And for N

My littlie N does not get forgotten in all of this. He is a smart little cookie too, however his attention span is pretty much that of a butterfly. He likes to flit from one task to another, sometimes staying for a while, others last around a minute.

It makes it hard to keep him entertained sometimes but also means I have taken it as a personal challenge to find activities that keep his attention for at least ten minutes. Many of the activities I have found are Montessori-inspired. I used these activities quite a lot with C before he started school and started showing more of an interest in traditional work books and activities. That's not to say he doesn't enjoy the Monte stuff still! And he loves to "teach" N how to do the different activities.

A lot of my ideas are found on Pinterest or on my friend Kate's blog What do you do all day?. Kate is a wonderful mother and an inspiration to me! She has two littlies whom she spends countless hours setting up Monte-inspired and creative activities for. Check out the blog and you too will be inspired!.

So today N was on a bit of a rampage, pulling out, or attempting to, every draw in our play room in an attempt to find something that would take his fancy. I quickly intervened as he was about to pull the third large tub onto the floor and found some pompoms which I know he adores. I quickly set up the following activity:

I usually use a bigger tray, but this was a lot quicker to get with N tugging on my leg :)

So the aim of this activity is to move the pompoms from the container to the bowl using the tongs. It is great for teaching left-right movement and also for giving those little hand muscles a work out, both of which are important for future writing.

So N started off with the tongs, and I helped him to squeeze the tongs around the pompom, lift the tongs, move to the bowl and release the tongs. I repeated this three times, and then watched him try to do it, reminding him to squeeze and release. He soon got the hang of it.

Of course, being N, this activity lasted one round, before he decided to change the rules. He ran over to his play food tub and grabbed a wooden spoon, which he then used to transfer the pompoms again. Again this works on the left-right movement and also holding a spoon correctly to ensure the pompoms don't roll off.

N is one of those kids who likes to eat with utensils, in fact would prefer to eat a sandwich with a fork then his hands, so this was not too challenging for him. The challenge was getting him to pack away- something we are STILL working on!

This is a great activity for the littlies but just remember to keep an eye on them so none of the pompoms are accidentally inhaled or swallowed.