Tot School - Brown

Sophie is 16 months old.

Sorry this week is so late in posting!  Our days have been shifted around here a little bit and I've just been thrown off my groove. :)  Last week we focused on the color brown.  I had many more ideas to go with this week that just didn't happen - we may have to revisit with a teddy bear theme or something down the road.

I didn't have a sensory bin this week because I was a slacker.  And the brilliant idea I thought I had ended up being black instead of  brown, so maybe it will make an appearance next week instead.  We'll see. 

Tot Trays

This week's tot trays were a bit challenging in the sense that Sophie found lots of ways to make mischief with them, so we could only play a bit before they had to be put "bye bye" for a few minutes.  But she really enjoyed all of them, which I was glad about.  She's also really started to like to sit on my lap to do her activities, which is super sweet and I enjoy.  However, it makes it difficult to get pictures!  :)  So I don't have as many pics to choose from this week.

Her first tray was brown river rocks in an ice cube tray.  This was by far the early favorite and the first time she was successful with one-to-one correspondence (putting one rock in each empty cube compartment).  She was really proud of herself.  This was something that kind of just clicked in the last couple weeks, along with matching and puzzles, I think she's had a little developmental growth spurt.  It's been so fun to see her figure out all these new things!  

Oh my goodness...who is that big girl?  She looks SO grown up in this picture!

Her second tray was several wooden balls and brown paper tubes.  The idea was for her to drop and roll the balls through the tubes.  She had fun with that sometimes, but had more fun stirring or throwing the balls.  This was probably not one of my better-thought-through tot trays - those wooden balls hurt to get hit by!  And usually the rule is we only throw balls, so I had a tough time trying to tell her not to throw them.

Her final tray was not very popular at the beginning, but she figured it out by the end of the week and it became the favorite.  I put a thin dowel rod into a small coffee canister and painted some wooden spools.  She enjoyed stacking and unstacking the spools onto the dowel as well as counting them.  (This one was pretty much exclusively enjoyed from my lap - sorry for the terrible picture, but not sorry for the snuggles!)

Other Activities

We made brownies early in the week and ate some chocolate pudding.  We also explored the brown dirt outside (not too much - she hates getting her hands dirty!).  

She also did her page for her God Made Everything color book.  This week we glued tissue paper squares onto the bear.  We've only really tried glueing one other time (both times I put a dot of glue where she wanted the paper and she put the paper), but she really seemed to enjoy it.  It also kept her occupied much longer than painting usually does. (PS.  Please notice the spot between the bear's eyes.  She wanted a piece there until she noticed that it covered his eyes.  Then she said "Uh oh. Eyes." and wanted it off.  Seriously. I love this girl!)

She really got the gist of her God Made Everything book and feltboard pieces this week.  We played over and over matching the pieces with the pages.  Sometimes she would deliberately choose the wrong piece and say "nooo" when she put it on the page.  Such a silly girl! :)

One of these days I'll get back to doing the Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready activities with her.  Things have just been crazy lately.  We'll be traveling to visit my family in Missouri next week and I'm hoping I can spend some time planning out some tot school stuff.  I really enjoy both planning and implementing these ideas, but it has just fallen by the wayside with other commitments I've got right now.  I really want to get back in a good groove with it, because I think it is great for both Sophie and me!

Next week is black and white week!  

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