We do alot of learning....I mean...playing around here. Sometimes we use actual toys. Other times we improvise with common household items. No matter what the medium is I like to make sure that it can be used to teach Andrew more than one thing.
Multipurpose items.
Also known as: getting my money's worth. (read: Mommy's cheap)
Puzzles are a simple and fun activity for young kids. Dump the pieces out, put them back in. I see more than that.
Take this puzzle, for instance. Andrew is not only honing his fine motor skills but also learning how to make *whole* out of *parts*.
While playing with this puzzle he can work, again, on fine motor, learn numbers and learn to count by counting the pictures on each puzzle piece.
Andrew's *shapes* puzzle is one of my favorite tools. Not only does he learn the shapes, but also colors and word recognition....as well as that pesky fine motor thing.
Remember when I mentioned that we sometimes improvise?
Here are some examples:
This cheap, plastic pair of kitchen tongs and some pom-pom balls from our craft drawer work wonders to teach patterning (red-yellow-red-yellow), as well as stregthening the muscles in his hand which are needed for future handwriting skills.
Same thing with this squeeze bottle and chip clips.
Ok- I know what you're thinking: Silverware? What on earth can you teach with silverware??
Actually, taking the silverware out of the dishwasher is one of the most multipurpose tasks I can think of. First, among the jumble of silverware, I have Andrew locate one item. Say, for instance, the forks. That's sorting.
Then, as he pulls each fork out, we count them. Reinforcing his counting.
Then he has to find the appropriate place in the drawer so he can put the fork away. That's grouping.
Even snack time is not immune to multipurpose teaching.
A simple plate of food? Yes. One apple, 2 kinds of crackers.
But if you broaden your mind you see what I see:
Shapes, colors, grouping and word-defining.
~ The apple is *round*. The crackers on the left are *oval*. The ones on the right are *square*. Or even *diamond* if you're willing to go a step further & turn those cheesy little buggers on their side.
~ The apple is red. The crackers on the left are brown and the ones on the right are orange.
~ All 3 items are grouped under the heading of *food*.
~ All 3 items in this *food* group are defined as *crunchy*.
Never looked at a snack quite that way did you? Neither did I, until Andrew showed me how to open my mind to simple, everyday things & see the bigger pcture.
