Simple Baby Fine Motor: Finger Crayons

I'm slowly exposing to Archer to the idea of working at his desk.  I'm hoping that as he gets used to it, it will open up a bunch of fun learning games for us.  Lately, for fine motor development, I've been getting out some finger crayons.

I got these at Michael's for Archer's Easter basket.  (These were the cheapest ones I found on Amazon). We'd tried regular toddler crayons and he just wasn't ready.  I like the shape because he can hold it in his palm. 

The first time, I used a big piece of paper and taped it to the table.  Since then, I've been able to use regular paper and just hold it for him.  We do it in very short bursts and it takes a lot of redirecting to keep him from eating them!  I'm hoping this will put us on the path toward coloring, markers and other pre-writing skills!

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12 Month Learning Shelves and Activities

Happy summer! I just realized that I never posted Archer's 12 month learning shelves!  Oops. Here's what we had.

One basket had a bunch of those activity balls.  He likes to pick up each one, shake it and then throw them behind him.  He also just dumped the whole basket frequently.

Another basket had his sorting food.  He's not quite ready to sort on his own, yet, but this is a good modeling activity.  He also really enjoys putting the food in the buckets, regardless of the color.  And eating them (see below).

This basket had his magnetic balls and sticks. He likes putting them together and taking them apart. 

We also started practicing looking for a "match."  I'd set out a bunch, hold one up, describe it and ask him to help me find the match.  Sometimes he could do it, sometimes he was too busy doing his own thing with them.  :)

His Dimpl was out on a shelf too.  He likes it, but struggles to do it himself, unless someone else is hold it for him.

Another shelf had his little school bus and school "door" (I can't find the set that includes the school door on Amazon). This was one of the absolute best garage sale finds!  While it was out, Archer played with it almost daily.  He likes opening and closing the door, pulling out the stop sign and putting the people in the bus.  He's also put finger puppets through the door or in the bus.

We had this fish color puzzle out.  Archer isn't quite ready to do it independently, but enjoyed taking all the pieces out and putting some back.  Mostly, we did it together.

We also had out the latch board.  Now this is one I always tease myself about buying it for him.  Yes, it is fine motor practice, but do I really want him to be able to open locks?? Regardless, it got lots of use, from both him and Xander.

The top of the shelves had his bottle and straws.  I know I already posted about it, but I still cannot believe how much time he devoted to this activity!!

On top of the shelves I had some Meet the Sight Words books.  We read them several times while they were out.  He seems to enjoy the words with which he is familiar.  He loves the movies, so that helps!

Still my adventurous boy!  He loves his Pikler's Triangle! 

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Simple Baby Fine Motor: Straws in the Bottle

Count this as a major win in my quest for fine motor activities for Archer!  I could not believe how long this activity held his attention and how often he would go get it off his shelves to do!  Hooray for occupying the baby!

We had an empty iced tea bottle that I gave him and some leftover straws from the Cupid's Blow Dart STEM Challenge.  I gave him three full straws and three straws cut in half.  The half straws were definitely much easier for him to get in.  The larger ones were more challenging, especially since they were the bendy type straw.  Straight ones would have been much better. 

Simple Baby Fine Motor: Magnetic Tiles

I'm always looking for quick and easy activities that hold Archer's interest.  Sensory play and fine motor work are a bit challenging since EVERYTHING goes in his mouth (including worms, rocks, stink bugs, etc.). 

This is one of those cases where simpler is best. Last week I tossed some Magna Tiles on our white board and he had a great time pulling them off and then putting them back on (the fences are from this set). For a younger baby, you could only have one side of the tiles on the board so that they stick out more.

Archer quickly moved on to having them flat. It could also easily be done on a fridge or dishwasher.

 

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Baby Sensory Play: Gel Bag

I've been trying to do more sensory play activities with Archer, which is challenging since EVERYTHING goes in his mouth.  Last month I shared the window paint bag we did. This was an adaptation.

I used a freezer bag and filled it with cheap hair gel.  I added some pony beads for interest.  Then I taped the top closed and taped it to the window.  You could definitely use it on a table or the floor, I was just trying to prevent Archer from trying to eat it. 

Which didn't work. 

While he enjoyed playing with the bag, he also saw the tape as a fun challenge.  He spent a lot of time trying to get it off the window.  Oh well, still good fine motor skills!

11.5 Month Learning Shelves

Here are the learning shelves we had up for the last couple of weeks.  Archer was 11.5 months.

First, we had a little basket with shape beanbags.  The beanbags say the name of the shape in English on one side and in Spanish on the other. Both boys had fun throwing these around. Archer thought it was funny if I tossed them to him one at a time while I said the color and shape.

One shelf had this wooden mailbox.  This was one of those amazing garage sale finds, because it held Archer's attention for so long.  He liked putting all the stamps in and watching them fall down into the door.  He also likes opening and closing the door, and taking everything out of the mailbox.  As he gets older, it'll be easier for him to sort the letters.

Another shelf had our Treasure Basket.  It has lots of random objects with different shapes and textures.  Mostly he chews on them and throws them around the room.  Some things he tried to put in the mail box.

Another basket had these little shape sorting turtles.  Archer can't put them together yet, but he likes taking them apart.

I hadn't gotten out our little hedgehog in a while, so that was on another shelf.  I am never quite sure about this one, but Archer always really enjoys it.  He likes to take all the little spikes out.  He also likes to chew on them or just carry one around with him.

I also had out our disk sorter (this one is similar but much nicer). He liked taking all the disks off, but not actually putting them on.  I also found disks in random bins or shelves throughout the room.

When you're too tired to sit up but still want to play.  He just stayed on the floor pushing the disks behind himself.

The bottom shelf (I've learned not to put puzzles up high), had his house knobby puzzle.  It hadn't been all that long since we had it out, but this was the first time he was actually able to put some of the pieces in.

He also just held on to pieces while cruising around the room.

Finally, we had this Animal Talk book  and some Toob Animals to match.  This book has been a favorite for both boys.