Tot School - Black and White

Sophie is 16.5 months old.

This was a really fun week!  I had debated over whether to do black and white separately or together and I am really glad I did them together.  

Sensory Bin

This week's sensory bin was a fun mix of different sizes and textures.  The base was white lima beans and black beans.  I found some smooth black river rocks at the Dollar Tree and added those along with some fluffy cotton balls.  Throw in a black spoon and some white pvc pipe pieces and you have a sensory bin!  She really enjoyed it, but was bothered that the pvc pieces were not cups and that the beans went all the way through.  She just kept looking, trying to figure out why her beans weren't staying in the tube!  Sweet girl. :)

Tot Trays

Her first tot tray was ping pong balls in a paint palette.  She really liked the rock one-to-one correspondence activity from brown week last week, so I thought I would include another one this week.  However, I didn't take into account that this would be pretty challenging, one, because ping pong balls are easily knocked from their spots, and two, because both the ball and the palette were white.  She did a great job, though.  She just needed some help keeping the balls in place once she got them there so she didn't get frustrated.  I don't have a picture of this one, because she liked to do it on my lap.

Her second tray was by far the favorite of the week.  I printed these black and white three part cards from Memorizing the Moments (although I just made two copies of the second page - we're not quite ready for the full blown three part cards yet) and made a matching game.  She did such a great job!  Like I said last week, this skill has just really taken off in the last couple weeks and she couldn't get enough of it.  I would lay out one set of the cards and hand her one card at a time to match up.  So proud of her!  (Unfortunately, no pictures of this one either.  We had lots of lap snuggles this week!)

The third tray only lasted a day or so before it just got integrated with the sensory bin.  I made a rectangle out of painters tape on the tray and filled it with black beans.  I placed her mini broom there with the intention that she would sweep the beans into the rectangle.  Should have thought this one through better.  It was more like slapshots in hockey than a gentle sweeping motion.  Pretty soon the beans just got put in the sensory bin (by her) and I didn't fight it.  She sweeps up the other beans in her pool so we still get practice sweeping.

Other Activities

We had a yummy black and white snack this week that was a huge hit.  She tried chocolate chips and marshmallows for the first time and really enjoyed it.  We were able to talk about the colors and the different textures while she ate.

We also painted her pictures for her God Made Everything Color Book.  She dot painted a black sheep and finger painted a white cloud.  She is getting much more interested in this activity every time we do it!

Soon I'll post some catch-up posts - there has been a lot going on in our house lately, including a two week trip to St. Louis to visit family (which is why this post is two weeks late!).  Our next tot school week at home is the color gray - our last color theme! :)

For tons more ideas be sure to visit these sites I'm linking to this week!

Tot School Gathering Place at 1+1+1=1 

Tot School Tuesday at See Vanessa Craft
Tuesday Tots at Rainy Day Mum
Link and Learn at No Time for Flashcards
Show and Share Saturday Link Up at I Can Teach My Child

Titus 2sday at Time Warp Wife

Trivium Tuesday at Living and Learning at Home

Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers at The Chaos and the Clutter 
Sunday Showcase at Learn Play Imagine