Tot Preschool - Tt is for Turtle

*J-Bug is currently 41 months old*

J-Bug is never required to participate in school time.  I set up these trays to give him something educational and fun to do while JZ works.  I would give him toys only, but he requests work.  Like most younger siblings he is eager to keep up and be just like his big brother.  Please note:  I do not encourage pushing young children to do school work.  If you want to engage in educational activities with your young child remember that early learning is best accomplished through play and movement.  I encourage you to follow your little one's cues and have fun!

I mentioned in our Nest unit that I haven't been setting up trays for J-Bug.  He didn't show any interest for awhile.  After a week without any trays he started asking me where his work was.  We've been working downstairs a lot more instead of up in our studio, so I didn't set up trays for the turtle unit.  I did prepare some work for him, much to his delight.  Throughout each unit I put J-Bug's completed work in a bulletin board above his work area.

One day we practiced tracing letters in shaving cream.

After tracing letters J-Bug played for awhile.  I spray the shaving cream on a cookie sheet from Dollar Tree to keep the mess contained.

When he was done with the shaving cream he rinsed his own cookie sheet and requested to fill up the sink for some water play.  (My rule is that he can fill up the sink once, but he can't empty and refill it.  This way he can enjoy some sensory play, but we don't waste.)

He counted animals and circled them in his Eric Carle Counting to 10 book.

Using a printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler, J-Bug glued buttons to form a capital and lowercase T.

He loved reading through the turtle books we borrowed from the library.

Turtle Books:

         

He especially loved looking through Turtle Crossing and making up a story to go along with the pictures.

Also from Confessions of a Homeschooler J-Bug sorted turtles by size.  I laminated them before cutting out, so they are sturdy.  JZ used these last year for preschool.

We went outside and crawled slowly like turtles.  Then I called out other animals for the boys to act out.  Pictured below are crab, bird, turtle and snake.

Using another printout from Confessions of a Homeschooler (I just love her stuff!) J-Bug sorted magnetic cubes by color.

More ideas for Tot Preschool:

• Nn Nest
• Aa Apple
• Ll Leaf
• Mm Moon
• Ss Sun

For more resources follow my Preschool Ideas board on Pinterest.