LolaT Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Last year, I bought a bunch toys for my toddler to do while I was doing school with my K'er and 3rd grader. This year, he's definitely feeling the burn of not being old enough to do school with us. He's played with absolutely everything I have for him, he watches Sesame Street or does PBS Kids or Starfall on the computer, and then plays with the toys (trains) in the family room and then all the stuff in his own room. I would like to, at least, switch out some of the activities in his bins (6). He is about 3 1/2. What other PreK-type activities can I get for him to re-introduce some novelty? He already has bins with: Melissa & Doug Magnetic dress up guy Melissa & Doug Large Beads Melissa & Doug Felt Sandwich kit Colored fruits with tongs and colored bowls Dot paints & Alphabet pages Lacing Cards PreK board puzzles Paper & Crayons Books Can't do: Play dough (too many incidents)Other toys temporarily removed due to problems getting them put away: Mega blocks Wooden blocks I'm also waiting until next year to get him a subscription to Kiwi Crate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/ This website has given me some fantastic ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkygirl Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Look into the Kumon First Steps Workbooks, I give DD a couple pages from each to do at a time. It gives her something to do and makes her feel like she is doing school too. Have you looked into the scholastic storia app? It reads the books to DD with highlighting each word so she can follow along. I've turned off the interactive activities (she's 3) as they require reading comprehension and patience that she does not have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strange_girl Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 If you're not opposed to workbooks, this is the perfect time to give them a cutting & pasting sheet or whatever and turn 'em loose! Both of mine so far have learned letters/numbers at 3.5 and have begun working on fine motor skills like coloring, cutting, and tracing. My son, especially, would fly through 6-8 pages a day in a workbook while I worked nearby with DD. Of course, glue and preschoolers occasionally does equal distaster, but that's half the fun :lol: When my son was 3.5, he really enjoyed the tiny Legos. He was constantly making 'rockets' and 'robots'. He still will sit and play with Legos for hours. I always need to supervise the putting away process...but he's a little boy, so I expect to. (When my youngest was doing the 'everything in the mouth' stage, older DS only played with the tiny Legos on a table or desk where the baby couldn't reach them.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaCEmom Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 The M&D cutting set & pizza set were both huge hits in our house. And I second the Kumon workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 I third (fourth?) the Kumon fine motor skill workbooks. Also, I would add Mighty Mind or some other tangram type set or pattern blocks with pattern block cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaCEmom Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 I third (fourth?) the Kumon fine motor skill workbooks. Also, I would add Mighty Mind or some other tangram type set or pattern blocks with pattern block cards. Yes! I forgot about tangrams. We have Tangoes Jr and it's great for preschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 My 3year old suggests leap frog videos and cookies. She also likes ... pipe cleaners and pony beads. A doctor set and bandaids with stuffed animals Most of the time I give her art supplies in a cleanable area and let her make a mess. Then throw it all away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dramorellis Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I've been having the same problem with my 3.5 year old. She does have bins too as I knew she would feel left out that her brother (2nd grade) had them and she didn't. We've done all the things you have already tried and she blows through them and then starts crying because she wants to do "more school". Yesterday I put on Letter Factory for her and that worked but that was only one day. Thinking of getting Horizons for 3's and I ordered some Rod & Staff pre-k material as well. I had no intention of doing anything structured with her at this age but she has gone through all of the busy bags, almost all of the Do-A dots, Kumon books and The HWT workbook. I can't turn my back on her with play-doh, clay or markers. Have you tried Wiki-Stix? DD likes those and they are clean.These are some great suggestions I will look into. She does art and science with us but we don't do that every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I think Montessori-type activities is the way to go. There are lots of resources out there for what types of activities you can put out in bins/trays. Also: Lots of puzzles A set of magnetic toys for building He might be big enough for you to set up an open ended art station if he puts things back. Puzzles with whole/half/thirds to think about math concepts Matching first letter sounds with items Matching lowercase and uppercase letters Legos/wooden blocks/tinker toys/erector set/etc. (I'd swap these out every week or so) Cuisinaire Rods for exploration Kumon books Cheap dry erase board with letters/numbers/drawings done in permanent marker, then child can trace with dry erase marker Draw on a tiny pumpkin with washable markers Or tiny pumpkin with a water spray bottle and cloth for 'polishing/cleaning' Kids love pouring work! Two containers, one empty, one with water, and they transfer the water by either pouring, using a sponge, or a pipette/dropper. Plus a little sponge for cleanup. Have a card with #1-5 or 1-10 and child put proper # of stickers by number (cheap star stickers) Bin containing an easy (baby) book with matching figurines. So it might seem deceptively easy, but he'll be reading/noticing the word 'cat' while matching the figurine cat to the picture of the cat. Here are lots of Montessori ideas: http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/search/label/montessori There are over 200 ideas, so keep looking through Older Posts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Scissors and cutting strips were great at this age (with rules about over the trashcan/table, etc) if he's not already doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleileen Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 subbing the above ideas for my own 3.5 year old while we do 'school' with the older kid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Wow, this thread is full of awesome ideas for my poor 3 year old who keeps asking for More School! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Double post. Oops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 MFW preschool package- Lauri toys & index cards with activities emphasizing pre-school readiness skills for 3-5 year olds. My son will play with just the toys while we do school often. BFIAR- my son still remembers many of the books we rowed. It can be done in 10 min if you keep simple. HWOT multisensory stuff- my son likes to do the roll-a-dough and stamp and see screen on his own when I do one on one time with dd Starfall- he can use a tablet or computer in the same room and play some of the educational games while the others school Dry erase books that practice tracing shapes, numbers, alphabet, etc. Kumon cut & paste books Rod and Staff preschool workbooks Dot Art Confessions of a Homeschooler Letter of the Week Stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Condessa Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I've been eyeing Wedgits toys for the same purpose when my oldest starts K. The kids loved those when I was a preschool teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonia Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I used a ton of activity bags at that age. Here are some of the ideas I used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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