Friday, May 21, 2010

Tot School – Trains – 28 Months

I was torn between repeating our tractor theme or doing a train theme.  In the end, I decided to go with trains.  We kept it pretty simple, found some basic activities online, and used what we had at home.  It was an easy, fun week.

Alex had his first try at a letter recognition page from Making Learning Fun.  I’d call out a letter, and Alex had to use the bingo marker to dot that letter.  He messed up a few letters, and I sometimes had to say “It’s on the wheel” to help him keep his focus.  He did pretty well for a first try, though.May2010 146 May2010 147

We used our Thomas alphabet flashcards (from the grocery store) and matched plastic letters.  We just did T – Z because I think the entire alphabet would have been overwhelming for him.  We matched the alphabet cookie cutters, and then (since Alex didn’t want to be finished) we match our Melissa & Doug alphabet magnets. 

May2010 151   May2010 153 May2010 154Alex was supposed to match his train cars to the correct spots in the “train station” (our often-used color sorting file folder).  Instead, he lined up the cars by color and made a long train.  I suppose it’s color practice just the same! :)May2010 178 May2010 181 May2010 183

Jolanthe’s blog had a really neat craft to make a train from toilet paper tubes.  We haven’t finished yet.  We just painted these on Friday morning (and I’m typing this during Friday naptime…)  Hopefully we can finish it this weekend.

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Then we learned about painting hands, making Mommy squeal, and what happens when you mix yellow and blue on your “paint pallet”  (paper plate).May2010 189 May2010 191  May2010 193We pulled out our Melissa & Doug puzzles with trains. May2010 195 May2010 196Alex and I played “breakfast” and he served me lots of yummy play food.  Multiple times throughout the week.  Plastic juice?  Not so yummy! ;)May2010 184

Playdough – trying to get the hang of the scissors.

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Of course, we also spent a lot of time with Alex’s train table.  He has a table with built-in plastic tracks, and we also made a new track with his wooden Thomas set.

That’s it for us.  Now, I’m devoting the rest of naptime to figuring out a plan for U week.  With all the rain we’ve had, UMBRELLA comes to mind.  Now watch – it’ll be sunny all week! ;)

Check out what other tots are doing for Tot School this week by clicking here or using the button link on the right side of my blog.  Have a wonderful week!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great train week! I love the color sorting train! You are right he totally worked on his colors that way :)

Stefanie said...

He sure had a fun week! And what a great job on his letter. I doubt my tot could recognize any.

Fiona said...

Love those train activities-we have the same Thomas trains!Am inpressed he could do the letter game!

Musical Mama said...

What a fun theme! I love the craft, can't wait to see it finished. :)

Theresa Mezo said...

I love your Thomas flashcards idea, how fun!
I can't wait to see your finished train craft too :)

Jenny said...

I'm also impressed with his letter recognition! Looks like a fun week.

Erin@The Phillips Fam said...

awesome train ideas! I have 2 boys also! I'm your newest follower! :)

Jodie said...

Looks like you had a fun week. I look forward to seeing the finished train, what a cute idea!