10 Grimm's Products for Under $40

You probably know by now how much I love Grimm's wooden toys and I'm always adding to our collection. Some people assume that these gorgeous products are out of their price range - (first of all let me assure you that they are totally worth it due to their uniqueness, quality and open ended play opportunities). But if you're looking for something a little less expensive than the trademark large rainbow (which is usually around the $130 mark) and you still want to start your Grimm's collection, then I've found some gorgeous ideas for you! All from my favourite Grimm's stockist The Creative Toy Shop who I'm proud to say I've been working with since they opened!

This post contains affiliate links. 

Click to shop

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Top Tips for Teaching Shape

Today we're talking about SHAPES!

It's probably the second biggest Mathematics unit in your term after Number. Children are usually exposed to the basic 2D shapes well before they start school (quite often thanks to the Play School windows), but it's so important that we as Junior Primary teachers give them a good foundation of both 2D and 3D shapes. As I was planning this post, and how to incorporate some Teach Starter resources, I came up with four key points to keep in mind when planning learning experiences for young children.

• Make it hands on
• Make it real life
• Make it purposeful
• and make it fun.

This is a sponsored post as part of my Brand Ambassadorship with Teach Starter. 

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Games & Story Telling {My Little Set}

Hi everyone!
The blog has been a little quieter than normal this month, I've been busy at work taking on some extra relief days in a variety of classes across the school (which I've been loving) and of course the kids can be a handful when we're at home!

So today I'm pleased to bring you another brilliant product review with a focus on early learning (by the way if you're ever interested in browsing the other product reviews I've done, just look for the "review" label on my side bar, or if you're on mobile, scroll to the end and you should find it). 

We were recently sent two "My Little Set" sets of wooden discs that I'd love to share with you (kindly gifted for the purpose of this review).

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Mirror Play for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers

Hi everyone! (*waves) Today's post is all about mirrors. Such magical things and so intriguing to young children. Identity and belonging are key components of the Early Years Framework and through mirror play, even very young children begin to learn about who they are. I love that moment when a baby realises "it's ME" in the mirror looking back at them, not a different baby! A mirror is a fantastic addition to your sensory play resources and I've compiled a list of activity ideas for every age through the early years.

*This post contains affiliate links

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Why I Think EVERY Classroom Needs This Rainbow

If you asked me to choose my ONE FAVOURITE toy for kids - it would be the Grimm's wooden rainbow stacker. I just adore them for so many reasons (possibly all stemming from my childhood obsession with rainbows).

Another way to order the arcs from biggest to smallest

Did you know Grimm's is a German based company, and one question I'm always asked is "Where can you get them here in Australia??". Well you need look no further that one of my fave Instagrammer Brianna's (Notes from a Home Educator) new shop The Creative Toy Shop (*affiliate link). Brianna is a professional nanny + special ed teacher who is (like me) passionate about play based learning and she has so so SO many brilliant ideas on her Instagram page (here's some ways the boys she educates use their rainbow).

Image credit - Notes from a Home Educator

As you all (probably) know I'm still on maternity leave, so today on the blog I get to pretend that I'm back in a classroom and share all the brilliant ways I could use this rainbow stacker with my class, and why I think EVERY junior primary classroom (preschool, kindy, early years classroom, homeschool playroom) should have one. There are many possibilities for learning in various curriculum areas.

*Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 

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Seven Puzzle Hacks for All Ages!

Ah puzzles. They've been around for ever and kids still love them - plus they're great for early learning. Shape, rotation, transformation, spatial awareness are the foundations for more advanced mathematical concepts learnt later on.

To be honest, Miss M doesn't play with puzzles all that often, so I'm always looking for new ideas for how to make a standard simple puzzle more interesting and turn it into a fun and inviting play activity. Some of my favourite Instagrammers/Bloggers have shared some of their ideas lately, so we wanted to try some ourselves.

Peekaboo Puzzle

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10 Ways to use Play Dough in the Classroom

Last weekend Miss M, her Auntie and I had a fabulous girly morning at the Finders Keepers markets. It was the first time they've come to Adelaide and I was in awe of the aisles upon aisles of all the pretty things. My main aim though was to catch up with Emma from Happy Hands Happy Heart to sample her beautiful, squishy, scented, natural play doughs (hand made with 100% love).

In all honesty, if it wasn't for Emma's play dough play area, Miss M would have been a bit bored with the whole outing, but we could not get her away from the play dough tables. Of course we had to go back for a second visit before we left.

Image credit Finders Keepers Instagram - used with permission.

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The Marvellous Mister Maker LIVE Show

Today Miss M and I headed on the train (as we do) to the Adelaide Festival Theatre to see Mister Maker LIVE! If you read this blog, I'm sure you can imagine that I was just as excited as her!

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Exploring Shapes + Colours + Light

Integrated learning is when two or more concepts can be explored in the one activity (or by using the one product). That's what I'm talking about today - bringing shape, colour and light together with some fun learning experiences and educational products for preschoolers.

Thanks so much to Wooden Wonderland who sent us this tangram puzzle, and colour viewer for the purpose of this blog post - and by the way, when you pop over there, take note that the Educational products are organised into learning areas making it really easy to find what you're looking for.

The great thing about teaching shape and colour to preschoolers, is that they go hand in hand and there are lots of opportunities for incidental learning. It's all about the language you use, eg "Pass me the blue square, can you find the yellow triangle, what colour is the circle?"

A tangram is a geometrical puzzle consisting of a square cut into seven pieces which can be arranged to create many different shapes and pictures. They can be quite tricky, so for little preschoolers I'd suggested using a template for them so they know how to put the puzzle back together, as well as some examples of simple things they can make... At around the age of 6-8, school children will be able to explore with tangrams a lot more (the puzzle from Wooden Wonderland has some picture examples underneath the pieces as you can see). The wooden pieces are a beautiful quality, Miss M and I explored some other ways to play with it such as making a tower, and putting the numbers in order.

Wooden Tangram Board - Shop here

Miss M loved looking at the world through the colour viewer - it's lovely to watch young children be so amazed at simple things. She already knows all the colours, but this would be great to encourage language development as they identify the 'red apple' and the 'blue whale'. As all of Wooden Wonderland's products it's really great quality.

Wooden Wonderland Colour Viewer - Shop here

Continuing with the light theme, are these gorgeous rainbow blocks (ours were gifted from Finlee and Me but they're also available from Wooden Wonderland). We always try to pick a sunny spot to play with them to get the full experience. Blocks are an essential ingredient to any child's toy collection as there are so many open ended ways to play with them. Your little one can explore shape and colour as they sort and construct.

Rainbow blocks - Shop here or here

Want some more great hands on activity ideas to learn shape and colour? You'll find them here in this post I wrote for Childhood 101.

Another fantastic product from Wooden Wonderland is this colour mixing puzzle - I wrote a post all about colour mixing here (incase you missed it!).

Remember - Maths isn't just counting and 1 + 1 = 2...there is a whole other world of shape, geometry, transformation, symmetry and logical thinking. Start to look for these learning opportunities in every day life with your preschooler, or students.

Lauren :)

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Learning 2D & 3D Shape {Childhood 101 Guest Post}

Today I'm over at Childhood 101 to share some suggestions of helping little ones learn 2D and 3D shapes in various hands on ways. Building my resources and ideas in this area is a focus for me at school at the moment, so if you have any other ideas or links, please leave them below.

While you're browsing around Childhood 101, here are some of my previous guest posts :)

Awesome Autumn Activities

Summer Activity Ideas

Busy Bags for Preschoolers

Busy Bags for Toddlers

Lauren x

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Learning about 3D Shapes | More Magical Maths

Recently I posted some ideas for how to teach 2D Shapes, and today the focus is 3D Shapes (I did intend to publish this post much soon but...other things happen!)

It's important for children to know that 2D Shapes are flat like a piece of paper, but 3D Shapes can be held in your hand. 3D shapes can be fun to experiment with and discover which ones can roll and which ones can slide. Discuss with the children how many faces, edges and corners they have. Are the faces flat or curved? Are the edges straight or curved? How does the shape feel? This is where a feely bag can be a great way to introduce this concept as well as the individual shapes.

So which 3D shapes should you teach? This is what I would recommend for 5-6 year olds in their first year of school...

- Rectangular Prism

- Pyramid

- Cylinder

- Cone

- Cube

- Sphere

As I mentioned in my 2D Shape post another fun way to begin this unit is a shape hunt. The outcome here is for children to realise that shapes make up everything in our world and helps them establish connections between the classroom and everyday life.

There are infinite uses of dice in a classroom - why not learn about cubes while you are playing dice games?

This anchor chart from Kindercraze is a nifty follow up activity to your shape hunt. Click here to download this resource for free!

In my lessons I would call the 'sides' faces - but each to their own!

One of my favourite blogs (and link ups) Living Montessori Now. I love the hands on approach to teaching 3D shapes, and there are always free printables for you to download.

Here's a post just about Spheres
Here's their post about Spheres, Cubes and Cylinders.
Here's one about Geometric Solid Gift Wrapping (love this idea - definitely one to try)
Here's one about cubes

Polydrons would have to be my favourite classroom resource to teach this unit. It's all about play based learning! Children can connect the flat 2D shapes to create many different 3D shapes. This is a great opportunity to have discussions about how many faces the shapes have - as you simply count the number of polydrons you used to create that shape.

Older children can begin creating their own nets and 3D shapes! I found this useful resource of templates on TpT for only $1! Or this one is free :)

Happy shape play!
Lauren

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Learning About 2D Shapes | Magical Maths

In reflecting on the 38 blog posts I've written so far, I realised that I don't have any about Maths (with the exception of a couple of worksheets I found on TpT). I thought I'd start with shape - 2D this week and 3D next week.

'Hands on' activities for little people learning about shapes is so important. It gives them the chance to hold, feel, touch and explore them in a real way. I love to begin introducing this concept to my classes with a 'feely bag'. Ask the child to put their hand in, grab a shape and describe it to you before pulling it out and having a look at it. This is a great time to have some discussions about the shapes - how many sides (curved or straight?), how many corners? Explain to the children that 2D shapes are flat shapes - flat like a piece of paper.

Another nice way to begin this unit is to go on a 'shape hunt' around the home, classroom or school yard. Children will love looking for and recording shapes in their natural environment. They'll soon realise that shapes are everywhere! This is a key concept we want them to learn.

Click here for a great post about going on a "Shape Hunt".

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Pop sticks are a great resource and they have so many uses! Try making some 2D shapes with your child or class and see what they come up with.

Take this idea further by using plastecine as the corners to join the pop sticks together. You could also label each pop stick with its corresponding shape and the number of sides/corners it has and use sticky velcro for the corners. By giving your child only the pop sticks they will need makes this a self correcting activity and encourages independence. Match sticks would also work for mini versions of these shapes. Try using a shape template for them to place to match sticks on.

Puzzles are a fantastic tool for these early spatial awareness concepts. If you can get your hands on specific 2D shape puzzles - all the better!

Tracing around shapes is an activity I would aim at 5-6 year olds. Cutting out and making pictures is also lots of fun!

Some other classroom materials I love using when teaching 2D shape are pattern blocks and geoboards. Rotation type activities work well to allow all children to play with all of the materials in small groups.

All little people love a bit of singing in their day! Here's a great one for when you're teaching a shapes unit (sit in a big circle and all children need to have a shape in their hand to begin with).

*Tune - If you're happy and you know it

If you're holding a square stand up!

If you're holding a square stand up!

If you're holding a square, If you're holding a square

If you're holding a square stand up.

* Repeat with other shapes

Just quietly - I LOVE pentagons! Have you noticed? I'm always trying to think of new places to add them to my blog. Any suggestions?

Stay tuned for the next instalment - 3D shapes!
Lauren

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