Archive for tinytotschool

7 fun ways to practice pincer grip

/ Erin / 2 comments

Practicing the pincer grip is so important for little kids. The earlier they start practicing the better! And the great thing is, there are so many fun and interesting ways to get them to practice!

Why is the pincer grip so important? It’s the starting point for proper pencil grip, playing a musical instrument, and dressing themselves. Buttoning a button would be impossible without a good pincer grip.

 

 

1. Chopsticks
Beginner chopsticks are a great way to practice the pincer grip, and kids love using them! An added bonus – my boys tend to eat more and for longer periods of time when they are using the chopsticks!

This is the one that Baloo chose:
Hog Wild Zoo Sticks – Toucan (10500)

I couldn’t find Royal’s on there (his is a race car) but there are many more options.  If you search for Hog Wild on Amazon.com you will see farm animals, fish, dinosaurs, etc!

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Of course chopsticks don’t have to be restricted to just food. You can easily make a transferring game using chopsticks!  Here I had Royal transferring and sorting red and blue pom poms with the chopsticks.

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He was proud that he picked the blue one up!  You’ll have to forgive his messy face!

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2. Transferring and small objects
Logi-Bear loves rocks and water containers, so I encouraged him to put the rocks into the water container. Picking up the rocks and then putting them through the small hole is great pincer practice. Logo-Bear managed to get quite a few rocks in too!

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And when he finished getting the rocks in the container he loved banging it around!

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Of course transferring rocks doesn’t have to be an outdoor activity!  Logi-Bears loves to do it inside too!

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3. Crafts
Most crafts will somehow involve the pincer grip but there are some easy ways to make sure you get practice in. My boys always love using glitter. Instead of letting them shake it out, I like to put it in a cup and have them pinch it. Sequins or little gems work really well for pincer grip practice too!

 

This particular craft was part of Royal’s Terrific Truck ABCs.  He was sprinkling cheerio dust onto his A. 

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4. Short crayons or chalk
Kids seem to naturally hold pencils/markers/crayons with a fist. One way to prevent that is to cut them down so they are short, about an inch or 2 long. Then they will automatically hold the pencil with a pincer grip.

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Short crayon:

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I’m tempted to just break all of our crayons, but I cannot bring myself to do it.  Luckily for me, I guess, Royal has a tendency to break every crayon he touches.

 

5. Straws and water play
My boys all love water play. Anytime they can just play with water they are thrilled. They’ve been known to spend over an hour playing in a sink before!

On this day I gave them a bucket of water and straws and showed them how to pinch the straw so the water would stay in it.  They tried to transfer some water, but were mostly just interested in why pinching the straw let the water stay in the straw. 

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6. Toys
We just got this awesome doorbell house toy for Royal’s 3rd birthday and we all love it! There are 4 doors, each with its own key and doorbell. And there are 4 little people whose colors coordinate with the doors.

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Using the keys is great pincer practice, and so much more!  For Royal and Baloo, it is matching practice as well.  Each key is marked with the number of the door, so you can match that way, or just look at the shape of the key and match it to the keyhole.  Plus Royal likes to put the people in the door with the color that matches their outfits. 

  

Pincer grip at work!10-05-06 596

 

So many toys are great for the pincer grip, and this is just one example.  Since the pincer grip involves many small objects, I particularly like that this one doesn’t! 

 

7. Lacing and making necklaces
Lacing is great for the pincer grip, but not all kids enjoy lacing. So far none of mine do. They really enjoy making necklaces or bracelets though!  We like to make necklaces with beads (especially the lettered ones), pasta, cheerios, and cut up straws!  The straws are a bit more difficult for Royal but a great exercise for Baloo!

Here is Royal giving it a try…

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Baloo had a bit more luck with it though. Picture 005 

Royal was disappointed that he couldnt finish his, but Baloo stepped right in and gave him the necklace he made.  These boys warm my heart!

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What are your favorite ways to practice pincer grip with your kids?

Category: 12 months, 3 years, 5.5 years, baloo, fine motor, LogiBear, preschool, Royal, tinytotschool, tot school /

Tiny Tot School – the great wipe pull

/ Erin / 3 comments

Logi-Bear is 9 months old

I saw this idea on Pinterest recently and couldn’t get it out of my mind.  I’ve had many a container of wipes pulled out and I understand that for some reason, babies and toddlers love to pull wipes out of a container.  But let’s face it, it’s not the best idea to spend money on wipes just to have your child pull them out and leave them strewn all over the house! 

But now, thanks to I Can Teach My Child, there is a much better alternative!  Using cloth wipes/rags instead of disposable wipes!!  This is one of those “oh duh!” moments for me.

I did mine slightly different than hers, since I think part of the magic is that a new wipe appears when you pull one out.  How fun!  And it can easily be done with cloth wipes too – it’s just all in the folding.  Start by laying out one cloth.  (I steal my husbands old white shirts to refuse as rags, and that’s what I am using here)
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And fold down the top third.
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Take your next piece of cloth and lay it on top of the folded down third of the first cloth.  Line up the bottom of the new cloth with the top of the first cloth (that has been folded down).
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Now fold up the bottom third of the first cloth.  It should be overlapping the second cloth.
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Next fold down the second cloth as far as possible.  Now you’’ll take a third cloth and line it up in the same fashion.
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Continuing folding and overlapping until you have a neat little stack.
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Then put the rags into your container and fish the first one through the hole.
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Close the top and you are all ready!
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You can now let your child go nuts and not worry about wasting wipes!
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Logi-Bear was not nearly as fascinated with this as I thought he would be.  He actually seemed kind of weary about the whole thing.  Right after that picture he started crying and wouldn’t only look at the container if he was in my lap.

Royal however was quite intrigued!

I’ve also discovered that this method isn’t as reliable as regular disposable wipes.  The slower you go the better it works though.

Category: 9 months, LogiBear, tinytotschool /

Tiny Tot School – the introduction

/ Erin / No comments

Logi-Bear is 8 months old

logancrawl
Logi-Bear just turned 8 months old and while I don’t intend to do anything with him formally, I do plan on doing some purposeful play.  We’ll be singing songs, working on fine and gross motor skills, baby sign, and hopefully just having a lot of fun!

This is the 2nd time we’ve tried the swings, but this time he actually enjoyed it!  Perhaps because Royal was pushing him (and that, apparently, is hilarious!)
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Our stacking pegs were out this week and Logi-Bear really took to them.  He would carry one in his hand wherever he went.  So I got a few together and put them in a bin for him.  He spent a long time picking them up, investigating, and putting them back in. 
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Here he is interrupting tot school for Royal.  He is so much fun to have around but he’s really starting to get into everything! 
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Do you have any baby activities?  Feel free to share a link in the comments!

Category: 8 months, LogiBear, tinytotschool /
 
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