I’m so excited that Andie from Crayon Freckles is visiting today. Andie’s blog is full of fun, easy to prepare toddler and preschool activities that are realistic for even the busiest mama. One of my favorite things about Crayon Freckles is Andie’s use of her son’s current interests to guide exploration and learning activities. The following is a perfect example of what you might find if you hop on over to her blog…
My son, Bear, is 4 and can be picky when it comes to learning activities. To go around this, I often create activities that center around his main interest: anything with wheels. We’ve used our alphabet milk caps to practice the alphabet and spell words using basic word flashcards. But the activity alone has lost its shine. A few months back, Bear made a moving truck at a Home Depot Kids Build It seminar. So I set up an invitation to learn and play using the truck to try to create more interest in the activity.
I laid out all of the milk caps that went along with the cards we were using on a baking sheet.
Using our long bench for the dining room table, I set up a delivery route for the truck to take when delivering the letters. At one end, I placed the cookie sheet. At the opposite end, I placed the flash card. Bear “drove” the delivery truck down to the cookie sheet and found each letter in the word on the card. Because of his age, he went letter by letter, then he placed them in the back of the truck and drove them down to the other end.
Once he had all the letters of the word “delivered”, he placed them in the correct order to spell the word. He enjoyed this activity so much that we went through about fifteen cards. We have also done this a few times since.
By using an approach that appealed to the current interests of my son, I was able to incorporate learning into play in a way that allowed him to have fun while he learned.
About Andie Jaye
Andie Jaye is a former preschool teacher turned SAHM of two kiddos. Her blog, Crayon Freckles, is an eclectic mix of play, art, and learning activities. Mingled in are her perspectives on being a crunchy momma, having a long-haired hippy boy and using follow-your-gut parenting. See more of Andie on Crayon Freckles’ Facebook page or on Pinterest.
Fab, literacy for boys in a way that really captures their way of learning. Love the use of bottle tops too.
where can i buy the flash cards? thanks
I’m not sure where Andie purchased her flashcards. I’ve always had great luck on Amazon, though.