instagram (and website, of which we primarily use)! I simply cut out construction paper shapes, taped them onto another sheet of construction paper, and let Nolan paint all over. When he was finished, we removed the shapes and watched what appeared underneath (his favorite part).
Day 2 of Shapes week included the book Windblown, and the correlating activity to this totally made the book well worth the weekly pick!
We tried another round of Do-A-Dots, this time, not laminated (ha!), and Nolan needed a little help and reminders throughout the activity to simply dab each circle, rather than trace or smear a line with the marker. He doesn't have much patience for these activities, but I'd like to keep introducing them in hopes of working on some hand-eye coordination, listening skills and early entry pre-writing.
The Windblown Contact Paper lesson was one I mixed in from the Windblown Activity printable found here and the simple idea of using contact paper as a great toddler distraction tool that I had seen numerous times on Pinterest. I showed Nolan the book and we went over the different shapes and animals that were made on each page, and then I let him create his own "Windblown" creation. He loved doing this and especially liked the "eyes", and we explored this activity for nearly 15 minutes. After, I let him incorporate shapes onto the contact paper (of which I earlier cut out from construction paper) and he would name each one as he placed it wherever he pleased. We spent at least another 20 minutes on this, and I ended up leaving the contact paper up for the remainder of the week as he continued to play with it when he wanted!
Since Nolan has a huge interest in cars and trucks, I continued to utilize this and we played with the Racecar Highway Shape Cards (found here). Although he didn't want to play on his own using his imagination with them like I initially planned, I did end up calling out which cars to put on which shapes, and he enjoyed following directions and playing that way. There were different shapes that he wasn't familiar with, so it was a nice introduction to some newer shape identification.
On Day 3 of our Shapes week, we read two books: Go, Shapes, Go! and Mouse Shapes. Nolan was really into the first one, as it had fun motions and a song-like quality to it as we read along.
I introduced Clip Cards (found here) to see if Nolan was capable of using clothespins, and quickly found out that he had a difficult time maneuvering these. I'll continue to bring them out occasionally so we can practice, but they were definitely beyond his level at this point and only created tons of frustration! Instead, we used pom poms to identify and match the shape on each card, and we named each one as we went along.
We used our Shapes Puzzle for the second time this week in our sensory bin, and Nolan loved being able to "hide" and "find" the pieces to match to his puzzle. Afterward, I traded out the puzzle pieces for block shapes, and he was free to explore and play in the sensory bin as he pleased. He did lots of scooping and pouring.
We had another fail arts/crafts project, using our wooden shape stackers as stamp pieces for painting. They didn't work at all and Nolan just ended up smearing a lot of paint around rather than creating stamps out of the shapes. Oops. Now we know!
Finally, we ended our day with a game, corresponding to our Go, Shapes, Go! book. Each page had a different movement or activity that the shape monkey character would perform, so I had Nolan imitate each one as we flipped through the pages. Here, he is "Scooting", followed by some fun "Twirling"! He enjoyed this activity and we played twice.
And- just in case you think Tot School is easy and that Nolan always participates nicely... just wanted to provide this as proof that we all have our moments! One of which he refused to cooperate and decided to pout on the stairs. It happens... just a day in the #reallife.
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