In My Girl's World

Hi there. Just jumping on here to share our most recent shelf rotation. Typically our shelf changes weekly, although some activities will stick around for a few weeks. I went back through my notebook, trying to find notes on which past activities Ella had shown high interest in, or ones that she had not quite mastered yet. That is how I came up with this weeks shelf activities. I try to let Ella work independently, but I also pay attention to how she uses her materials, so I know how to best prepare her and set her up for success. Taking notes helps. If she's clearly not ready for an activity I have set out for her, and loses interests fast because it's too hard, I will make note of that. I will either modify it to make it easier, or think of another activity that would strengthen the skills needed to master the difficult activity. It can be a lot of work, but it has helped her master so many skills! 

This post does contain a few affiliate links to some of the toys we purchased via Amazon (see disclosure) but many of the activities we use are DIYs and very inexpensive to make! :)

Here are her activities for this week!

Math-

Shapes stacker & counter. This is an inexpensive Melissa & Doug shape stack and sort board that we bought Ella for Christmas this year. This is a great activity that works on both counting, shape recognition and color identification. It's an activity that covers many bases, so we love it. I am really working with Ella on her shapes, so I have categorized this as her geometry/math activity for this week.

Math-

We are currently working on number identification. I made Ella these cardboard number cards and she works on matching up the correct number of wooden cubes to correspond to the number on the card. She can do 1-3 fairly independently, but I usually sit with her for this activity to repeat the numbers to her, so hopefully it will help stick. Most montessori activities you want your child to be able to do completely independently, but this one I help her with.

Science-

This wooden car ramp is one of Ella's go-to toys. She really enjoys playing with this and it teaches her the very basics of physics too! There are many variations of this toy/activity, but we love this one as it is really well built and was not expensive. 

Sensorial- 

Sound shakers are a great auditory activity for toddlers, and super easy to make. We made these using cheap plastic jars from The Dollar Tree, some hot glue and materials we already had at home. Ella actually loves shaking these around. We shared this sensorial activity and other DIYs in this post here.

Sensorial/Practical Life-

This mini clothesline activity is one that I made and am pretty proud of! It was SO easy to make and I was able to do it with materials we already had around the house. I used a piece of cardboard, some wooden disks, rods, and wooden balls with some hot glue to make this come together. I am sure there are many ways you could make this, but that's just how I did it. This activity helps Ella with her pincher grasp and fine motor skills. (Although I am observing it's a bit too advanced for her now and we will likely not put this back into rotation for a bit...) 

Language-

Ella's ABC puzzle is one of her favorites, but we still have a long way to go before she'll sit down and complete the whole thing. Her attention span just isn't there yet but I brought it back into rotation this week so she can practice. She absolutely loves practicing her letters and has mastered singing the alphabet, which is so so cute!

Language-

Story baskets are so fun. We just took one of Ella's favorite books and tried to find objects that would go along with the story. As we read the book, she helps us find the various objects that line up with the storyline. For "Goodnight Moon" we have a red balloon, a comb, a mouse, a pair of mittens, and a little chair.

Open-Ended Play-

Ella just LOVES her little vehicles and uses them for all sorts of activities... Sometimes it's just pushing them around, or making a 'track' using her tiles. Other times she's seeing how far they will slide down her pikler triangle ramp. They provide her lots of entertainment considering they were a Dollar Tree find (and are one of her few toys that makes noise.)

Thanks for checking out our shelf for this upcoming week xo