The Magic of Dry Erase

Recently we found ourselves in the pediatrician's office, getting L checked for an ear infection. (Seriously?! I breastfed! My kid is supposed to be immune to those things!) Anyway, while we were waiting for the doc to arrive, we began to doodle on a dry erase board in the exam room. It was an AMAZING way to pass the time! L loved it and it totally took her mind of her (should-be-non-existent) ear pain. It was fantastic!

When we got home later that afternoon, I pulled out a rather large dry erase board I had purchased some months before with the motivation of getting organized. (You'll notice I said nothing about having to take it off a wall somewhere.) L instantly recognized what it was, and was so eager to start doodling again that she could barely contain herself. Needless to say, my child is now an expert at the magic that is the dry erase board, and I have another tool in my repertoire for helping her learn through play. Huzzah!

We wrote and erased letters (okay, mostly I wrote and she erased), shapes, doodles, the names of our family and friends, numbers, all sorts of things. It was so engaging and so much FUN. We even traced a few items from the play room, which I loved because it showed L how you can integrate all kinds of stuff into your artwork. It was a blast!

What kind of non-toy toys are your wee ones digging these days?

Wooden Letter Collage

L has been really interested in letters of late - pointing them out on T-shirts, book covers, and cereal boxes - so I wanted to find something out of the ordinary for her to do that would give us an opportunity to talk about the letters she loves. I decided to go with a letter collage using contact paper and wooden letter tiles.  This was a nice activity that satisfied L's desire to talk about letters and was a great sensory activity to boot!

I found two types of wooden letter tiles at Hobby Lobby.  I'd been wondering for some time how I would end up using them, and this was a great way to do so.  I taped contact paper to L's art table, sticky side up, and presented her with a bowl of the tiles.  I also provided some alphabet stickers as well, just to mix things up a bit and give L the opportunity to see letters in many different ways.

L really enjoyed this activity. Not only did we have lots of opportunities to discuss the letters she was seeing, but she also loved the  nice clicking sound the tiles made when they came into contact with the tabletop.  This was such an easy breezy activity that fostered letter recognition and language, and was very satisfying from a sensory standpoint. When she was finished, we just folded the contact paper in half and added it to her growing art gallery. No muss, no fuss and lots of fun!

Come and Meet the Letter People!

One of the blogs I love to visit on a regular basis is No Time for Flash Cards. I never fail be inspired by the amazing ideas I find there for integrating learning into play. One of the first (and most exciting!) posts I found illustrated simple ways to bring letter learning into everyday play and wowed me with the adorable and oh-so-easy Alphabet Peg Dolls. (You can see the original post here.) They were so fantastic, in fact, that I couldn't resist making my own!

A little painter's tape, some acrylic paint, and a couple episodes of Doctor Who later, my new little friends were ready to rock and roll...and roll...and roll! (Did I mention they like to roll?)

The possibilities for play scenarios are endless. They are fantastic for letter and color recognition, pretend play, fill and spill, and I suppose even hanging up the laundry! Clever L even came up with a different way to use them:

I love these little people so much I'm looking for an excuse to make some more!