Baby Sensory Play: Window Paint Bag

I've been having a tough time with sensory play with Archer, just because the kid eats EVERYTHING. It's hard to plan things that won't end up in his mouth.  One of the few ideas that works with him is this window paint bag (now I am definitely not the first to do this, I'm sure Pinterest has tons of other moms who have done it). 

I squirted some washable finger paints into a freezer bag, duct taped the top shut and then taped it to the sliding glass door.  You could easily tape it to a table or high chair tray, but that would just make Archer mad he wasn't getting fed. The paint ends up being a little squishy and feels fun to move around.  Xander got a kick out of the bag when Archer was done.

Inevitably, he switched from squishing the paint and the colors, to trying to peel the tape off the window.  I guess that's still fine motor work, right? 

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10 Month Learning Shelves

This month the whole family ended up getting sick, so we were all thrown off.  That means our reading and math activities were pretty inconsistent. Hopefully, we will get back on track!  We did get to read lots of books together and FINALLY got some time outside!

Baby Shelves

Here was his Spanish math early reader  and his Meet the Sight Words Books for this set of shelves.  For some reason, Archer thought the word "picnic" was very funny.

This construction puzzle was probably the biggest surprise this time around.  Archer loved playing with the pieces, but particularly the orange truck.  He would carry it around the house, or hang onto it while doing other things.  He still doesn't get the concept of puzzles, but we're working on it.  I show him how the pieces match and which ones go where.  He sometimes tries to put  them in, but often likes to try putting pieces into other slots.

The pop up toy ended up being some of the best $3 I've spent (thank you, Facebook Marketplace).  When I first brought it home, Xander actually stole it to use for quite a while.  Archer loves it too!  He struggles to get the doors open, but he LOVES closing them.

We also had out the little food disks I made to go with Never Feed a Yeti Spaghetti (free printable here).  Archer is getting better and better at "feeding" them through the mouths in the book.

After seeing how much Archer liked the construction vehicle puzzle, I tried getting out Xander's cars and traffic signs.  Archer played with them quite a bit.  He seemed to like the noise they made when he rolled them on hard floors.  He also really likes dumping out the plastic bin they're in as you try to put the cars in.

We got out the Rollipop track again.  Archer had lots of fun with it, but ended up wanting to stand on it, so he kept knocking it over.  On a whim, I got out an empty chai container that has a metal bottom and stuck the balls in there.  He spent SO much time playing with it.  He enjoyed taking the balls out and putting them in, especially because they made a loud noise when they hit the bottom.

I picked up a mylar balloon at the dollar store and it was a huge hit.  Archer liked watching it and hitting it.  I tied it, loosely, to his ankle, so he could read it.

Finally, in order to buy myself some time to work in the kitchen, I got out our letter magnets.  It was good fine motor practice for Archer, trying to pull them off the dishwasher.  He also practiced putting them on.  Mostly, he spread them throughout the kitchen.

Games for Brains: Lost Cities

Lost Cities: The Board Game

Playing Time: 30-60 minutes (short and long version)

Players: 2-4

Overview:

There are two version of this game, the card game and the board game.  I've played both, and while I like them both, the board game is one of our all time favorites.  The game involves moving little explorers along various paths and collecting points and artifacts.  Players have to play cards in order to move their explorers and cards must be played in order from smallest to largest in each color. You can discard a card to try to get better ones, but another player can choose to pick up the discarded cards.  The game can be played in one round (short version) or three rounds (long version), which adds some nice flexibility. 

Brain Value:

This game involves some quite a bit of strategy.  Since cards must be played in order from smallest to largest, players have to decide whether they have enough cards and low enough cards to play a particular color.  There are also a finite number of each card, so it involves judging how likely other players are to have the cards you need.  Players also have to decide how likely it is that their opponents may benefit from discarded cards.  It is a balance between wanting to play cards to advance while also making sure you have enough moves in each color later in the game.

Xander is getting better at judging when to certain cards and how to maximize his points.  

Click here to check out other board games our family likes!

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Early Readers - Baby Things

I've been working on making early readers for Archer.  I wanted books that have big clear text on its own page. I have also been making them in Spanish to try to reinforce the vocabulary from our Little Reader lessons.  This one was all about baby things.

I printed on cardstock and laminated the pages . Then, I used a 3 hold punch to make the holes and used 3/4" binder rings to "bind" the books.  For this book, I tried setting it so I could print double sided and make it seem like an actual book.  Archer really seemed to like that better than having to turn the page to find the picture.  I think I'll do it the same way  next time, only landscape orientation rather that portrait.  What worked for me to print was to have it flip on the short side of the page.

You're free to download the files to use with your little one.

Baby Things Book - English

Baby Things Book - Spanish

Baby Things Book - English and Spanish

You can see my other Early Readers here.

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9 Months Learning Activities and Shelves

Nine month activities have been pretty similar to the previous month.  Still trying hard to follow Archer's lead.  He loves the stimulation, and I feel like the days we don't do any focused learning activities feel longer.

Physical Development:

Just encouraging Archer to explore (like we could stop him)!  He is into everything and doesn't want to be held back!  I recently took him to a play place, and he crawled right over and started chasing all the big kids.

We have to be very careful to leave the shower door closed or he will crawl right in.

The local museum was great for providing different types of physical opportunities.  He'd never really crawled down stairs or ramps and it was a lot of fun to watch him figure it out.

Enjoying the big piano.

He loves to play in Xanders room or dig through Xander's books.

 Reading:

Reading is pretty similar.  We do one set of English words flashed three times a day.  He watches Your Baby Can Read or Meet the Sight Words maybe 3-6 times a week.  We try to do one English Little Reader Lesson several days a week.  He really enjoys Little Reader now, so I'll keep encouraging it!

I've started getting out two of his Meet the Sight Words Books a week to read to him, and sometimes get stuck reading them over and over. We also try to read lots of other books throughout the week.

Spanish:

We flash a set of Spanish words three times a day (our modified Doman method).  We are doing one Spanish  Little Reader Lesson several days a week.  He does not have as much patience for these as the English ones (probably because the words are less familiar), so we only do the multisensory parts, not the entire lessons.  We read some of the early readers I made, and I try to get out one math early readers to read a few times a week.  He also occasionally watches a Kids Start Spanish DVD.

Learning Shelves:

Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the shelves as a whole.

One shelf had our cutting food.  Archer isn't ready to "cut" the food with the knife, but he really enjoyed taking it apart and trying to put it back together.  It was his first real experience with Velcro.

Our Rainbow Color Cones got tons of use!  Archer likes the texture.  He really enjoyed taking them apart and trying to stack them.  He thought it was great when we put them up on his cube so he could stand on the steps and play.

Another shelf had a xylophone. He understood the concept, but had a little trouble with execution.  He'd try to hit the notes with the stick, but usually hit them with his hand instead.

 

Another shelf had our circle puzzle (the green one is missing, though).  Archer liked carrying the pieces around and would try to put them on the base, but had trouble with orientation.  Definitely something to grow into.

The last shelf had some little plastic spools and a couple of empty containers.  We practiced sorting them and naming the colors (I did the sorting and naming, he watched).  He also really liked putting them into the containers and dumping them out.

 

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