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mooreboyz
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| Posted: Aug 20 2008 at 7:21pm | IP Logged
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We did the 3 yr olds. Now, how about 4 yr olds? My son turns 4 in Sept and we had a really great Montessoi/CM style year. I've gotten some activities ready for him, but would like to hear what you all found to be hits. He really enjoys having his own work that he can do independently. He's getting bored with the stuff from last year. So, it is time to step things up a notch. Some things I have already are:
stenciling shapes like the mont. inset work
container of sand for letter writing practice
some pink series reading cards to match
beadwork for math skip counting and to start adding/subtracting
stringing beads (from last year)
magnetic/nonmagnetic sort (from last year)
letter sound boxes (from last year too)
I plan to have trays out for art, science, prac life, cooking, geography, sensorial, and fine motor that rotate. I will also have areas for math type work and letter/reading work with a variety of activities to choose from.
Please share any cool ideas you have. Thanks!
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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 8:07pm | IP Logged
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Bumping this, as my 4.5 yo is driving me a bit bonkers these days and I'm looking for some inspiration! 
Here are a few favs.....
sorting nature finds
puzzles
making letters with play dough
fingerpaints
tracing absolutely everything
i spy books
color boxes
fabric trays
matching numbers to number of objects
folding napkins and diapers
blocks
playing Blink
Sink and Float
Lacing cards and beads
Metal Insets
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Maddie
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 8:18pm | IP Logged
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What are fabric trays, please?
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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ALmom
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 9:24pm | IP Logged
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Ok, my child was 4 last year and typical of our house, very little from the reading section was of any interest. However, we had a set of numbers with pegs - one hole for 1, 2 holes for 2, etc. These line up in correct order. My son taught himself basic counting, and number concepts with this and began to add. He is almost 6 now and just starting to show interest in reading, so maybe we'll get a little interest in the pink reading.
Other things he liked at 4 - cutting, baster, polishing, brown stairs, pink tower, drawing/art. He did like some picture matching things (animal lotto type stuff) and nature observation with binoculars. He was also fond of washing windows.
He really liked the parts of a fish cards (cannot read yet, but since he has older siblings, he learned the names of the parts somehow). He is just now getting into doing the insets and identifying some shapes. He has also become a fan of a few of those workbooks where you color the pictures according to the color name on top of the page.
Caveat - I was not a Montessori mom presenter. Things were just too hectic last year so these are all things that either were presented because I saw him wrecking havoc (cutting his pants, clothes, etc.) or things that he ran with after an initial presentation to the family of practical life or a few things he asked for because siblings were doing them. I'm sure we could have done lots more if I had been able to be in the Montessori room more often. I did try to present some initial pink reading and it was just obvious that he was not ready. He ran with almost all the hands on math things I had.
Janet
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 10:24pm | IP Logged
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My little man turns 4 in December...and I'm constantly trying to keep up and provide work for him...
**Shallow tray of cornmeal and different (watercolor size) paint brushes and stylus for writing, brushing, making designs, tracing numbers and letters
**Tracing continent puzzle pieces
**Polishing activities
**Cutting papers into teeny tiny pieces
**Beeswax squishing
**Stamping anything! (Ink pad and rubber stamp)
**Emptying gadget drawers in kitchen
**Bounce and Drop from bed to pile of pillows
**Magna Tiles
**Vacuuming the kitchen - no kidding!
**Shape sorting games
**Marbles (soon to be put away  - the baby's crawling)
**Hammering Shapes into Cork
**Sorting and counting beads from the decanomial bead box
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 10:50pm | IP Logged
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Maddie wrote:
| What are fabric trays, please? |
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Fabric trays can be of two kinds: One is a set of matching pairs of different kinds of fabric (trying to be the same color if possible). The child feels them and matches them, preferably eyes closed to really get the feel of it. The second set is a series of fabrics all the same type but a different weave (so it might be different weaves of cotton for example), again in matching sets.
They help hone the tactile sense as well as provide new vocabulary for describing things.
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Maddie
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 11:16pm | IP Logged
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Thank you, Catholic Mommy.
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~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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mooreboyz
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| Posted: Sept 06 2008 at 3:51am | IP Logged
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We started back to school this week and so my almost 4 yr old got to try out some of the new things. It seems the activities have to have just the right amount of challenge or he isn't interested. Things that don't require much concentration haven't been touched. Here's some hits:
his calender work which is taken somewhat from here:
calender math
hanging washcloths on a mini clothesline
matching continent shapes
sharpening pencils
sorting twigs by length
sponge wringing transferring water between 2 bowls
addition using decanomial beads I made
counting to 1000 using number cards and beads/cubes
paper punching
matching pink series words to pics
and of course nature hikes
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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: favorite things to do with 4 yr old
