Color Sorting

I admit that Lyssie doesn't get nearly the amount of one-on-one time as Robbie did when he was her age. Of course, he was our only child - and he was a first child. I used to do a lot of projects and activities with him which I think has helped him excel in school. So the other day, I decided to sit down with Lyssie and play with some buttons.

I pulled out the buckets I had purchased for a game at her polka dot party, turned them over so that the objects would be closer to her and so she could see them without having to look inside the bucket, and we started sorting buttons (and whatever else I've collected in thebox) by color. These buckets are great - they are a manageable size for indoors, they come in a rainbow of colors (red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue and pink) and so far, they haven't cracked (knocking on wood).

The kids love buttons any time I pull them out. They can play for HOURS with the box of buttons... I just risk them getting scattered around the room (sometimes a risk I'm willing to take). I've collected (obsessively) enough buttons that it has become a bit of a sensory box. Running your hands deep in the button box is irresistible. So Lyssie had to bury her hands a few times before we could begin sorting.

She knows her colors really well already. But I think the sorting does more than help with color identification. We talk about the shape of the button, if it's bigger or smaller than others, if is shiny, dark or light, etc. It's great at helping her with her language. When we are talking one-on-one in the relaxed environment she listens to my words more attentively and I find her occasionally repeating a word if it sounded different when I said it than when she said it. And it's fun to give her the one-on-one attention that she doesn't normally get with us.

I really need to make more of a point of spending this time with her in the mornings.I think we both enjoyed the time equally. I pulled this box out in the morning when Robbie was at school and he and Lyssie played with them until dinner. It was a win-win