I Heart You!

We wanted to get a head start on Valentines Day  - well really it was an excuse to try out our new light box.

Oh what's that?

Discovering the light box and hearts - the invitation to play.

Let me see!

'Look you guys, HEARTS!'

We can trace them!

Concentration!

TA DA!

I purchased the hearts at a dollar store - they are decorations for Valentines day - mobiles made of hard plastic.

I simply took them apart so they could be used on the light box. 

This post is a part of

Hosted by "Hands On As We Grow"

Purchase e-book or print copy HERE

On February 11th - Kreative Resources will be giving away a gift bag of goodies for your children to enjoy the tracing experience as well!

Watch for details coming soon!

Preprinting skills

Today we worked on our preprinting skills using various fine motor tools.

First we used this piece of classroom equipment (click link for description)

  

I find it's great to start the little ones off on this since it has a large knob for grasping, and the tracks to trace are large, so the knob flows easily. There is little frustration with this equipment and the children are drawn to it with out prompting.

 We also do tracing in sand and recently I found these cards which helps direct our process. The kids really enjoy this activity.

Then of course we practise with pencil and paper - we added sponge grips to make it easier.

In all of these activities we find out hand dominance - what type of grip the children are using - who needs help with grip  - what level the children are at in the preprinting process, and what activities we need to add or take out of the process at the time preprinting activities are introduced.

The children fully participate in all of the activities introduced without proding - they find great pride in the success they achieve with practice.