5-7 Years Motor Skills

Any sorting set which doubles up as a small world invitation to play is such a winner in my book. The Learning Resources® Sort-’Em-Up Pups Activity Set is new for 2022, and it sure is a gooden'! In this blog, we will be sharing more about what is included in the set and the ways we have been playing with it so far.

What's Included?

I love how this set can all be stored in the cute little pup house. When you first pop off the roof to the house, you will find an orange, green, blue, and purple playpen fence, along with three varying-sized dogs in each color and a selection of paw print cards, as with most Learning Resources products, you also get a comprehensive activity guide which offers some great play and learning suggestions.

Ways to Play

My daughter is four years old, and she loves playing with animals at the moment, especially cats (bonus points if it is a cheetah) and dogs. As she was unpacking this set, she was very excited, especially as there was a little house for the dogs… and then she realized that they all had their little playpens too. The first play was about getting to know her new 'pet pups.' She carefully studied them and noticed that they were different sizes and had some differences in their features. For example, they had different colored noses, and some had polka-dots on their backs, and others didn't. It's always a good idea to encourage your child to share these differences, as this can help with language development. It also even allows them to develop scientific fundamentals such as observation, description, and analysis skills.

After all of the initial explorations of the dogs were over, it was time to start sorting. My preschooler carefully arranged the playpens and placed the colored dog families together in their pens. As she did this, she counted how many there were and commented on the size and unique features of the dogs. She was careful to line up each family of dogs in size order, biggest to smallest. It might not seem like it, but even this simple act is a way for preschoolers to develop and demonstrate early numeracy skills.

Once all of the dogs were with their families in their playpens, my daughter started to make the families interact with each other. She would make up playdates and would be chatting away in her magical world of pretend play. She finished her play session by making a stepping stone pathway for the pups to lead them back to their pup house. She used the numbered paw print cards and carefully laid them out in the correct number order. Then she let the pups take it in turns to jump along the pathway, counting the paw prints as they went. This would also work well if you added dice to the setup so that your child could roll and then move the pup that many paw print cards forwards. My little one was so engrossed in her play that I didn't want to interrupt her, so we will try that next time. She got all of the pups safely in their pup house and then proceeded to set up her playpens and pups all over again.

I'm looking forward to exploring many more ways to use this set in the future. I like that you can challenge your child to sort the pups in numerous ways because of their varying features, some more subtle than others. I'm also planning to add the pups to a sensory bin, maybe some play dirt or dyed green rice, as I know, my preschooler will love the added sensory element to the small world play. So many great ways to play and learn with the Sort-’Em-Up Pups!

Writer's Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.

Learning Resources® does an excellent job of creating products for a wide range of age groups. They focus on fine motor development for the 18 months - 4 years old age group. I have used many of these products for my children and in my preschool classroom (I teach two and 3-year-olds). In this blog, I will be sharing a little more about how I use some of my favorite fine motor Learning Resources products and their benefits to young learners.

Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog®

Spike the Hedgehog was where the fine motor journey for the 18 months plus age group started at Learning Resources. They now have 7 Spike products, ranging in color and design. The original Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog is a firm favorite with my 2s age group. The idea of Spike losing his quills and children having to put them back in his back is just the right level of fun and challenge. The colors are vibrant and lend themselves to color recognition and sorting activities. I also love how numbers are subtly written next to the holes on Spike’s back, as this opens up the opportunity for number recognition and vocabulary development. The shape of the quills enables little hands to grasp them easily, and it is no surprise to hear that toddlers love the idea of pushing the quills in and out of the holes on Spike’s back over and over again!

There is also a range of great spin-off Spike products. The Spike Puzzle Playmate has been a big hit with my preschooler, who is 4, and the two-year-olds at preschool. This one combines the excitement of matching shape pieces with the challenge of matching numbered quills. It can be fun to hide the puzzle pieces in a sensory bin as an added element of play. Another popular item is the Spike the Hedgehog Sensory Treehouse. The great thing about this product is that it naturally encourages open-ended small-world play. Children like to use the little textured hedgehogs as they would do so with small toy animals. They pretend the treehouse is their home, and they go on all sorts of fun adventures. I love seeing the collaborative play and learning that takes place! There are discussions about the shapes, patterns, and textures on the hedgehogs’ backs and numbers shown on each Hedgehog.

Dottie the Fine Motor Cow

Dottie, the Fine Motor Cow, is a fun and colorful fine motor friend who encourages pull-out and pop-in movements with five tactile dots attached to the cow. This gets little hands working hard and exposes toddlers to learning all about colors. The soft surface of the push/pull dots makes this a great starting point for fine motor play, and the fact that the actions can be repeated is also a bonus. This is an excellent option as a travel toy as there are no additional parts which, as we all know, get lost so easily!

Steggy the Fine Motor Dino

Steggy is a bright and colorful dinosaur who needs help getting his ten scales placed in his back. The scales are durable and encourage the pincer grasp to be developed. Our favorite way to extend the learning is to focus on the number order in which the scales are added. Searching for the 1-10 numbers in the correct order and then carefully organizing them on Steggy’s back can take a lot of concentration for a two or 3-year-old! We recently set up a fun ‘Search for Steggy’s Scales’ sensory bin, which involved digging the scales out of a green rice bin and then adding them to Steggy in the correct number order. We have also had some fun using the scales for color sorting activities. It helps that all of Steggy’s scales can be neatly stored inside his body when not in use.

Have you tested out any of the fine motor friends on offer by Learning Resources? Which are your favorite and why? We’d love to hear how you use them at home or in your classroom.

Writer’s Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.

Skill Builders! Hands-on Learning for Kindergarteners

Watching my son go through Kindergarten several years ago, I learned about teaching fundamental reading, writing, and math concepts. I remember being surprised at the sheer amount of repetition, but on reflection, that makes sense as a means of helping children to build lasting and robust learning foundations. As learning topics are taught for long periods at the Kindergarten age, it can be helpful for parents and teachers to have a variety of resources to support reading, writing, and Math learning. We were able to have a closer look at the Learning Resources® Kindergarten Skill Builders! Reading, Writing, and Math Sets.

Building Readers

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Reading Set encourages children to learn through quick and fun hands-on activities. The accompanying activity guide explains a range of ideas, but the materials included can be used in any way you wish. The set includes lowercase letter tiles, letter dice and word ending dice, letter frame, sight word flip cards, sight word picture, sentence cards, and a selection of paper worksheets.

The letter frame was the focal point of all three activities we did with this set. My son chose which combination of materials to use, and for the first activity, he wanted to use the sight word sentence and picture cards, the letter tiles, and the letter frame. He liked the idea of choosing a sight word card, reading the word, and then recreating it on the letter frame. As he added each letter, he told me the name and the sound it made, followed by how to blend the sounds. He liked getting to build the letter with the tiles physically, which was good for his fine motor skills. After making the sight word, he flipped over the card and read out the sentence.

My son's second activity was to use the sight word flip cards. He thought it was pretty neat that he could flip through so many words; we even used them for a fun 60-second flip and shout-out sight word challenge which he thought was fun. We then used them along with the letter tiles and letter frame to build the words as he flipped through the cards. I added an extra challenge for him by telling him a complete sentence with the sight word in it.

The final way we enjoyed this set was to use the foam letter and word ending dice to create words. My son would roll the two dice and then say the word before building it on the letter frame with the letter tiles. He liked the spontaneity of this activity.

Building Writers

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Writing Set lends itself well to actually 'building' letters, which was incredibly engaging for my son. The set includes mini letter construction pieces and corresponding cards, a write-and-wipe board, a writing prompt spinner, a Learn to Write! dry erase book and a set of Learning Resources Tri-Grip Tongs. The tongs may not seem like the most obvious item to include, but this fine motor tool is specifically designed to help small hand muscles to strengthen ready for writing. Both my kids love using them in sensory bins and for sorting activities. A detailed activity guide is also included.

My son couldn't wait to use the small construction pieces to build letters from the cards. It is really helpful how each card shows the pieces needed and how to build the upper and lowercase letters. The pieces snap together easily and are good quality. 

As he built the letters, I asked him to tell me the letter's name and what sound it makes. My daughter, who is in preschool, also enjoyed using these pieces. She liked using the write-and-wipe board, so I extended the activity by letting her also write the upper and lowercase letters that she had built on the board.

My preschooler then discovered that there was an entire dry-erase workbook. She loved going through the pages and forming the letters with a dry-erase pen. She would carefully trace each letter and then did a great job writing them by herself. I was impressed with how many different aspects of writing the book covered. She enjoyed tracing and drawing shapes, as well as numbers. Great for building fine motor skills, numeracy, literacy knowledge, and vocabulary development.

Building Mathematicians

The Skill Builders! Kindergarten Math Set comes with a solid selection of manipulatives and learning materials. The set includes two colors of MathLink® Cubes, two-sided counters, ten frames, a cardboard 100 board, paper worksheets, two foam dice, a spinner, and a selection of challenge cards using the materials included in the set.

We decided to use the 100 board for a fun board game. We took turns to roll the two foam dice, adding up the numbers and moving our counter that many spaces forward. It was a race to get to the end of the board, and both my kids loved the simplicity and excitement of this game. It was good for addition and counting skills and helping younger children navigate the tricky concepts of taking turns and winning/losing.

When my son was in Kindergarten and First Grade, ten frames were a big part of his learning. He enjoyed using the two-sided counters and challenge cards to complete addition problems on the ten frames provided. A good way to extend this activity would be to provide a pencil and paper so that your Kindergartener can write out the sum and answer, which will help with number formation.

Our final activity was to use the link cubes. As I mentioned, both my kids love to build, so they were excited to explore numeracy concepts using the MathLink Cubes. They enjoyed using the challenge cards to build and complete patterns and then making up their patterns for each other to complete. The cubes are perfect for helping to develop those all-important fine motor skills.

I'm looking forward to continuing to explore these sets with both my children. I like how varied the materials and activities are, as well as the fact that you can easily adjust the activity ideas to suit your child's needs.

Writer's Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.

Ready for the ultimate sensory math experience? Penguins on Ice™ is a highly engaging math activity set that integrates hands-on fun with a multitude of math skills. Teach counting, sorting, problem-solving, computation skills, making 10, place value, and base 10 concepts using these perky penguins and the cool blue ice bars. Keep little hands and busy brains working hard for hours of creative work and play! 

Here is what you'll need: 

- Penguins on Ice

- Water

- Sensory Bin

- Baking Soda

Can you use MathLink® cubes to make a holiday tree and present? How many cubes do you need to make each shape?

Print the Activity!

Learning Resources® has a new pretend food playset, and it sure is a good one! My kids have always enjoyed the imaginative food-based play, and one of their favorite weekend treats is a trip to the diner. Therefore, it was no surprise that the Rise & Shine Diner Set was a huge hit and led to over an hour of role-playing the first time we used it.

What's Included?

I have several of the Learning Resources pretend play food products, and they always get a lot of use both at home and in my preschool classroom. The quality is awesome, with each piece being well-designed and durable. The food pieces are also always pretty realistic, which my kids appreciate. In this particular set, you get an excellent range of food pieces and beverages, as well as some fun accessories. You get plates, bowls, cutlery, a frying pan, a spatula, and a menu. There is also a dry-erase activity placemat and order ticket, which helps to extend the play and learning. The ultimate surprise came when my little one flipped over the activity pad to discover that it doubled up as a pretend stovetop!

Exploring the Materials

It's always exciting when you first open up the box and tip out all of the contents. My four-year-old was listing off all of the food items she could see, as well as getting very excited about the frying pan and maple syrup bottle. Of course, she needed to give that maple syrup bottle a good squirt into her mouth straight away to get an energy boost! She explored all of the items, sorted them on the plates, and set up her little diner space, ready to open for business.

Placemat Activity Fun

Before the diner could open, though, she needed a little time because she loved that the placemat had activities on it, and she couldn't wait to do them. This was just like the placemat she gets given at our local diner, so she was super excited! She used a dry-erase marker to complete the maze, play a tic-tac-toe game, and do the dot-to-dot fruit drawings. I love that she was engaged in a mark-making activity even though the product is more of a pretend play toy. So great for helping her fine motor skills!

Open for Business

It was finally time for the Rise and Shine Diner to open up for business officially. My preschooler had all of the produce ready, as well as the menu easily accessible. She was the perfect hostess and even put on a funny, deep voice as she showed me to my seat and gave me the menu. She used the order ticket to write down what I wanted (I helped her with the writing while telling me some of the numbers on the prices). I love that she was being exposed to so much numeracy and literacy without even realizing it!

It made me laugh that she took on her role as a waitress with such seriousness and maturity. She would tell me what was 'in season' and what she wouldn't recommend because it had gone moldy! I think secretly; she didn't want me having any of the 'good stuff' (i.e., the pancakes, waffles, and cinnamon bun were all out of service!).

Once she had the full order, she got to work serving up my yogurt and fruit. She then cooked my hot items using the frying pan and the stovetop. She had a whole explanation for why she had to cook my bagel in a frying pan. The toaster broke at her diner, and she hadn't made enough money to replace it with a new one… I think she was angling for a big tip! I was, however, in luck because she let me have a small drizzle of maple syrup on my eggs. She told me that it was the special of the day.

I love how this Learning Resources pretend play set brought out so many different play and learning elements. There was so much more happening than just making a pretend diner. There was numeracy, literacy, fine motor development, role play, problem-solving, imagination, collaboration, and even a healthy dose of fun! This set will most definitely be a feature in our playroom over the coming months. 

Writer's Bio

Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind

Ready for a quick and intelligent Thanksgiving-themed activity that can also double as a table decoration? Try out this activity that we like to call, Feed the Turkeys! This can be created with materials around your house and will create hours of open-ended play! 

Here is what you'll need:

• Plastic or glass jar (whatever you have on hand). If you do decide to use a glass jar, make sure to supervise the play. 
• Pom-poms
• Fine Motor Tool Set
• Tape or glue
• Construction paper or colored feathers
• Googly eyes 

These turkeys can be put together in under 5 minutes! All you have to do is cut out the feathers if you decide to use construction paper. Then, glue or tape the feathers, googly eyes, and beak on. BAM! That's it. Your turkeys are ready to go! 

Skills Developed with this activity: 

• Fine motor skills
• Hand-eye coordination
• Problem-solving
• Independent play 

Interested in seeing a video of how to put this activity together? Check out our Idea Pin on Pinterest!