Skip to main content

Toy of the Month Club Catapults!

Image
By
Young children are concrete learners.
 This means that they need hands on experiences.
They need to experiment and explore.
They learn through being engaged in play!


One of the investments we decided to make to keep some of our options for young children fresh was to enroll in the Toy of the Month Club from Explorations Early Learning. If you are a regular follower of the blog, you know how much I think Jeff and Tasha Johnson rock.... This Toy of the Month Club really elevates their coolness even more! Every month they send you a box of "toys," handmade- that encourage HOURS upon HOURS of exploration and play! You won't need any batteries or screens.... Just open the box and viola!


This is our second installment, and the children are so excited when the boxes come in! Every month, we receive a new box of cool stuff! Last month was a set of domino blocks, this month was a set of small wooden catapults. If you remember, we are a little bit catapult crazy around here:



These wooden catapults are a great addition for exploration. The children spent hours exploring with them. I tend not to explain or demonstrate when we have a new item. I just conveniently place it where children can find it and let the fun begin. I had a bunch of crazy pompoms and cotton balls that I put in the same bag as the catapults. It did not take long for the children to start sending the balls flying in the air.

 With all of the "big" kids playing, even some of our younger friends had to check them out.

I can't wait to see what fun we have with next month's box!

(Thank you Explorations Early Learning for keeping us stocked with supplies and ideas for learning through play! Please note that this post is merely my own opinion and I have not been compensated in any way. I pay for a monthly subscription for the Toy of the Month Club.)


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

By
Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...
15 comments
Read more

"The Markers Don't Work!"

By
How may times have you heard, "Ms. (fill your name in here), this marker doesn't work!" I know I hear it all the time. Sometimes it is because our little friends forget to replace the caps, and sometimes the markers have just been "all used up!" What do you do with all those markers that just don't work? Please don't tell me that you throw them out, try this instead: First, sort your markers out. Put the caps in one container ( save those too, I'll show you what you can do with them in tomorrow's post) and the markers in another. I have a box for the markers that "don't work" for the children to place them into every time they run across one. You can also have the children help you test the markers periodically to sort out the ones that need to be removed from the "working set." When it comes time to use "the markers that don't work," we use a small sponge paint roller to roll water onto our card...
16 comments
Read more

Our DIY Light Tables

By
There has been a lot of buzz about light tables over at Teach Preschool on Facebook . Deborah has collected some great ideas for light table play and has been experimenting with making her own table over on the Teach Preschool blog.   I thought I would share with you our two light tables and how we made them. This first table is one that we put together with some scrap wood pieces, an old plexi-glass door from an entertainment center, and a couple of aquarium lights. Total Cost = $0. (We had everything on hand.)  The table needs a little bit of tweaking. (It is on my to do list).  Basically, we made a frame of wood around the plexi-glass and placed the lights under it. Our DIY skills in putting this together were far from expert, so the frame has a couple of gaps (and the reused wood is warped). We plan to try a new frame and use some caulk to seal any gaps.  We also plan to attach the lights to the side of the frame instead of just placing them on the f...
15 comments
Read more