Number Hunt and Match

I have come across a lot of 'sensory' activities that are set up for babies and toddlers to develop their motor skills and enhance their exploratory instinct. The sense of touch provides a beautiful and different perspective of learning to little ones that I understand helps their little minds develop well. I had personally not given it a try yet but have been wanting to. 

So a few days back I ordered a 5 kilo bag of toor dal by mistake instead of a 2 kilo bag! Just seeing so much of toor dal at home, made me realise it was time to set a sensory activity for the Mini! :D I did not dare to venture out using flour or rice or anything else that I felt will be a problem to clean after. Toor dal seemed doable to start with.

I was apprehensive of how my boy will take to this game and if he is not going to really understand the game and would instead just make a mess! Well, I took a chance and I am so so glad I did. He loved it and spent a good 1.5 hours!

This little game that I set up for him involved hunting the appropriate numbers hidden in a bin full of toor dal and matching them onto a sheet of paper. So by playing with this sensory game, his hand eye coordination, concentration and sense of touch is improving.

First he did the hunting and matching game about 4-5 times on repeat! And then he went onto doing some transfer activity using a spoon and another bowl. It was such a treat watching him pick little bits of dal and dunking them back into the tub! Nope, he did not create any mess, he was very very careful about it. So proud! :)

Oh, the next day he introduced his little dump truck to the bin of toor dal! :D 

Read on to know how to set up this game and how else you can make use of this little sensory bin set up.

Sticky Notes Letters Hunt

My little man is so fond of ABCs these days that he finds letters in everyday objects - The 3 blades of the fan is a 'Y', the handle of my coffee mug is a 'C'! Oh, at a shop yesterday he even sat down at a salesperson's feet to read what was written on his shoes!

So when I set up this little game for him, he was thrilled to bits and we were at it for an hour! So easy to put together and perfect for days when I am exhausted but have a hyperactive toddler to entertain! All I used was the white board and some sticky notes! It is sometimes the simplest of things that brings in the most entertainment.

Read on to know how we played this game...

Mixed Basket - Objects Hunt

My Mini is currently on a vocabulary-building spree. Everyday he picks up at least 5 new words these days! He points at random items and asks for their names. 

Every night when I dress him up for bed, he pints and asks what his shirt is called and what his pants are called. I would answer 'Night Shirt' and 'Night Pant'. He would want me to repeat it a few times and then smile back. A few nights back, I answered with just 'Shirt' not really realising it and immediately 'Night Shirt' came the reply! It was the very first time he was saying those words and I was pleasantly surprised :) It just goes to show how much these little ones absorb by just listening to us speak to them.

So one evening last week, with things lying around the house, I put together this 'Mixed Basket' game for him. I gathered random items and put them all into a plastic basket. He has taken a liking for the white board that we recently got for him. So, I just wrote the names of the objects on the board and called them out a couple of times. He doesn't read yet, but the process of seeing me write on the board made it more exciting for him. He enjoyed identifying letters from the words I wrote and fishing out the related object.

He loved doing this over and over again! And I loved the glee on his face when he related to the correct object when I called out its name! Thankfully no workout for mommy in this game! :D 😄

Read on to know how we played this game...