Toddler Play & Learn: Monday

MONDAY - SHAPES

Today is SHAPES day.

We have had a bad run lately - both kiddos have had a stomach bug - my baby last week, and now my little girl this week. It is never much fun being woken in the middle of the night with a miniature person quietly standing at your bed throwing up onto the floor saying "Mommy, I have bugs in my tummy!"- truly the definition of a rude awakening! Hopefully tomorrow we will all be better. :)

After spending most of the morning on the couch with her favorite pillow, bear and blankie watching PBS (what else can you do with a sick kid??) my 3yr old felt up to doing something in the afternoon so we decided to "catch some breeze". It is still stinkin' hot here, but we are seeing a lovely breeze today, so what better day than today to make a "wind catcher".

We are using:

project paper
craft paper
tissue paper
stickers
crayons
washable pens
glue
tape
stapler
string
hole punch

We are learning our shapes today - I have cut out some circles, triangles and a rectangle. As my 3yr old glues them onto the project card, she has to name the shape. We also have stickers and marker to decorate our catcher with.

Let your toddler have (supervised) freedom with things like the glue stick - it may make a little mess, but it will help boost confidence and improve motor skills with the use of control and direction.

We are using tissue paper for the "wind catcher". I have three colors - green, yellow and blue. Fold the paper in half then cut strips about 1 - 2 inches wide.

To hold the cylinder shape together I firstly staple the ends together, then tape along the edge on the outside.
For the tissue paper - tape the folded side onto the inside of the catcher, overlapping the colors a little as you go around.