Tot School: Felt Star Matching

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I found my Star Box the other day.

And put it to good use.

We have a felt board mounted to our wall.  When I find the post that inspired it, I'll post about it.  Until then, please be satisfied with the statement that I have a felt board on our wall.

So I pulled out my Star Box, and opened it for Dew2.  We played with them for a while, checking them all out.  I have a weird assortment of colours now, because many were destroyed or taken home during my programs, and I'd have to hastily make more with whatever colours of felt we had on hand at the time.

We went to the felt board, and I put one of each colour up to the board, labeling the colour as I went. He tried to repeat me as much as he could.


Then we pulled out more stars, and I gave them to him to match.  He did really well!  I was very impressed with how well he matched his colours.

And it was a bit of a challenge for him to work standing up, and to get them to stick, which was also perfect.  When I can fit a bit of OT in, it's a good day :-)

So we matched stars.  And now it's a favourite activity.

Matching - Jack O Lantern Faces

With Halloween coming, and Dew1 starting to figure these things out, I decided it was high time to have some Jack O Lantern Fun.  Dew1 loves to match - he finds it to be a very rewarding task.

This is by no means an original idea.  I googled around, and found a great Pumpkin Body and Jack O Lantern Face pieces patterns on the Family Education website - the patterns are free to download, and copyright to Pearson Education Inc.

Because we have a great flannel board mounted on the wall, I finally decided to make this out of felt (I wrestled with magnetic as we also have a great magnetic board on our wall as well.)  I chose sensory over fine motor, and I thought the felt would be fun.  I have had troubles getting things to stick to our flannel board - I suspect it's because it's mounted flat against the wall.  All of the flannel boards I have ever used at work have been standing easel-types, and I am thinking that the angle is a big help.

Anyway, after testing velcro and other types of sticky assists, I discoverd an article on about.com that commented on using sandpaper.  Well, sandpaper is a lot cheaper than velcro (I bought a package of 5 large sheets for $1 at Dollar Tree to make sandpaper letters.  Haven't gotten there yet but I had the sandpaper!)

I traced the outline onto the back of the sandpaper (right side up ... I made that mistake the first time.)  Then I ran it through the Xyron to stick it up, and then stuck it to the felt.  It made it very easy to cut the felt out, I must say.  Same for the eyes, mouths, and noses.  Then I realized a problem.  Our felt board is black.  The face pieces are black.  Hmm.

So I put a few pieces of sandpaper onto a square of blue felt to use as a landing zone area for the face pieces.  Not ideal but it works for me for now.  Perhaps a basket on the shelf beside?

I have also taken pictures of several face combinations for Dew1 to match.  I punched a hole in the corner and put them on a binder ring.  He has tried a few, but is more interested in the pieces for now.

He is also very wrapped up in the sensory experience.  It is soft on one side and quiet scratchy on the other.  This makes it fun to just hold and reposition on the felt board.

Update:
Emily at Learning Vicariously posted about her Magnetic Jack-O-Lantern here.  It looks great - I might have to do a magnetic one after all!  I love how they used it as a springboard to talk about feelings.  Great Idea!