Color Sorting and Addition Activity

L is sorting beads and adding the numbers together.

Materials:

1) different colors of beads (buttons, erasers, crayons, pom-poms, etc.)
2) sorting cups (I made mine from yogurt cups-I'll post a tutorial; egg cartons work great, too)
3) do-a-dot paints
4) paper
5) marker


Using the do-a-dot paints that correspond with your bead colors (or whatever your object is), make a color page like the one above. After sorting the colors L writes down the number of each color.



So far this activity reinforces the ability to sort/categorize and it also reinforces number recognition and writing.


I took the activity one step further. I made an addition page like the one pictured above. Using the same colors of do-a-dot paints I made up random addition problems.


L puts the two colors of beads that he needs to add together into the tray, counts all of them (adding them together), and then writes down the total number.


This activity is reinforcing addition skills and writing numbers. L loves when he gets to write certain numbers because he knows how to write them...others are more difficult and he needs me to show him first.

ABC Order

L is working on putting his letters in alphabetical order.

Materials: small sticky labels, marker, paper
To Make: Write the letters on the labels-make sure you mix them up.
Variation: Use lower case letters, or a mixture of both


L looks for the next letter and sticks it to the paper.


Easy and fun!
This activity reinforces letter recognition.

Workbook

L is proud of his workbook.

I decided to start a notebook of my own making for L to work in.
He practices writing his name, numbers, and letters. I let him use a skinny marker because it is more fun than a pencil, but I do like him to practice with a pencil. I think gripping the pencil correctly was the hardest thing for him to learn. It took a lot of practice with some tracing pages I printed off of www.lilbunnyhops.com.


I also have him complete other activities, such as stamping his letters in abc order. I have a set of ABC stamps that I bought from Oriental Trading Company. They are self-inking, but have dried out. So we just use an ink pad now.


Practicing his letters.
I use verbal clues that I made up: (I'm sure there are others out there)
A-up down across A
B-Straight down, top, belly, bottom B
C-Around and stop C
D-Straight down, top to bottom D
E-Straight down, hat, arm, foot E
F-Straight down, hat and arm F


I like to have L practice his gluing skills as well. Here he cut the paper and then glued each piece into the notebook. He wanted the pieces to match up.


I like to write the date as we go and the skills we worked on. This is a simple and easy way to keep track of his progress.

ABC Order

L is putting his letter tiles in ABC order.

L is singing his ABC's and finding the letter that comes next. This activity reinforces letter recognition.


Now that they are in ABC order, I had L use the second color of letter tiles to match to the first set, once again reinforcing letter recognition.



L said he was finding each letter's "friend"! I thought that was a cute way of putting it!

Cutting Activity

L is working on his cutting skills.

This is a simple activity to make yourself. You can buy the workbooks with the fat black lines (we've gone through several) for cutting, or you can draw your own on paper. Super simple and it reinforces his cutting skills.


Holding the scissors and the paper correctly is the hardest thing to learn. He's picking it up pretty well, though. I'm learning that he really feeds off of my encouragement.

Counting Game

L and I are playing a counting game.

Materials:
1) graph paper (I made mine with Microsoft Word)
2) do-a-dot paints (we've also used stamps)
3) one or two dice

To Play:
2 or more players take turns rolling the dice and stamping that number of boxes on their graph paper.
The first one to fill all their boxes wins.

This activity reinforces counting and one-to-one correspondence.

Number Punching

L is working on his addition skills.

Materials: 1 or 2 dice (depending on your child), paper, marker, and hole puncher (I found this easy-to-squeeze one at Office Max-I love that store!)

To Play:
1) roll the dice
2) count the dots
3) write each number in a box
4) add the two numbers together
5) punch the total number of holes