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ShawnaB
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| Posted: Sept 07 2007 at 3:42pm | IP Logged
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My just-turned two year olds are finding a few mat and tray activities that they REALLY love! Their current faves are:
Pouring rice from a small pitcher to a small cup (there is just enough rice to fill the cup about 2/3 full). Then they use a little funnel to pour it back into the pitcher. They will pour and dump probably 30 times before they are done!
Spooning beads from a little lidded box into a little cup, and then pouring them back into the box. Over, and over, and over again.
Hammering golf tees into a box of clay. Ds2 will do this for a LONG time (for a 2 year old!)
Pouring water. Of course. Although, they do not yet have the precision (nor the desire) to control their pouring and not make a huge mess, drink the water, etc. So for now while the weather is nice, this is a patio activity. I give them a dishtub full of water, a child-sized metal tea pot and several small cups, and its 2 year old heaven!
Washing anything and everything. I give them a small, damp washcloth that they get busy. Their favorite is washing the chalkboard, as the results are very obvious.
So what other materials are favorites for the little guys? Any blog links I should check?? Thanks!
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 07 2007 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
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My guys like the golf tees and clay, too. 
Suprisingly, they also concentrate very well on the knobbed cylinders. (the first block) And one of my guys has discovered the abacus... he lines up all the beads one by one with enormous concentration, you can just see all the gears turning in his head. Then again, he's the kind of 2 yo who lines up all his trucks, too. And of course I didn't present the abacus to him; I just had it set out and he found it.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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marianne
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| Posted: Sept 07 2007 at 5:22pm | IP Logged
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My two year old loves water pouring the best. He also likes the magnet maze and bead stringing.
The good thing is that he is interested in almost anything I present to him and is willing to try whatever I want him to try. That doesn't mean that he is able to really follow through with the materials later, but he is willing to let me show him anything, and he will gladly play along with a smile on his face. I love it! My 4 year old is unfortunately already annoyed with me, making him do things THE RIGHT WAY. He often wants to just build the pink tower any old way and then knock it down with a baseball bat. 
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 07 2007 at 8:01pm | IP Logged
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I haven't broken out the pouring yet...I can only imagine how excited my 2 1/2 yold dd will be! She has been loving the spooning tray. But she also really likes using tongs to put a pom pom into each cube of an ice cube tray and then taking them out with the tongs.
She also really likes the matreshkas. I never realized that she (and her 5 yold brother) had never seen something like that. So when I was presenting it...their wonderment and surprise of just seeing another and another and another doll was the best part!
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KackyK
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ShawnaB
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 12:32am | IP Logged
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Oooh, pom poms and tongs in the ice cube tray would probably go over well here. By the way, what kind of tongs to you suggest? I ordered some cute little sugar cube tongs from Montessori Services and they are too stiff for even my 4 year old to work.
And unfortunately, my little ones are TOO familiar with the Matrioshka...they discovered it about 6 months ago and now we're missing a head.  Mom was probably on the computer and not paying attention!
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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KackyK
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 6:55am | IP Logged
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I think I have those sugar cubes too...and they are too stiff.
But also from Montessori Services I picked up toast tongs. They have been easier.
I have these too but they are harder to use than the toast tongs.
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KackyK
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AndreaG
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My daughter (at 2 and 3 )used the toast tongs linked above with success! I need to order another set though- my 5-year-old managed to break them.
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Andrea
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dawn2006
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| Posted: Sept 09 2007 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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I'm so glad to see this post. My dd just turned two a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't aware that she could be capable of pouring rice!! We just finished our first week of school and I would love to have her involved instead of crying at my side (of course, she WAS sick this week.  )
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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mary theresa
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| Posted: Sept 11 2007 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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I'm reading with interest too. My 18 mo is very interested in doing works, but its hard to find things that she can actually do with it being just a bit too hard or too out of control.
I know she's younger than y'all's kids, but she likes the "opening and closing" work. I've got 10+ different things and I give her 5 at a time. Examples of things I've found that she can do -- lipstick holder with a snap, little palm size tins, tiny bowl with plastic lid, flip lid box that earing came in, empty lipstick tube.
She LOVES the water pouring too -- but she only gets to do it outside!
Oh, and I put a bunch of pinto beans in a dishpan and give her jars and spoons and dishes, etc. to pour and spoon in a more controlled setting. I haven't gotten brave enough for pouring or spooning rice on a tray yet.
I don't know if that helps anyone . . .
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Mary Theresa
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Meredith
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His favorite thing right now is a set of three rainbow striped Juggling Balls 
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Meredith
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Kristin
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| Posted: Sept 13 2007 at 6:06pm | IP Logged
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One that I don't think was mentioned is a wooden "cutting" exercise like the one offered by Melissa and Doug. This was a favorite of our dd when she was an early two.
Another absolute favorite was one we call "Kerplunking". It is a finger transfer exercise using small wooden balls (about the size of marbles), putting them one by one into a long-neck bottle (long neck with big round base, like a wine vinegar bottle). The noise that each bead makes as it hits the glass bottom is a definite "point of interest"! The thin neck makes it so the balls don't bounce right back up out of the bottle and also makes it more challenging.
The beads are a choking hazard of course but I cannot tell you how many times she did that one! The amazing thing is that she has not touched it once this year so far!!! I guess she's all kerplunked out!
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happymama
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| Posted: Sept 20 2007 at 9:46pm | IP Logged
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my son will be 3 in a couple months. I admit I am looking forward to the time when he will be ready to do more activities for a longer length of time!
In addition to things mentioned above, he currently really likes pouring water into the land & water trays I made and putting the animal replicas into them. This does require my supervision at the sink... otherwise he'd cause a Flood in each tray! He willingly & happily cleans up his own spills/messes.
He loves transferring colored water with a large baster, with droppers, & pouring, though he does spill. I have him do these types of things on an absorbant placemat for now.
He enjoys listening to books on tape & knows how to turn the page when he hears the "beep" just fine.
He has done some of the pre-reading/writing/math activities from Karen's albums. Example: Sorting flash cards into 2 different piles - half of the cards have numerals on them, and half have dinosaur stickers on them. Also, transferring Easter eggs from a basket into an egg carton. (Although that inevitably leads to hiding the eggs & asking for candy to be put into them.)
His absolute favorite thing is playing outside and catching bugs. I do have some trepidation about winter approaching & this activity coming to a close for now. I need to find some age-appropriate bug books & activities for him! I don't feel any urgency about providing activities for him yet, it's just that he watches his older brother do "work" all day and he really wants to have his own, also.
blessings on all our little 2s!
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: What do your 2 year olds love??
