The Car WashMarch 1, 2017
“Oh no, it’s mucky, needs to go Carls car wash!”
The phrase is as familiar in our house as can be, and even though Carl’s car wash is only one of many videos including car washes Adam has watched, somehow every car wash is Carl’s in his head!
So we become resourceful, we drape fabric and grab train tunnels and everything else that can be a car wash until we get a spare nappy box for mummy to make into Adam’s own car-wash.
We’ve been having lots of fun playing with it. I don’t know how long it will last but there isn’t anything precious about it. I like that the handles are still intact for carrying it about and the section at the back is perfect for storing vehicles in. It was also a quick project that I could work on while Adam was about.
Basic instructions are as follows :
1. Gather materials – nappy box, scissors, craft knife, double sided tape, suerglue, acetate, bubblewrap – for extra decorations see number 12.
2. Open up flaps on both sides and break the glue line to flatten
3. Use superglue to reseal so the box is now inside out
4. Refold base then cut off the flaps on the top side (I left half a long flap behind)
5. Use a ruler and pencil to mark 2 opening flaps on the ends of the box
6. Mark 3 windows on the front
7. Cut windows
8. Cut 3 sides of the openings on the ends – leave the side furthest away from windows intact
9. fold back flaps and attach to the long flap piece you removed from the top of the box
10. Outline the inside of the widows with double sided tape.
11. Cut and stick windows, 2 from acetate and one from bubble wrap.
12. Extra decorations were made from straws and pipe-cleaners (water-jets), a toothpick and spring (air drier) cardboard (floor) and printout of words (sign)
Tot-school | Week 19 | Letter TFebruary 27, 2017
This past week’s tot-school…
…was short and sweet
This is a lovely part of the alphabet to be traversing, and we really enjoyed the letter T even if we only managed 3 days. The less structured ideas really shone through this week, pretending to pour and drink endless cups of tea and running round the house roaring with a cardboard tiger were often repeated outside of what we’d consider tot-school time.
Meanwhile Adam is racing ahead with his letters, he knows letters we’ve not yet touched on and is increasingly requesting alphabet programs or video’s for his screen time – the ever popular letter factory is now watched in it’s entirety where as before he would have lost interest part way through the alphabet. His independent play with a box of magnetic letters lets us overhear him identifying colours, numbers and almost every letter.
The pack I’ve made is available for download at the end of the post.
This weeks read more questions:
The teapot was great, it wasn’t a plastic play thing but mummies real small teapot… and though we had moments when we fully expected it to smash on the floor it survived and Adam’s understanding of ‘gently’ grew.
The letter spinner was a bit of a tough sell for the first time this week, and the tomato didn’t work at all… T, t, t, potato anyone? I’d made the lowercase craft so it could be used for uppercase too and yet didn’t get the chance which was a shame rather than a flop.
This is an odd one, because I’m learning that refusing to do an activity doesn’t mean he doesn’t like it, just isn’t in the mood. Equally an activity can peak his interest enough to repeat it immediately but still not rate highly with him. Great activities are memorable enough to be requested again or items once completed he’s eager to show off.
Tot-school | Week 18 | Letter SFebruary 18, 2017
This past week’s tot-school…
…was s s s something.
I found the letter S overwhelming, there were just so many things we could link to. On Monday, I had just finished the weeks paperwork when the computer crashed… stupidly I’d forgotten to hit save. It was a disappointing start but one that would not define the week, no illness would do that for me. As I dosed up the 2 men in my life tot-school became the treat activities to do when the little guy was showing signs of boredom.
While the week was rather unfocused Adam picked the letter up from the get go and was pointing out ‘S’s and guessing objects he’s forgotten the name of with ‘s,s,s’ followed by a random sound. It’s a great place to be as he’s really starting to identify the idea that all words begin with a letter sound.
The pack I’ve made is available for download at the end of the post.
This weeks read more questions:
Mummy loved the sheep but Adam got most excited about the snake craft, referring back to it many many times as well as pointing it out to visitors.
The letter tracing mat was a bit of a flop for the first time in ages, Adam wasn’t interested in working with it in any way other than to match objects, though he did match the big letter to the letters in the basket.
Nope. Linking sounds to letters, phonics, is something I’m been pretty sure Adam’s was aware of before now but this week he’s really confirmed that. Phonics is all I am aiming for on the reading spectrum, I believe decoding (putting letter sounds together to form words) is best left until children reach at least 3 years old, preferably older.