Big Box Play Product Review

Big Box Play sent us their castle set in exchange for a review.

Do you ever wish that you could spend thirty minutes doing a great activity with your kids, then get back to your own work, and they’d still be engaged?

Wouldn’t it be great to find a project that’s big enough to take your children’s attention for several hours? Maybe a couple of days? STEM projects are usually winners in the interest department, but it’s frustrating that we parents usually end up being the ones actually doing the project after the kids wander off.

Flower petal drawing for Toddlers: Sweet and simple mark making you'll always treasure

Simple fine motor art with flowers.

How do I make these moments last forever? Two golden heads bend over a project. Four tiny hands trace smooth acorns. Two little noses sniff the sweet roses on a misty moisty morning. 

How to set up a patriotic craft for your toddler

"Mom, she's messing up my project!" I love having children of several different ages, but hearing this phrase is one of the hazards. So, when I put together the patriotic math craft for my six-year-old together the other day, I decided to put together a toddler July project for my two-year-old as well. The toddler of the patriotic craft offers great fine motor practice, and you can always get familiar with some shapes, colors and counting along the way.

How to Protect Migrating Birds from Flying into Your Windows

On a lovely day in late spring, moms were chatting, and children playing when "THUD". The sickening sound of a bird hitting a window sounded through our home. The children rushed outside to help the poor creature, while the moms called to them not to touch the poor creature.

Fun Spring Equation Writing Practice

We're enjoying spring break with a little camp out in the yard tonight. Next week it's back to school though, so I have a spring themed math equation practice for your kindergartner. If your kindergartners are like mine, they are in need of some number writing practice, but more interested in doing "real" equations. If so, I have the perfect math activity for your kindergartner.

Beautiful Multiplication Pine Cone Craft

Multiplication practice from a nature art approach. Use pine cones to make math fun.

At 1:00 pm, a young student stares out the window, oblivious to the math lesson: at 4:00 pm, that same student stares at a pine cone she found on the walk home. Her eyes follow every crevice, and as her fingers trace the rough sticky surface, as she breaths it's fresh aroma.

Christmas Ornament Subtraction Craft

These DIY ornaments turn out so pretty that children might like to do them at home for fun or as gifts. However, you could easily use them for subtraction practice. They even satisfy the algebraic component called for in Common Core. Who says you can't have Christmas fun and do math at the same time?

Bead Snowflake Addition and Subtraction Practice

The dishes were piled high, creating a mess that matched the rest of the house, and I needed to eat the lunch I had missed with the rest of the family, but some how I found myself offering to pull out the math craft I'd been promising my daughter.

I explained that we needed to make four snowflakes, and her eyes lit up. "You make two and I'll make two." So we did.

Adding Doubles Christmas Tree Math Puzzle for Kindergarten

As my first fall in the classroom drew to a close, it dawned on me that I wasn't going to make it through my curriculum.  With mandated exit tests looming (as in, fail the test, and you don't graduate), I knew I needed to at least get the planned content in front of my students.  I also knew that they expected to have a party the last day before Christmas break. In a move of desperation, I wrote an entire unit's worth of material into a Christmas theme and taught the whole thing the last day before break.  They moaned and groaned, but most of them decided to play along, and when we reviewed months later they remembered our reindeer games!

Fine Motor Engine Play for Kids who love Planes, Cars, and Trains

My son requested a Planes themed party.   This year we did a big party, so I wanted an open ended free play activity to start the party and fill in the time gaps. We ended up with a nice fine motor exercise.  Since this activity features real things from the hardware store, it naturally drew the children's interest and they enjoyed engineering some great works of art.

This activity was designed for first graders and kept out of reach of the toddler.  Please be aware that the small pieces present a choking hazard, and make a wise decision for your family.

Materials for Motor Themed Fine Motor Play

3/4 inch Bolts

3/4 inch Nuts

3/4 inch Washers

Red Yarn

Dark Yarn

Round Magnets

Peg board

The peg board was my sister's idea.  I always appreciate how she buys into my crazy ideas and helps me finish them.  I asked to have it cut into one foot squares at the store.  Everything else, except the yarn can be found in the hardware aisle.

I literally just put the materials on the table and let the kids go at it.  Some of them did pretend to wire an engine.

Others worked on filling as many holes as possible with bolts, or fastening boards together.

My own children played with these for a couple more weeks.  My daughter even refined her design because, her previous design was "not safe, because the wires were hanging down."  Yay for thinking like an engineer!

If you have a mechanically minded elementary student who can still use some fine motor practice, definitely head to your local hardware store and put one of these kits together.  

I would love to expand on this idea.  Can you think of anything else we could add?

You may also Like:

How to Prepare your Preschooler to Excel in Algebra and Beyond

Egg Carton Skip Counting with Printables

This activity addresses several different skills.   For kindergarten purposes, it most directly addresses the Common Core objective CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4 ,  Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities;connect counting to cardinality.   However, it is also preparation for multiplication, and a fine motor exercise.

Pre-school developed counting practice

Not only is this activity great fine motor and counting practice, it's a sure winnner with my pre-schooler. How do I know?  She came up with it! Try it with your preschooler, and see if he doesn't like it just as much!

How to teach skip counting

Skip counting serves as a basis for multiplication. Make math concrete with this fun activity.

Within the next two months, we are planning to move (again! but just a couple of miles this time) and welcome a new family member. Obviously, I am on the look out for ways to make learning fun and easy for all of us as we jump back into kindergarten home school today.

Learning with Playdough

Play dough is an amazing substance.  My kids will play with play dough for hours.  When I had two preschoolers I tried to pull the playdough once a week. The body of this post was written during that time.   Here's how you can cover all your preschool learning goals with one this one great activity.

How do we learn with Play dough?

Make stuff. 

I've noticed that my kids are interested in making stuff longer if I engage in a little parallel play making stuff too.  This took a little effort at first.  After a while, it became a relaxing opportunity to try something new.  

Use tools.

When I see that just making stuff is getting a little boring, I like to introduce stuff: a random piece of plastic, butter knife, rolling pin, tooth picks, slotted spoon. Of course, sometimes my son starts pulling out tools as soon as we pull out the play dough.

Practice math skills.

My kids love asking me to make tiny balls, which could also be called spheres.  Sometimes we make cubes and build structures.  Sometimes I ask for a particular number of pieces of play dough.  My daughter can count to six pretty easily right now, so I ask for four first.  Then I ask for seven, then five and so on.

                                     

Write.

When we were learning the alphabet I made letters and asked for their names.  Then I asked for the sounds that they make.  Now I make simple words and coach my kids to sound them out.  You could do the same with numerals.

Of course, all this time we're strengthening the muscles needed for fine motor skills.  

Using just one activity I cover all my objectives for the day.  Even better, I connect with my children in a way we all enjoy.

When we lived in Kuwait, making play dough was by far easier than trying to find it.  A good friend asked me to "try out" a recipe for a church group, and I am grateful for the nudge in the right direction.

Homemade play dough recipe

Ingredients:

 1 part corn starch, 

2 parts baking soda, 

1.5 parts water.  

(i.e. 1 cup cornstarch, 2 cups baking soda, 1.5 cups water)

Method

1.Mix everything in a sauce pan.

2. Cook and stir on medium low heat, until all at once it comes together and forms into a ball.

3. Cool.

4. Knead in a little extra cornstarch as you go.

I have to admit I was scared to try it, but it turned out brilliantly!  Of course, you can always buy the commercial version. 

What do your kids like to do with play dough?

Looking for more sensory ways to learn?  Thriving STEM is happy to be an affiliate for this great book.  Click on the picture to purchase, or read my interview with author Cathy James by clicking here.

Other Posts from Thriving STEM you may like:

How to teach counting with a fun rhyme from Jamaica

Ten little green bananas hangin' on a line,

A bird eat one, Dat left nine.

Nine little green bananas swayin' in de breeze,

They all turn yellow, An' one a dem sneeze!

Ode to Duplos

With my son's fourth birthday came our household's first set of real Legos.  (Thanks, Grandma!) He plays with them almost every day, as does my daughter.  I'm sure we have many happy hours of building ahead of us.  Stashing the Duplos in the closet made me  nostalgic though.  So, before they disappear into the box marked "toddler toys", let me write a little tribute to the good they've done for us.

Bead Necklaces

This project originated with our creative Aunt Ranae.  When she came to visit us last fall, she arrived with a whole stash of art supplies stowed in her suitcases.  I had been looking for fine motor skill activities to help prepare for writing.  It has since become one of our favorite activities.