Fine Motor Play – Pushpins and Rubber Bands

I loved to have our own DIY geoboard using chopping board and nails but that’s quite tedious. So I opted to use the IKEA corkboard instead. So easy, much easier than making one with nails.

The #cerradoboys are loving their little geoboards so much that I thought I would share it here too.  With just pushpins and some rubber bands they are able to create their own designs.

They have been enjoying making all kinds of wonderful designs, while Inigo has been working really hard on stretching the rubber bands over the pins.   

 The pins are of course sharp. But I am happy and confident for him to use them anyway, under supervision. 

Learning through play – Pipe Cleaners and Colander Fine Motor Play

  
Pipe cleaners has a lot of purpose in homeschooling but one of my favorite is using it for fine motor activity.
After setting up a pile of pipe cleaners and a colander.I showed to Isabelle and Inigo how to insert the pipe cleaners into the holes. They were immediately intrigued by the activity and set to work exercising their fine motor skills.   This activity also exercises hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and requires the kids to focus on the task at hand. I loved watching them working together and enjoying at the same time.  

Fine Motor Skills – Straw and Pasta

The other day, I was looking for a quick activity that would be fun for Isabelle. She gets bored with her toys after awhile, and constantly looking for her brothers. The #cerradoboys were out for their haircut bonding😜.

Since I constantly looking for new activities using materials in our home.I grabbed few sticks of pasta and a handful of straws. We only have the paper straws right now, so I cut them down to fit into her tiny hands. 

When I set out the materials, Isabelle was immediately interested in them. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, though, until I showed her how to put a straw in the pasta.

It took a lot of concentration, but she did it!

It was a lot of fun for her, and so easy to put together. I know we’ll do it again soon.

Enjoy watching!

  

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Have an inspiring, positive homeschooling ahead! Stay blessed!

Learning through play – Learning about Emotions

On this activity we used corkboard and playdough and started to create different emotions – happy, sad, mad.

  

As he worked at the playdough by putting the features of the face into IKEA corkboard, we also had a great time talking about the different emotions and even acting about the facial expressions.

  
Inigo had a fun time making faces – a great introduction for toddler learning about emotions.

Thank you for finding time to read my posts. Please feel free to share them as well!  

Have an inspiring, positive day ahead! Stay blessed!

STEM Activity – Rainbow Skittles Candy Experiment

This is a classic skittles science experiment that everyone has to try once!

 All you need are three things: Skittles, water, and a shallow bowl! That’s easy enough right?    

Setting up skittles science is so easy.

    First, I let them add the skittles around the edges of the bowl. We used at least four of each color. You can chose whatever combination you like or experiment with patterns.

    Then we fill a white shallow bowl with about a 1/2 inch of hot water. The bowl doesn’t have to be filled completely.

  The skittles start to dissolve pretty quick so keep your eye on them.

  
    
    

The Science behind it…

Skittles are made of ingredients that are prone to dissolve in water easily.   

 

STEM Activity – Inflating the Baloon Using Baking Soda and Vinegar

These baking soda and vinegar balloons were so much fun! Mix everything together and watch as the reaction creates carbon dioxide and inflates the balloons! As far as science experiments go, this is a pretty simple one. I love that we had all of the materials needed for it at home already, and that it was quick and easy to put together! And on top of that, it was pretty darn cool to watch the balloon inflate all by itself!
  
    

    
    

The science behind it:

So how does it work? The vinegar and the baking soda mix together to make an acid-base reaction.The reaction creates carbon dioxide gas that bubbles up from the mixture. The gas expands up and out of the bottle and inflates the balloon.

  
 

These baking soda and vinegar balloons were a really simple experiment! We used household ingredients that we already had so it was super easy to put together. Both Angelo and Inigo were able to do most of it all by themselves, which is always pretty awesome!

Learning through play – Quiet Fun Activities

If there is one thing I know, I have two of the busiest, explorer little people you have ever seen.

   
    
 There are days that it was too difficult to keep them busy without electronics especially when we are outside. Trust me on this one😁

  
   
That’s why I was always looking for activities that would help them play independently and give me a little free time of just sitting and watching them than running and catching them.   

    
Color pencils, pens, paper are staple in our diaper bag. And I am thankful to Etihad airways for including this animals memory card in their press kit the last time I’ve attended their event.It’s a life saver!  
 

Learning through play – Simple Counting Activity

Here is a fun and simple counting activity for toddlers especially for those who loves Mickey Mouse. It’s very easy to set up, I got the printable online and it is designed to build their understanding of identifying numbers and how it’s represented using stickers. 

  
 This activity isn’t new, but obviously a really great one for developing Inigo’s familiarity with numbers and what they represent using physical objects. In this case I’ve kept it incredibly simple, which is often the best way to get him to learn, right? 

When the invitation is done, he started to sort the stickers ( actually i print only in A4 and cut it, so it’s not really stickers😂 ). Then we count how many set of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters we have. 

  
    
    
   
When I saw that his done sorting and counting,I tried to offer the counting fun template. The aim of this activity is for him to read the number and use the stickers to accurately represent it. I chose to have Inigo work with numbers up to 4 then eventually I added up to 5 to challege him further.   

    
 Seriously, this is such a great activity. It was so interesting to watch Inigo count out the stickers and add them to the column. I could see if he was able to count correctly, using one to one correspondence. I found that he knew more than I realized.    

    
  This wonderful Maths activity can also double to help his develop fine motor and sensory skills. Having said that, I chose to use glue to challenge him using his thumb and pointer finger when transferring the stickers.  

  
   

Learning through play – Hammering with Nails

Fine motor activities are important for strengthen hand muscles and hand-eye coordination. Both of which are needed for writing skills.  

   
This hammering activity has been on my list for a long time, and I’m so glad to finally get it together. Inigo was very engaged in this work.

  
    
 This is a really a simple activity. All you need is a toy hammer, styrofoam and we used real nails from daddy A’s toolbox.

He liked hammering, but he also enjoyed just pulling the nails.

  
   
Later on we used our scented playdough and Isabelle started to joined us.

  

When they are done with hammering they used the saw and the team work begin.

   

This activity was new to them. I find that once they see me getting into materials they want to get involved too.Keeping them focused and entertained.

Learning through play – DIY Yoghurt Playdough

 When I saw this recipe in my FB newsfeed, I knew right away that I needed to save it for future use. 

Yoghurt playdough is made with just 2 ingredients (that you probably already have) and turns out so soft and fun to play with.   What’s Yoghurt Dough? A super easy to make sensory dough that your toddlers and kiddos will love to play with.Being a mother of three, I’ve come across lots of sensory activities that I’m finally getting around to making with them.It’s so important to give them new sensory experiences, to help stimulate their brains, creativity and it’s just plain fun!  The texture of our DIY yoghurt playdough is slimy but smells so delightful , which is why they enjoyed playing, squishing, poking, twisting, rolling the playdough. This is also great for fine motor development, perfect for a quiet time activity, plus it’s such an open ended invitation. 

There are endless ways and items to add to it for creative play that’s why we are so excited to try it!

 We added food coloring and used Lego for stamping. We also used plastic knife for cutting and cooking pan for pretend play.   Isabelle didn’t quite understand how to actually mold things with it yet but she had a ton of fun squeezing her hands through it and smashing it. It kept her busy too!          

    
On the other hand, the boys write their names and created some artworks.  

  Now when it comes to clean up…hmmm.. I’d say that if you are not fun of messy play then this post is not for you.

It’s a delicious, sweet smell and finger licking kinda mess! Don’t worry though this is super messy to clean, your house and hands will smell like peach and mixed berries.
So grab some Yoghurt and have some fun!