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.
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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! 🙂
Sherri says
Both of these are great ideas to work on fine motor skills!
Raising a Happy Child says
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 🙂
Ticia says
I really should do the paper clip colors sometime…..
Zonnah says
Good luck! He is going to LOVE it!
Nicole {tired, need sleep} says
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!!
Nikki says
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!