This is how I presented the pencil sharpening activity.
For adults and older kids this may seem easy but for an almost 3 year old this can be difficult.
You have to balance the pencil and hold a good enough grip in order to rotate the pencil.
I gave Deen the flat side to sharpen after showing him what to do.
This is how much he did before he lost interest got tired.
This would be a great activity to keep your 3 year old busy while you cook, at a doctors office, etc.
Then we tried a paper clip matching activity that I have seen at other blogs. I may have seen this at 1+1+1=1
I took colored paper and laminated them and then had Deen match the paper clips to the paper.
And nope he did not do all of that… he did maybe 2 paper clips and 3 sheets of color.
I like activities like the two above that are inspired from Montessori. Deen will be starting at his new Montessori school on the 25th of January.
We went to a tea party for all the new children today and at first Deen wouldn’t leave my side. If he wanted to sit I had to sit with him. At one stage I told him that while he worked on the floor he can sit on my foot while I was standing so that he knows for sure I will not be going anywhere. Towards the end though he was wandering around himself and exploring. I hope that this will be an easy transition from him. He seemed to have loved the ‘toys’ and I love the way Montessori presents everything so neatly and orderly.
His playschool was different because Deen knew his teacher since he was 6 months old because we used to do a mom and baby playgroup with her at the same premises. This new school will surely be a big change but everyone who has had children attend this school say that this was the best school their kids went to. Wish us luck! 🙂
Both of these are great ideas to work on fine motor skills!
I will keep my fingers crossed that Deen will like his new school. I doubt that my daughter would be able to sharpen the pencil – I sometimes have problems with it š
I really should do the paper clip colors sometime…..
Good luck! He is going to LOVE it!
We've done the color cards and paper clips before (I need to bring it out again sometime soon!), but I've never thought of pencil sharpening – what a great idea!!
Love your fun ideas! I've been setting up a homeschool with my 5 and 1 year old and have been blog hopping, gathering ideas. Have you heard of activityvillage.co.uk? I think you would really like it. Anyway, thanks for sharing!