Felt Counting Book

What started off as a felt destash project quickly became a reason to buy more felt (doesn't it always? :D). Here's what I came up with - A tactile counting book that has something for the child to touch or do while counting.

A plump sun with ribbon loops to finger

2 lollipops with yarn swirls

3 pretty necklaces

4 eggs!

5 fingers (and a ring you can slide your finger into)

6 balls to slide and count

7 sequinned colours in a rainbow

8 hearts

9 bows

An assortment of 10 vintage and novelty buttons

Cute or Creepy?

I was flipping with my daughter through a nice book on handmade toys for babies and toddlers, Creative Play for Your Baby when Z asked to me make the doll featured inside.

Z loves the doll, and a couple of minutes later I saw her sitting with the doll cradled in her arms and looking at it with such tenderness , she reminded me of how I would stare at her for hours when she was a newborn...sigh

Anyyyways, my husband gave it a first glance and said it was creepy..I think it's cute..what do you think? Creepy or Cute?

Alphabet boxes

This is one post that that I have been meaning to write for months but didn't get around to it simply because of the time that it would take to click, edit and upload the pictures..but I finally did it today Alhamdulillah. I first saw this idea at Counting Coconuts and then I googled and found this post at Living Montessori Now which got me all eager to create our own set of alphabet boxes for Z. I had a blast collecting the miniatures for these boxes.I was already collecting little objects for the last one year to make I-Spy bags (but couldn't really get myself to putting those pretty little things into a bag and sealing it up :p) so I had a headstart already. When I fell short of objects for certain sounds, I made them myself (envelope, Elmo, igloo, kite, Kaaba, octopus, quilt, question mark, rainbow, rug, underwear, watermelon and yarn) I found the mini-book printable from here and the newspaper printable here. I printed the alphabet cards from a free printable provided by the sweet Ann-Marie over here (scroll down towards the end of the post to get the template)

I got the bins at a local discount store, they're great for storing the objects and stack up nicely in the cupboard.I used the alphabet stickers from a colouring book to label the boxes.

This is what we've been doing for the past few months - Z and I choose a box and take it to the table with the felt mat. If we're taking a box for the first time I lay out the cards at the top, then remove the objects one by one and place them on the mat and name them while placing emphasis on the initial sound each time e.g. a..apple, a...alligator  . Then I put all of the objects and cards back into the box and ask Z to do the same. If it's a box Z has worked with before, she simply starts on her own and takes out the objects while practicing the sound and naming the objects. Once she's mastered all the sounds, we'll take 2 boxes at a time and I'll mix up the objects for her to sort InshaAllah. The Hands-on Alphabet Guidebook found here at Primary Concepts also has some nice activities for practice.

Here are the contents of the boxes A-Z

acrobat, alligator, ambulance, astronaut, apple, anchor, ant

bird, balloon, burger, butterfly, brush, bottle, bulb, bangle, bell, bow, banana, book, bee, bicycle, button, bus

cow, clip, cup, comb, crown, can, crayon, cat, cage, cockroach, carrot, camera, car, coin, card, crayon, clock, capsicum

duck, dog, deer, dolphin, date, dinosaur, dragonfly, dice, diamond

Elmo, elephant, egg, eight, envelope

flower, fish, fire, four, five, frame, feather, feet

grapes, goat, glass, gift, girl, green

house, hat, hand, hen, horse, hexagon, heart, hanger

                                         

igloo, India

                                        

juice, jacket, jug, jewel

                                         

kite, key, Kaaba, kangaroo

                                         

lobster, lemon, leaf, lamp, ladybird, lock, lantern, lips

                                         

marble, mobile phone, money, mirror, magnifying glass, moon, map, milk

                                         

necklace, newspaper, needle, nail clipper, nine, nose

                                         

octopus, ostrich, oyster, orange

                                         

pot, purse, pear, pencil, pomegranate, plate, peacock, panda, parrot, pom pom, pineapple

                                         

question mark, Qur'an, quilt, queen

                                          

rabbit, rose, radio, rocking chair, red, ring, rainbow, racquet, rug

                                        

snake, stamp, saw, scooter, strawberry, spider, soldier, star, six, seal, scissors, slipper, seahorse, sword, spoon

                                         

train, teapot, trolley, two, tray, table, telephone, tiger, torch, turtle, trumpet, teddy

                                          

underwear, umbrella

                                          

vase, vest, violin

                                       

watermelon, whistle, window, wings, wood, watering can

                                         

x-ray

                                        

yarn, yo-yo, yellow

                                        

zero, zebra, zip

Linking up with:

  

Striped and Plain (With free printable)

Z and I have been enjoying A Mother For Choco almost every night for the last 2 months. The first time we read it though, we came across the mention of striped feet and I wasn't sure if she understood the concept of striped so I decided to set up an activity for her ( I love how Montessori encourages you to recognize and make use of any learning opportunity!)

I took an index card and cut it into half, then drew stripes with a marker on the blank side of one half and left the other half blank. I then did a quick 3 period lesson on striped and plain with Z.

The next day while Z was at school, I quickly collected a few item from around the house for her to sort, I also got some cards ready for her to sort.

If you would like the printable please click here

(Please Note: Unless otherwise stated, all images used in the printable are public domain, mostly taken from Wikimedia Commons. Please do not host this file on your website , if you'd like to share this file please link back to this blogpost and not directly to the pdf. Thanks!)

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DIY Touch Boards

I recently made some sensorial touch boards for Z

The first one is a rough and smooth board. I had found a rectangular piece of plywood at a craft store a few months ago and decided to use that. I stuck sandpaper on one half of the board but couldn't leave the other side as is since it was grainy , so I used what I had on hand and first stuck brown paper and then contact paper

The second board comprises of alternating rough and smooth strips. I had the carpenter cut out a piece of laminated chipboard to the same measurement as the plywood piece used before, then stuck 4 strips of the same grade of sandpaper at equal distances

The third board has 4 strips of sandpaper and they vary in gradation so that it's roughest at the top and smoothest at the bottom.