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tenderhearts 02:13 PM 03-13-2017
Does anyone have any really fun engaging table activities for 2-3 yr olds? We do puzzles, playdough, coloring, I have different lacing, color matching and NON of them engage any of them for very long. It's very frustrating. New ideas would be helpful
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daycare 02:56 PM 03-13-2017
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
Does anyone have any really fun engaging table activities for 2-3 yr olds? We do puzzles, playdough, coloring, I have different lacing, color matching and NON of them engage any of them for very long. It's very frustrating. New ideas would be helpful
how about stacking cups? we did a dr seuss activity with the red solo cups. You place one solo cup upside down, then place a paper plate, then cup, plate, cup, and so on. It was soooo much fun. it was red and white striped.
or what about peg boards with numbers. my littles can't read the numbers but love putting the pegs together or putting them in the boards.

we have transfer boxes. basically one box with a little box to deposit the items in with tweezers. Our older kids get small objects to transfer and our younger kids get the pom or cotton balls. We have those little alligator tweezers that work well. It's kind of like quiet time boxes that we use when the kids wake up and others are still sleeping
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Ariana 03:16 PM 03-13-2017
Have you ever heard of Job Trays? They are pretty cool. I am sure you could google it or look for it on Pinterest for some ideas!
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daycare 03:44 PM 03-13-2017
Originally Posted by Ariana:
Have you ever heard of Job Trays? They are pretty cool. I am sure you could google it or look for it on Pinterest for some ideas!
thats pretty much what we have, I just didn't know what they were called....lol
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Unregistered 05:36 PM 03-13-2017
I have a math/small motor shelf with homemade games as well as store bought games.

Some of my games follow

I have those thick, bigger erasers from the dollar store ( two or three sets) that revolve around holidays. Kids use them in different ways....sort Into piles, make patterns, stand them up, etc.

Geo boards

Peg boards

Magna tiles

A kool whip container, holes in lid, golf tees .....kids push the gold tees in the holes

Pringles can, four slits in lid that are outlined with perm. Marker. (4 colors). Popsicle sticks colored on the ends with the colors of the slits. They love to push the sticks in. Older kids can match colors younger can just push sticks in.

Clink can....metal coffee can, slit in lid, metal juice kids with a sticker on each side....they love to drop those lids into the can!

Sorting tray with larger bear counters. They sort by color

Magnetic wands and magnet disks....they love these!

Melissa and Doug latch board

That plastic Oreo game where they match the sides and the snap together...don't know if they still make this game.

Two small bowls, large plastic kid tweezers and/or tongs, different size Pom pons to transfer Pom pons.

Pipettes or eye dropper, tray, small bowl of water, one empty bowl

Take 2 sheets of matching stickers and place on construction paper, cut out, laminate, stick on sticky back magnetic strip-store in small plastic bowl.....add a small cookie sheet. Kids find the sets and place on cookie sheet or they may just experiment with this game putting pictures in a row, etc. onto the cookie sheet.

The list goes on and on!

I have these on a small three shelf bookshelf. They choose a game/activity, engage in activity, and put it back and take another. My kids will engage in table activities like this for 15-20 minutes.

I change things out about once a month. Some items stay on the shelf for many months because the are so popular!
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rosieteddy 06:31 PM 03-13-2017
My kids loved mr potato heads and mellissa and doug wooden dolls with clothes .Also matching games and special puzzles.
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Baby Beluga 07:24 AM 03-14-2017
Mine are now a bit older than yours, but a few of our table favorites have always been:

Transferring corn meal from one container to another with a spoon.

Transferring different food items from one container to another with tweezers (think fruit loops, marshmallows, jelly beans, pom poms, cotton balls, etc).

Putting dry spaghetti into the holes of a colander (the LOVE this one)

Stickers and/or stamps

Play dough (I print off play dough mats pertaining to our theme and that seems to increase interest a bit)

Dry erase sheets - I print off and laminate sheets to make them last. We have traced letters, numbers, shapes, lines, etc depending on the child's age and ability.

Forming letters or numbers with objects (again think fruit loops, marshmallows, jelly beans, pom poms, cotton balls, etc)

Lacing cheerios onto dry spaghetti. You place a stick of dry spaghetti into a small ball of play dough to anchor it to the table then give the child a small bowl of cheerios.

For the coloring - what materials are you using? I found with my group if I gave them crayons they didn't color for very long. Markers or colored pencils they will color forever with though. Just a thought
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tenderhearts 08:08 AM 03-14-2017
Thanks for all the ideas. I like the job trays. Last year I made a box full of different activities and put them in zip lock bags,
so each zip lock bag has a different activity. There is dry erase tracing, foam patterns ect. but they literally all get one out dump their bags then they get mixed up and then they only want to do it for a two minutes, it's frustrating. I want them to be engaged longer in an activity.
I think I'm going to look up the job trays.
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Baby Beluga 08:13 AM 03-14-2017
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
Thanks for all the ideas. I like the job trays. Last year I made a box full of different activities and put them in zip lock bags,
so each zip lock bag has a different activity. There is dry erase tracing, foam patterns ect. but they literally all get one out dump their bags then they get mixed up and then they only want to do it for a two minutes, it's frustrating. I want them to be engaged longer in an activity.
I think I'm going to look up the job trays.
If they are doing that is it possible they aren't ready for table activities? Maybe instead of trying table activities they would do better with sensory bins where they can dump?
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tenderhearts 09:15 AM 03-14-2017
I think they would be ready they are almost 3 yrs and 4 1/2 yrs.
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Baby Beluga 09:23 AM 03-14-2017
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
I think they would be ready they are almost 3 yrs and 4 1/2 yrs.
I agree with that, I've also had some kids surprise me with what I thought they would be ready for but weren't. It's frustrating for sure!
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Ariana 09:49 AM 03-14-2017
Originally Posted by tenderhearts:
Thanks for all the ideas. I like the job trays. Last year I made a box full of different activities and put them in zip lock bags,
so each zip lock bag has a different activity. There is dry erase tracing, foam patterns ect. but they literally all get one out dump their bags then they get mixed up and then they only want to do it for a two minutes, it's frustrating. I want them to be engaged longer in an activity.
I think I'm going to look up the job trays.
There might be a reason behind it. Are you trying it too early in the morning when they are apt to be more excited or hyper? Maybe pick a time when things are more subdued? I find my guys are much quieter after nap towards the end of the day.
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Pestle 10:10 AM 03-14-2017
We do Montessori-style activities so it's almost all table activities. It works for all ages as long as they can stand, but it doesn't work for all personality types. I had a nearly-4yo here for just a couple of weeks before it became clear she wasn't a fit for the program--kept flinging the activities around, knocking things off the table when other kids were working on them, etc.

Here; I just grabbed the trays I had within reach:
-Sand tray for letters (age 3 and up)
-Large beans and whisk broom (toddlers can handle this)
-Baster and bowls for transferring water (some toddlers, but most just want to dump other stuff into the water)
-Pompoms and bowls for color sorting (toddlers)
-Trays to sort animals into land- and water-dwelling (3 and up)
-Flower arranging activity (toddlers)

Some of them are for toddlers and some for preschoolers. I start with the basic ones--activities that build color recognition, pincer grip, etc.--and give them more advanced activities as they're able to comprehend the goal.
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Pestle 10:42 AM 03-14-2017
Okay, just one more.
-Small cream pitchers with beans to practice pouring
-Tongs for transferring pompoms from one dish to another
-Tray (can also use muffin tin) with bowl of ping pong balls and a strainer. The kids love this one but it's another water-based activity so it needs close supervision and some of them aren't allowed to use it until they can control their urge to dump out the water

All of these are great for toddlers. We use isolation of quality: as you practice a skill, you eliminate extra features that complicate the lesson. So when they're working on transferring pompoms, I give them just one color and size, so they're focused on the fine motor skills required to use the tongs and not on color recognition or relative size/scale of the pompoms. When the goal of the activity is clear, the kids are able to tell when they've successfully completed the activity (self-correction) and are less likely to abuse the materials. There's exactly one ping pong ball for each compartment, so if there's an empty compartment, they start looking to see if they dropped a ball on the floor, left one in the bowl of water, or accidentally put two balls into one compartment.
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tenderhearts 04:48 PM 03-14-2017
thanks for the tips. They do table activities between circle time and lunch. After nap time would not be a good time. I have one almost 3 yr old who is so much whinier after nap. Its sometimes is rough making it through till his mom comes.
I did discover he LOVES puzzles now so I think I need to add in a few more 24 piece ones as some of mine are getting old. Didn't realize that since none of them have been interested in them for months.
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ColorfulSunburst 10:33 AM 03-15-2017
- Working with scissors (2-3yo cut play-doh, 3 and up can cut paper.)

- drawing on small black chalkboards and erasing a drawing with a wet paint brush
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Tags:sensory bins, sensory table, table activities
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