12.5 Month Learning Shelves and Activities

Here were Archer's shelves for 12.5 months.

I've really been trying to model matching for him, so I had out a few of the Who Lives Where game pieces.  He isn't ready to fully match on his own or to put the animals in the slots himself.  However, he can sometimes match correctly and enjoys doing the activity together.

This little basket had some small maracas and an iced tea bottle.  We practiced matching and colors with the maracas and Archer spent a TON of time putting them in the bottle.

A shelf had his nesting garages.  It's the first time he's really seen this toy and he really enjoyed it.  He liked to put the boxes into each other and take them apart.  He also put the cars in them (although not "correctly".  He carried the cars around the playroom a lot and loved knocking over any towers I built for him.

Another shelf had Wave Hello, Wave Bye-Bye (we LOVE this series of books) and a bunch of Toob animals to go with.  We practiced waving to the animals and finding the toy to go with each page.

Another basket had his magnetic gears.  I actually got these from Lakeshore Learning, because they had the best reviews.  Archer liked putting them on and taking them off the marker board.  They stick even better to our dishwasher, so I took them into the kitchen while I was cooking a few times. 

 

I found this little magnetic shapes book for a dollar at a garage sale, so thought I'd set it out.  Archer really liked pulling the magnets out, but not so much putting them back in.  I ended up finding the magnets in random places all over, so at least he had fun hiding them.

This vehicle sounds puzzle was a love/hate thing with Archer.  He was fascinated by it, but also a little scared of it.  We ended up putting it on his lap desk and playing with it together.

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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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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.