Tot School (Popcorn, Fine Motor, Bird Feeder)

**J is 32 months old**

I love doing Tot School with J! We are very laid back and so far I don't really plan anything. I keep a lot of things visible to J and let him lead when it's time to do some focused learning-play. Thanks for stopping by!


Popcorn Sorting and Scooping











































The last time we played with popcorn, it got a bit messy. All J wanted to do was break them apart. This time we were more organized. I held his fire hat like a bucket and he picked them out of the bin and put them in the hat. He loved going back and forth doing this for a while. Then that got boring so I got out his shovel and he was scooping and digging in the bin.


Fine Motor Learning





























J wanted to dump these out and put them back into the container. They were pretty small craft stars so it was great for his fine motor skills.






























J wanted to "feed" his dinosaurs so I got him a jar of marbles and let him dump them into a bowl. He then was putting them back in the jar and also working on screwing on and off the lid.


Miniature Bird Nests






























I forgot I bought these little bird nests and mini cardinals with eggs at the craft store earlier this winter. J found them and loved putting them together.


Pine Cone Bird Feeders

One thing I've been wanting to do for a while is make pine cone bird feeders. We finally did it! It was a little hard to find these big pine cones. We had dinner at my other sister's house and with J and the kids we went out with a flash light at dusk and were able to find several good ones. J and I had a great time with this. I wasn't sure how he'd do with the messy peanut butter, but he managed it pretty well. We used tiny spatulas to spread on the peanut butter first. J called it "painting". Then we rolled them in bird seed and then used gardening wire (kind of like twist-ties) and then we hung them on an old Christmas tree outside. Somehow I spaced out taking a picture of the tree once we had all 8 little pine cones tied to it. We didn't have to wait very long and some chickadees came for a visit. Then a squirrel found them but there was plenty to go around.

Learning CD-Rom































I got a Reader Rabbit CD-Rom from the library that J is just nuts over. He is finally getting to learn to use the mouse. They have this software at our library and I noticed how J just loved playing it. It is very toddler-friendly. There are several different games like this shapes matching game, a painting game, a letter matching game. They are helping him work on his ABCs, letter recognition, colors, shapes and using the mouse.

See the fun things other moms are doing at the Weekly Wrap Up, another place I link up.