All SORTS of Fun in Tot School

I’ve always been good about spending time with my 3 year old daughter, Bubby, since she was the first and only one for a while.  We are starting to get our feet wet with homeschooling, but I have found I need something to do with my youngest daughter Boo (16 months old) in the meantime. I came across Tot School and found my answer!  Tot School is created just for the toddlers in the family, as a way to play and learn, and get a little special one-on-one time.  My oldest is just about out of Tot School range, but I will put up some pictures of activities we’ve done recently.

I already had a 9-holed cubby, and loved the trays so much used in Tot School, that I got some for myself.  As you can see here, I have it set up for both of my girls. Some tasks are a bit more challenging to hold Bubby’s interests, some activities are just for Boo, and a few are suitable for both of them. I really like how the trays create intentional play. My girls usually have one or two trays they both fight over, and Tot School has been great for teaching things like waiting your turn, choosing another activity until the one you want is available, and respecting eachothers space during an activity. Usually one will go to the other’s tray and start playing, but our rule is that in Tot School, one tray per kid. (Okay, sometimes the rule is broken, especially if they are playing nice and staying occupied so I can get other things done!).

The first set of pictures (edit: pics have been removed) are of Bubby doing various sorting tasks.  She sorted small square blocks by color, shapes by color (a bit trickier because there are two variables with these objects), by shapes, books by size, socks by type (whites, darks, and designs), and socks by person (Mama, Bubby, and Boo).  She came up with the idea of sorting the socks by person on her own!

The last two pictures are of the cubby with the Tot School trays for the girls and the two of them doing the activities.

The top row has activities for Bubby (3.5 yo):

• magnet & container full of various objects (plastic, metal, paper, wood)
• dry beans & an egg carton with numbers in the bottom from 1-12 for counting (this was easy for her so I added numbers for counting by 2’s)
• stamps

The middle row has activities for both girls:

• 4 sectioned tray with pom-poms, ice cream scoop, & tongs (Bubby can use the tongs and sort pom-poms by color; Boo enjoys scooping the pom-poms and putting them in the tray…or all over the floor!)
• rectangular plastic container with a bucket, funnel, rake, and spoon (I’ve had this set up with water and also with uncooked rice)
• play-doh and cookie cutters

The bottom row has activites for Boo (16 mos. old):

• my old school wooden hammer and wooden nail ‘bench’
• a few foam alphabet letters we are talking about (I, E, O, A, M, D)
• paper towel rolls and cars (for rolling the cars through the tunnels)

Stay tuned for more updates on how Tot School is going for us!