P is for Panda

 

This is the Panda craft we did for Letter P week. I printed this Panda craft template online but I couldn't locate the link now!

Updated on 19 Oct 2013: The template can be printed here. Thank you to the reader who provided the link. 

I had to guide them with the pasting as they were not interested in pasting at all. They just wanted to apply glue with their glue stick. Y was very displeased when I helped him paste the Panda face.

Letter Matching

I think some of the best activities I do with the boys are the impromptu ones. Sometimes, an idea will strike me. Or the boys are so grumpy that I'm forced under circumstances to come up with something new and interesting to keep them entertained and occupied. Or most of my planned activities just fail to generate their interest and participation. These activities are usually easy to put together with little preparation. I'm a lazy busy Mum. Here's another easy one.

What You Need:
White Board
Paper with Letters on it
Magnet Letters
Masking Tape

I printed some letters on a paper and tape it to a A4 white board. I picked out some magnet letters in a tray. They are supposed to pick out the letters on the tray and match it with the letters on the board. If you are short for time, handwritten words work too. I printed a few sheets with different letters and I can just change it once they get bored with the current sheet. I just wished I have a bigger board so I have more letters on 1 board.

They made me quite happy at the end of this activity as they got all the letters right. :)

Question: Do you let them touch the flashcards/books?

I'm referring to babies or very young children below the age of 3 years old.

I have seen and heard of parents reading to their children but not allowing them to touch the books/flashcards for fear they might damage them. Yes, babies and toddlers are not exactly kind with their touch and yes the books and flashcards are very expensive. But I have given them a lot of freedom to touch all our books (including the "non board books") and flash cards in our home, since they were a baby. We have a box with books that they know it as the "book bin" where books and flashcards are available to them at any time, with or without supervision. Sometimes we have torn pages/cards and other times, we have wet pages/cards after some tasting session (but thank god the tasting sessions have stopped). I try to let them know the consequence of handling the books and cards too rough every time such accidents occur and I will tape the torn pages back together with them. Many times, they were as upset as me when the pages or cards tear.

They like to play with their flash cards and I don't quite understand why. They can just march and walk around with their flash cards when they were much younger. These days, they will run to us with a card and read the word to us. K likes to go through his action cards and do the actions to the words. I love to see that.

When they were 1 year old, the book bin contains mostly board books and only a few books that are more delicate. And now, at 21 months I can leave any books/cards there, regardless of the thickness of the paper. They are able to handle them well and I'm very pleased. The improved motor skills at 21 months contributed to this of course.

I'm glad I gave them this freedom to explore their books/cards. There were times when I'm so upset when they accidentally damage the books/cards. Come to think of it, they seldom damage the book/card when they were reading by themselves. The damaged book/card is usually the result of a fight. But children learn from experience. And seeing them taking a book from the book bin and flipping the pages or going through their cards by themselves just make me very happy. I hope they will grow up to love books and love to read.

Whats's your experience with giving your baby and young children the freedom to access the cards and books in your home freely?

K, reading his book by himself at 14 months

Homemade Car Mat

I have been hoping to do non-transportation related themes and activity with them but my boys are just sooooo into their cars and buses that I can only get their attention by incorporating transportation into the activities we do. So, we did a car mat and we drew roads, buildings, houses, etc for them to roll their cars on.

What You Need:
Big mounting board or paper
Drawing materials such as color pencils, markers, crayons, etc.
Cars

This smile from K just melts my heart

K Spells Bus

K took me by surprise when he spelled out "bus". I didn't expect that at all. I'm always talking and answering myself. I was actually quite shock to hear him spell and to reconfirm that, I asked again and he spelled it out loud and clear.

Painting = Car Painting

My boys are just so crazy over transportation such as cars, and eversince I introduced car painting to them, I can't shake this off. We always ended up with cars for 9 out of 10 painting sessions.

Sensory Art - Painting with Feathers

The boys like to go to our craft box to check out our craft materials and specifically asked for paint. So, I did a painting activity with them using feathers.

What You Need:
Paper/Drawing Block
Paint
Feathers

First, I started choosing the paint colors that goes with the feather colors I have and I did a matching activity with them. They weren't keen as they were anxious to start painting.

They were free to do what they want with the feathers and paint.

K smiled at the camera! :)

K got a little frustrated as the feather is too soft to hold like a brush/pen.

I like to give them the freedom to do what they want with the materials provided. The basic rule is, they should not end up on the floor. I think they react differently when they were told right the begining of what to do and when I left it open. For crafts, I give instructions and will demostrate on what to do but with Art, I like to leave it open. It's interesting to see them exploring with the feathers and thinking what they should do with the feathers and paint. And actually, no explaination is required, they just paint. They tried to hold the feathers like a pen, they tried to brush the feathers over the paper, etc. I just love to see them explore.