Teeny Tiny Tot School

A couple new activities, a couple repeats in this post. Still the majority of what Sophie's "learning" right now is just how her world works, how to excel in physical milestones, and "what happens if I do this?" :) That last one is always interesting.

Playing with buttons. Obviously highly supervised (choking hazard), but she really enjoyed just sifting through them and touching them...
...as well as transferring them into a small, glass jar.

I've mentioned before that I want to do a lot more sensory stuff with Sophie right now. I saw this idea on another blog as an alternative to finger painting. Obviously, it's not the same texture, but it's cool nonetheless and if she eats it (yuck!), no harm done.

We did this outside to minimize the mess. :) She was a little confused, but definitely enjoyed exploring.

And then... just because we were outside... I decided to go crazy and throw a pine cone into the mix. Soft vs scratchy.

Pushing golf tees into a hunk of styrofoam. The original idea was to use a hammer to "pound" them in, but that seemed a little too advanced just yet. I may try to "start" a few for her and let her finish hammering them in the near future. But for now, she just liked poking them in and pulling them out. Daddy gathered several colors for her to make it interesting. Also in the near future, I may have Sophie poke them all in and then have Will balance a marble on the tops of each. Hmm... very good fine motor work!

She'd collect them in her glass jar as she pulled each one out individually. :) She still loves any game that involves dropping something into the glass jar.

And she is definitely still in love with her green-coins-in-the-plastic-container game. I pull this one out any time I need a distraction while cooking or cleaning up the kitchen and, no matter her mood, she will instantly calm down and focus on this. I love it!

And remember this "game"?

It's hardly a game since it's so open-ended, but Sophie loves the sensory-filled fuzzy pom poms in the old wipes container.

Other things we've been doing that I didn't photograph: reading (her favorites, hands-down, are Sandra Boynton books right now), chunky puzzle, blocks, practicing body parts and animal sounds, practicing following simple commands, practicing patience and restraint - ha! ya right!(whew! the impulsiveness in this one!), lots of running/chasing/climbing/hide-and-seek games, picture/word flash cards, etc.

The nice thing about Tot School work at this age is that it can be completely spur of the moment and quick-to-organize. There's really no effort in it. Everything we do is basic and made out of random things. Will's activities usually takes considerably more time, though he and I have been doing a lot more puzzles and reading lately to make up for a lack of planned activities. But it's also fun to see how enthusiastic and interested and focused she is over the simplest work. It's an interest that Will used to take at that age, but now is too simple to hold his attention long. He needs more complex or else it's clearly boring. So I treasure this time with Sophie now. :)