Did you know that twisting, turning, squishing, smooshing, squeezing and wringing develops and strengthens small finger muscles that children use when printing?
I have a collection of about twenty different sizes and shapes of jars and bottles in which I stuff an object, then screw on the lids. The children unscrew the lids using wrist action. They like to see what is inside each. After all of the lids are off, I put them in a pile and the children have to match them and screw them back on. It requires reasoning. Sometimes I put a corresponding sticker on a lid, for example, if I have two Ponds Cold Cream jars, and one has a dinosaur inside, I would glue a dino sticker on the lid of one.
You would be surprised at how much fun the simple things can be for little children.
Hubby cut these hands out of a piece of scrap wood. One side is brown and the other lighter (multi-cultural). The kids love placing corresponding amounts of rings (from the Dollar store) on the fingers. My original "hand" game was made out of strong cardboard, so don't think you need a carpenter!
11 comments:
You are very creative, Linda. That's such a good idea to get little ones to unscrew the lids! Susan
So cool. One of these days I'm going to have an actual grandchild and not just grand-dogs, and when I do I'll borrow your ideas and be the coolest granny in Atlanta.
(There's an award waiting for you at my blog. :) )
Very creative and cool, Linda! (And I agree with DeanO. Have you thought about doing away with your word verification? I did after Blogger came up with this new crazy one!)
I still say there's a book here. All these educational crafts, just begging to be marketed. Listen to the crafts, Linda. :)
I am always amazed how creative you are!
I love these. I never had time to play with children, it seemed, and I love people that gravitate naturally toward doing so.
Pearl
p.s. I took your suggestion and submitted the Trunk Turkey story to Chicken Soup for the Soul. It is my FIRST time submitting, so THANK YOU for the suggestion.
Fingers crossed!!
More great ideas, Linda. The children you teach are very lucky to have you as their teacher.
Between your writing and teaching, you must touch a lot of lives. I'm with Val. There is a wonderful book here.
Val is right, and I just happen to know a publisher .....
My youngest child's favorite activity was taking all my canned goods out of the cabinet and then putting them all back. When my dad would visit, it drove him crazy. He alphabetizes his canned good and then have to be lined up straight. I suppose you could say that I found a way to keep them both busy!
Linda, how did you know this is exactly what I needed for my preschooler this week?? I love these ideas and my little guy will have lots of fun playing and learning. Thanks!!
Debra
Great ideas! I should tell my friend to come over here. She often babysits her grandkids.
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