Fun Preschool Activities and {Learn & Play Link Up}

Take a look at these amazing preschool activities!

Introducing Wild Animals to Toddlers

VIto is 32 months old.

As we continue our wild animals exploration, the boys and I watched documentary shows in Netflix about animals in Africa.  Vito enjoyed watching the shows and kept on naming the animals that he can identify.  With this, we worked on vocabulary words by identifying other wild animals that he’s not familiar with like gorilla, panther and rhinoceros.  We used our Safari Toob Wild animals for this activity together with the matching cards we got from The Wise Owl.

Animals and their Covers

My boys love animal covers!  We used this whenever we want to play around with or beautiful animals from Schleich or whenever Mavi wants to replicate them through drawing.

FREE Musical Hand Bell Cards

Sharing our beautiful musical hand bell cards for everyone to use!

Understanding the Water Cycle

Last week I decided that Mavi and I should do a water cycle activity with Vito.  I prepared some materials and simple experiments to demonstrate this amazing science!

Study of Plants and Nature and {Learn & Play Link Up}

We're having plant and tree activities next month so I'm featuring these amazing posts for inspiration!

Sound Waves Experiment: The String Phone

I think is one of the best example of explaining to a 7 year old that sound travels.  I enjoyed playing with this as a young child. But instead of using styro cups, we were used tin cans which I think is more effective.

Montessori Inspired Activity: Musical Instruments

As we continue our Sound and Music Unit, I also introduced the different musical instruments.  Of course, it would be best if we have all of these (LOL) or least own one, but since we don’t these beautiful musical figures from Safari Toob will do.

Montessori-Inspired Sounds and Music: The Musical Hand Bells

Vito is 32 months old.

I prepared a few simple activities for our Sound and Music Unit.  It was the week of heatwave so I grabbed the opportunity to bring the boys outside more often to practise their biking and scooting skills, and as for me, able to run and lose a few pounds LOL.

Joking aside, this musical hand bells was a favourite of Vito. He loves using just to listen to the sound it makes and at times ringing the bells together to make “music”.

Reading Programs for Kids and {Learn & Play Link Up}

All about reading for this week's featured posts! Check them all out!

Homeschool Activities for Toddlers 32 Months Old

I’d like to share a summary of Vito’s work tray activities at 32 months.  These are the trays that are either part of our themed activities or just some random ones that I prepared for him in line with his current interests.  I hope that this will give you an idea on what to give your children in case he/she’s of the same age.  Keeping records of Vito’s work trays are also a means for me to track his development and progress per month.

LETTER PATTERNS

One of the challenging task that he’s working on this month.  We’re working with letters CUSN-POLH and here he’s doing the letter C.  This printed material was from The Confessions of a Homeschooler and the magnetic board plus the patterns were from Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Magnetic Pattern Blocks Set.

SANDPAPER NUMBERS AND COUNTING WITH DO DOTS

He loves the sandpaper numbers!  So we worked on tracing the numbers first and I demonstrated by counting it using the do a dot marker.  So aside from pre-writing, it’s also a great practise for 1:1 correspondence.  The sandpaper numbers can be purchased here and you can get the markers here, Do a Dot Markers.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

We love Safari Toobs and its his first time to use the Musical Instruments Toob.  As of the moment, we do the typical match to figure and picture using the 3-Part Cards from The Wise Owl (Philippine based).  You can check about this activity here, Montessori Inspired Activity: Musical Instruments.

ANIMALS IN THE WILD

Learning about the animals in the wild, using this set from The Wise Owl again (the 3-Part cards for the Safari Toobs Wild Animals is also in my 200+ Toobs Matching Cards Bundle Pack).  He can name a few but find it difficult to say the names of other animals like the rhino, hippo, and panther. You can check the details of this activity here, Introducing Wild Animals to Toddlers.

ANIMAL COVERS PATTERN MATCHING

One of our favorite printable from our shop (Animal Skin Cover Matching Cards)!  Matching animals with their covers.  We are using animals from Schleich and Safari Toobs Wild Animals.  You can check the activity here, Animal Skin Covers Sensorial Matching Activity for Preschoolers.

MUSICAL HAND BELLS

We’re having the Sound and Music Unit and one activity is using these musical handbells.  You can check how we conducted our activity here, Montessori-Inspired Sounds and Music: The Musical Hand Bells.

ANIMALS AND THEIR LETTER SOUNDS

A little bit of phonics activity by matching animal names to their beginning sounds.  We just worked from letters A to E.  Animals are from Schleich and foam letters from Munchkin Letters and Numbers Bath Toys.

MONTESSORI KNOBLESS CYLINDERS

This is one of his favorites for this month.  You can get the Knobless Cylinders at any Montessori shop or here.  Read about this amazing sensorial material and activity here, Montessori Sensorial Activities using the Knobless Cylinders.

LETTER TRACING

Vito is currently obsessed with tracing so I got him a dry wipe/wet wipe chalk markers which has no strong scent.  I used to purchase those dry erase pens that are using ink but they really smell, and I just discovered these chalk markers which are perfect for Vito. It’s non toxic, has bright colors and can be removed easily!  You can get these from AmazonUK and AmazonUS.  The wipe and erase cards were Mavi’s and I purchased them from Singapore (Kumon), you can also get them here.  And if you have more time and want to create your own cards you can also get this printable instead, Alphabet Tracing Mats.

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Introducing Simple Machines to Kids (with Free Printable)

This summer, Mavi requested that we do some science lessons that we haven’t touched before (math’s a different story though).  Thus previously, we had types of fossils and a review of clouds.  Last week, he was watching the story of the caveman on how they were able to build tools that helped them build houses, kill animals for food and clothing and for protection.  As you can see, in his spare time, he loves to spend time in the yard and looks for ways to create an axe using a stick and a stone.  With this interest, I introduced him to simple machines.

Montessori-Inspired Activity: The Life of a Honey Bee

Vito is 32 months old.

The appearance of the honey bees in our front and backyard has led us to look into the lives of these beautiful creatures who are the main source of honey.  Vito is terrified of them but not Mavi.  We were out the other day catching a few of them, observing how they produce the buzzing sound and freed them up again.

The Butterfly Garden Sensory Tub

This is one of the fastest and easiest sensory tub I’ve ever assembled. The tub is filled with 3 packs of lentils and butterflies from Safari Toob. Simple as it is, but oh boy, my little Vito played with this for a long time!

Creative Ideas for Letter Activities and {Learn & Play Link Up}

I'm looking for creative ways to introduce letters to Vito and am happy to share that I sourced some of it here in our linkup.  So today I'm featuring these amazing ideas of alphabet activities for kids.

Montessori Inspired Insects Activity

I am reintroducing some Montessori-inspired activities once again to Vito.  We’ve been doing lots of free play for the past few days that I miss giving him “prepared” activities.  As he will turn three in the next few months, I’m planning to have a more “structured” schedule and curriculum for him this school year. I’ll share that later on once I figure out how to do that. 

Anyway, so in our Insects Unit, I borrowed these cards from my friends at The Wise Owl.  They’re Philippine based online shop that provides Montessori cards and Safari Toob figures locally.  Their cards are lovely and the images are so beautiful!

Montessori Sensorial Activities using the Knobless Cylinders

Vito is 32 months old.

The main purpose of sensorial activities in Montessori is to help the child sort out the many and varied impressions given the senses.  The sensorial materials that you mostly see are designed to help the child develop discrimination, order and to broaden and refine the senses. 

Knobless Cylinders are sensorial materials that are used for visual discrimination of dimension, width, length and size.  Vito love these cylinders! We are using this every morning and he can’t seem to get enough of it!

Kingdoms of Life: Animal Kingdom

Mavi borrowed this book from the library so we can revisit the Animal Kingdom and he wanted to explore more of the other kingdoms of life.  We’ve done a couple of times before (here and here) and he loves revisiting this over and over.

Learning Music for Kids and {Learn & Play Link Up}

One of the areas I wanted to explore more with the boys is music and sound. So I am featuring music activities this week which will surely inspire everyone, especially the music enthusiasts out there.

Montessori Inspired Tweezing Insects Activity

We started off our Insect Unit this week by tweezing insects from the grass. 

 

Learning About the Beach

Vito is 31 months old.

Because of our Bodies of Water Unit, we took the boys to the beach a few weeks ago. It was Vito’s first time to be in a beach and actually enjoyed the sand and waddled in the water!

 

Fun Rain Cloud Experiment for Kids

Vito is 31 months old.

Still part of our study of the bodies of water, we tried the rain cloud experiment at home and it was a total hit!

Land and Water Forms Learning Materials

We are loving our new land and water forms learning materials! After using the cards in our Bodies of Water Unit, Mavi insisted that he should keep the cards in his room so he can read them everyday and use them as guide for his landform drawings!  The materials that we used in our activity are  available in my shop, Land and Water Forms Learning Pack and Montessori Land and Water Features.

Ocean Animals, Learning and Sensory Tub

Vito is 31 months old.
My boys and I love sensory tub! I often assemble something that would go along with our theme of the week. And for our Bodies of Water week, I’m sharing our Ocean Tub!

Learning About Waterfalls and Rivers

Vito is 31 months old.

Another fantastic activity that we did this week was the making of waterfalls and river.

Getting the Most of Your Summer Holidays and {Learn & Play Link Up}

We're having Ocean themed activities soon so I'm featuring these amazing posts from our last week's link up for inspiration!

Ocean-Themed Practical Life Activity

This was a simple and easy to setup activity for Vito.  Looks simple but he loves doing this over and over again!

Hands-On Learning: Land and Water Forms

We started our Bodies of Water Unit last week and Mavi wants to do some more activities again and look what he made for his little brother!

Hands-on Learning on the Types of Fossils

One activity that Mavi and I did during our fossil study was to examine the different types of method of preservation of organisms.  We discovered that there are actually 5 major types of fossils and I’m sharing how Mavi worked on them.

Fun Ocean Activities for Kids and {Learn & Play Link Up}

We're having Ocean themed activities soon so I'm featuring these amazing posts from our last week's link up for inspiration!

Indoor and Outdoor Light Activities for Kids

Vito is 31 months old.
I decided that for our Light and Shadow Unit, we’ll explore indoor and outdoor lights. 

Investigating the Past Life with Safari Toob Fossils

We love our Safari Toob!  I think every ‘Mom’schooler should have at least a set or two of these toobs.  They are fabulous learning materials and my kids love them!

Anyway, Mavi is officially joining Vito’s weekly themed activities as he’s almost done with school. He misses “Mom” school and urged me to let him join with the activities.  So while Vito is all about play and learn, I’m giving Mavi some serious investigative work like research, more readings, and selective hands-on activities.

Exploring Colors with DIY Light Table and Stencils

Vito is 31 months old.

We’re having simple activities for our Light and Shadow Unit.  Since it’s been raining most of the time, we’re doing much of the activities indoors (much to my dismay).  So probably, creating shadows under the sun has to wait, and shadows using torch will also have to wait since our sunset here is 10PM.  We might redo this activity in September or October, when night time comes early so we can play with our torch and make shadows.

How to Raise Montessori Babies and {Learn & Play Link Up}

It's link up time! My featured posts for this week is all about Montessori babies! Here's how you can easily set-up activities for your little ones that are Montessori-friendly!

Dinosaur Small World Play Tray

Here’s what a mother can  do to her dinosaur-obsessed kids.