Since we moved into our new house, I haven’t planned any school activities for Magoo. Most of my efforts have been to help the little guy adjust to a new routine and learn the rules. I don’t understand why little kids have to test boundaries in a new environment when the rules are exactly the same as the old environment, but Magoo is a champion boundary tester. Now that Magoo has settled into his new area, we started a few tot school lessons (to be featured next week). The most common and favorite activity over the past month has been reading.
…And more reading!
I rotate the boys toys every weekend. On Monday morning, Magoo has new toys on his low shelves. It took a bit of trial and error, but 4 bins of toys seems to be the right amount of choice for Magoo. Any more and he just pulls everything off the shelf into a big pile. Any fewer and he gets bored by Friday. This wooden train puzzle is a favorite, so I try to rotate it in every other week.
There are also 4 tubs of toys on the common shelves. I chose 4 tubs because that’s the amount of room available. For the most part Magoo ignores them unless Bebop is playing with something. The week I put out the car tub was a HUGE hit with Magoo. I think he played with them every day.
I tried out a few different setups for Magoo’s work area. The favorite is using a cookie tray on his lap desk. These water color pages from Michaels are wonderful for toddlers because they only need a paintbrush and water. Magoo has yet to figure out how to get the pigment from the rectangles onto the picture, but he loves to play with them anyway.
Bebop got this marble race set for Christmas last year and it’s a great toy for both boys. Just make sure you keep the marbles away from the toddler. After he builds a track, I let Magoo race one marble down. He puts everything in his mouth still, so I watch closely.
While Nana was visiting, she and Magoo practiced jumping in and out of a hula hoop. I don’t have any kind of a plan yet, but I want to include more gross motor skill activities like this for Magoo. Especially this winter when I’ll be too much of a wimp to take the boys out in the cold to play.
Magoo made us lunch with the play food several times. I have started keeping empty containers, like oatmeal, eggs, and a ketchup bottle, to set up a play pantry. I hope by giving Magoo kitchen things to play with, he’ll be less likely to steal things from the kitchen (like a full container of salt).
Change is so hard at Magoo’s age. We had a few weeks of daily meltdowns as the furniture in the basement kept getting rearranged. Now that everything has been in place for about 2 weeks, I’m considering switching the upstairs bedrooms so Bebop has a place to play during quiet time. Magoo’s not going to be happy about another change.
We’ve started our color and shape themes, and tot school is now in full swing at our house. It’s great to finally be settled into our classroom and have a consistent routine.
