leaf collage

earlier this week we took a bucket over to the manasquan reservoir and collected some leaves. we got home and glued them on some paper. BOOM- fall activity/art project for a toddler!

bonus fun- peeling dried glue off our hands!

bead sorting

make your own "muffin tin bead sorter" (and then come up with a better name ;) hehe) by simply cutting out different color circles out of construction paper and taping them to the bottom of each section of the tin. i then found about 5 beads of each color for her to sort. after she watched me a couple of times, she got the hang of it and even thought it was FUN! 

bead sorting is great for several different areas:

1. learning colors

2. counting

3. honing fine motor skills

and as she gets a little older:

4. making patterns

5. comparing size, shape, etc. of each bead.

i only had very small beads on hand but next time i'd like to try stringing with her using larger beads and a thick thread, maybe a shoelace. stringing is another great fine motor exercise and is more helpful in teaching patterns. plus, wearable art! :)

have fun!