I used a single row ice-cube tray, pompoms, and a clothespin. I always put a dot on the ends of the clothespin which helps the child with finger placement.
I usually don't decorate the clothespins. In this case, I thought it would be a fun way to encourage opening it wide enough to grasp the pompom and for promoting the actual use of the lesson. She loved it and thought it was fun!
We recently made one of these for a grandparent's birthday. They were very easy and quick and lots of fun to make.
I started with a golf ball size of Sculpey oven bake clay. Use the bottom of a cup to flatten the ball. Help the child press one thumb into the clay and then rotated the clay and to make another print. Follow the directions for baking (about 15 min). I then glued on small magnets using craft glue (I have since used the hot glue gun which I think bonds stronger).
When it has cooled, it can be painted. After the child has painted it, I found that leaving the paint in the impression to dry, but wiping off excess paint around the rest of the circle creates a nice contrast.
We also made these nature print magnets, inspired by this blog, (sorry, link isn't working just type "sculpey" in search box when you get there)
All that is needed for this activity is a used soap pump, a tub or large bowl and a towel for under the tub. Fill the pump container with water and place it in the bowl for the toddler to practice pumping with.
It took a little practice for my daughter to learn the pumping motion but she was successful. She used it for a few minutes, but not as long as the pouring activities, I think because it takes a lot of arm strength. Despite this, it's a keeper for her activity shelf, and I think as she develops more she will really enjoy it.
The Mystery Bag. A set of 5 pairs of objects (geometric shapes). One set goes in the bag, the other set is left out. The child chooses a shape and holds it in her hand while the other hand feels for the match from the bag.
Color Tablets: Color Box #3 Grading Colors After the child can match colors and knows all the names of the the colors (Purple, blue, red... from box 1 & 2) the child grades one color at a time from darkest to lightest. We are still practicing this, as you can see =)
Knobbed Cylinders: There are four of these blocks, each contains 10 cylinders. They vary in dimension including height, width, depth. After the child is successful with one at a time, he can use two at a time, then three at a time, then four at a time and then work on them blindfolded!
My youngest daughter is now 18 months. With both my children I found it challenging to find engaging toys for this age. To provide her with a new activity, I put this together. The wooden pieces came from a stringing beads activity we have. She has been using it often and since it cost me nothing to make, I consider it a success!
The bowl is filled to the line. One dropper full of soap is added to the water. The sponge is placed in the bowl and squeezed repeatedly to make the bubbles. The cloth is used for wiping up spills and drying the bowl when finished.
An apron is used because of the large amount of water used. It didn't take long for the bubbles to appear and my daughter thought this was lots of fun. This activity is great for strengthening the hand muscles*.
