Sunday, January 3, 2010

tot school - lots of work with green

Tot School
Noah is 15 months old.

A late happy new year to you! We've had another fun week of Tot School:) Noah got sick again towards the end of the week, though (with croup and ANOTHER ear infection) so most of the activities were done early on. His doctor prescribed steroids for his croup, and they make him irritable and sleepy:( But, he is feeling much better now, and tomorrow is the last day of steroids so I think next week we'll be back to normal!

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Color Theme: Green
Noah had fun with his color box this week. Several new things were added to it after Christmas, so he really enjoyed exploring, spilling, and filling up his box:)

Noah did a semi-open ended art project to go along with the color green. First, he colored a bit. Coloring with crayons isn't his favorite thing to do, so this didn't last long.

Then, he painted using a paper towel roll. I saw this on Chasing Marcus, and thought Noah would love it. And he did:)

Finally, Noah added his beloved pompoms to complete his masterpiece!

I wish I would have done an "open ended" picture for each color we've worked on, but I definitely will continue to do so with future colors!

For other green fun, Noah played with some green playdough. He got a big pack for Christmas, and this was the first time he has ever played with it.
Being that Noah is funny about things on his hands, he wasn't too sure of the smooshy green glob at first. But once he got some other "tools" (aka a spoon and a cookie cutter), he was all about this one!

All in all, green has been one of my favorite colors to work with, and I think Noah has particularly enjoyed it as well:)

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I kept the rest of our activities this week general. Mostly Noah played with his many new tot school toys he got for Christmas...like his M&D Nesting & Stacking Blocks. We're still working on following the correct size sequence to stack and nest, but he sure LOVES crashing the blocks:)

Noah also played a lot with his new M&D Lacing Beads. The shoestrings that come in the set, however, are a bit too flimsy for him right now, so I'm planning on getting some pipe cleaners or something so he can lace more easily.

Noah watched his new Preschool Prep Meet the Colors dvd several times this week, so I tried to test him a little:) I built color-specific towers out of his MegaBloks and them asked him to crash a certain one.
He did green and blue correctly after MUCH coaxing, then toddled off to another room, so I guess he's not ready yet:) I will try this activity again, though, because he did enjoy crashing the blocks!

I tried another color test later in the week with more playdough. Noah did surprisingly well! I asked him to sort the colored playdough balls into their correct container after showing him what I meant. He did this several times correctly with minimal help!
So even though the Meet the Colors dvd can be mind-numbing for a parent, I think it is going to be worth it in the long run if it is helping to reinforce colors.

Noah also enjoyed working with pasta this week. He loves to put spaghetti into small containers.

He also enjoyed using different colored and different shaped pasta to fill up the container too. We had a lesson on size using different pasta pieces and seeing if they fit through the "pour" side of an empty pepper container.
Pasta is such a great tot school tool! I bummed this variety from my mom, but I'm planning on getting a whole box of mixed pasta pieces so we can do even more activities with it. I do have to keep a close eye on Noah, though, because he still likes to pop things into his mouth when I'm not looking!

Lastly, we read TONS and TONS of books this week. After trying to focus on Christmas books for the last week weeks, I think Noah was excited to dig through his book basket and find some new and old favorites:) Some of the ones we wore out this week included:
Bennie's Garden by Genny Haines(sorry for no link...and I am officially going to put this one on hold, too, because between Jimmy and I we read this book at least 20 times a day!)
Polar Bear Polar Bear by Eric Carle
The Day the Rain Came by Allia Zobel-Nelson
BIscuit Visits the Petting Zoo by Alyssa Capucilli
Blue Hat Green Hat by Sandra Boynton

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All right...that's all we've got for this week! See what others are up to at Tot School...hosted by Carisa at 1+1+1=1!

5 comments:

Goat Gal said...

We have those nesting blocks! Meadow also played with play doh for the first time. She is a squisher though. I love the paper towel tube painting. I will have to try that idea.

Anonymous said...

What a fun week! I love the open ended art! Hope Noah feels better soon!

Susan-Chasing Marcus said...

Another nesting block fan here. Sophie got one for Christmas and has been playing with it non stop.

How is Noah liking the lacing beads...I was thinking about that being one of our next purchases but was unsure if it was to early for it. I suppose she will grow into it if I just have to go educational material shopping....:)

April said...

Great activities! I did open art based on the color blue once but I never moved on to any other colors. I think you have inspired me to though. I have also just introduced my daughter to playdough and she really likes it too! I keep looking around the house for new tools to add to the playdough.

Wilson Ramblings said...

Noah has gotten so big! I love all the things you're doing with him and so early! That's awesome! Keep up the good work!