I will admit, I do have a lot of “stuff” to teach my boys at home. To be fair, I was in the classroom for 13 years before I left my career and became a housewife (that sounds so 1950’s). When you’re in the classroom for that long, you accumulate “stuff” that you use for teaching purposes. I’m fortunate enough that I have a crawl space beneath my house to hold everything. Yet there are a handful of things that are my tried and true. The items that I always grab when I’m in a pinch and don’t have time to plan extravagant sensory bins. These are my most used items and I have found a plethora of ways to use them.
Foam Shapes
I bought a huge tub of these foam shapes. They come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes (duh). They can be used for sorting activities, art, geometry, counting. I’ve also been able to incorporate them into a ton of seasonal activities. I bought these because, well, sometimes you need more than one shape from a puzzle. When we do sorting activities, I want Grady to be able to see one shape in a variety of colors and sizes. It’s a pain to go through and find four or five circles. Now I just take out the tub.
Pom Poms, Color Sorting Bowls and Contact Paper
Pom Poms are our jam. They can be used to sort by color, making sets for numbers, and fine motor skills. Grady uses them to play with and fills his garbage truck with them. You can get them wet and freeze them for an icy sensory bin in the summer. Add some colored sorting bowls and you have an activity that compares attributes. Throw in a piece of contact paper and some tongs and you’ve added some fine motor skills.
Foam Letters and Numbers
There goes that contact paper again! Since I use the foam shapes so often, I bought a tub of letters and numbers. It’s just so much easier to pull those out rather than print them or grab them from a puzzle. Plus, if you’re working on a specific letter/number you have multiples of each.
Fine Motor Tools
Recognize those colored sorting bowls??? We also do a lot of science experiments. They happen to be Grady’s favorite. Tools are essential for the little scientist. I am always digging “the tools” out of the box when we are playing with something messy.
Pony Beads
I bought a pack of wide mouth pony beads and we’ve used them nonstop for over a year. I had to wait until Grady stopped putting them in his mouth, of course. I put them in therapy putty for Grady to dig out and work the muscles in his hands. We use them to decorate play dough. We use them for counting and threading on pipe cleaners. We sort them by color….the list goes on.
Sticky Dots
Sticky dots are essential. Make some lines across a large piece of paper and have them place the dots along the line (that’s Montessori). They can be used to sort by color, for counting and just peeling them off the sheet is working the hand muscles.
Paint
Why do you HAVE to use a brush for paint? I’ve watered it down inside spray bottles for a splatter look. I’ve watered it down and had Grady use a dropper on coffee filters. We’ve painted with sponges and apples. I’ve put two colors in a ziplock bag and had him blend them together to make a new color. Paint is a must have and when you find a variety of ways to use it, it never gets old.
Large Paper Pad
I have both rolls of craft paper and easel pads. I use both just the same. I’ve found that Grady works well when he has a large space. I always make sure I have large pieces of paper for our workspaces. Sometimes I tape them to the wall to work and other times I place it on his table.
Foam Letters // Foam Shapes // Sticky Dots // Pony Beads // Paint // Tools // Contact Paper // Easel Paper // Pom Poms // Sorting Bowls
But Ashley! This is so much stuff! I can’t buy all this at once!
I totally get it. If you’re going to start with ANYTHING, I suggest the bowls, the sticky dots and the roll of paper. There are SO many things you can do with just those three things. Toddlers begin to classify objects by color and shape, so it’s best to start there. Then before you know it, you’ll have a closet full of “stuff.”
~Ashley
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