Pencil
Exciting, easy, hands-on way to play, learn and have fun with colors,shapes, numbers and letters.
Several activity suggestions are included to keep kids coming back to this interactive fabric toy over and over again.
Page 1 - Colors
Match objects to their respective color quadrants. For younger kids (for whom you think knowing color names isn’t important), you can introduce the color names simply as a vocabulary exercise while focusing on the main activity which is - matching.
Next, to strengthen fine motor skills, demonstrate and allow the child to snap button the unicorn to rock it sideways.
Further, You can also ask the child to identify the objects on the page, name them and even weave a story around them!
Page 2 - Shapes
1) Shape sorting - A great activity for cognitive development and space perception skills.
Start with sorting shapes and matching them. A child around nine to twelve months may find circle the easiest to match and then move on to triangle, square and rectangle. Since the shapes are on Velcro, detaching them and putting them back promotes the early use of pincer grip .
For a slightly older child, you can then move to asking the child to identify the shapes, name them and even talk about its properties . How many sides does the square have? And so on.
2) Size Sorting - A fun way to understand the concept of size and sort them accordingly.
Each shape varies only in size while everything else (Color and shape) remains constant - Isolation of quality. By eliminating other elements, the child in this activity will focus only on size.
3) For older kids, talk about the snail and its shell, the body parts, animal family . Example : Snails are mollusks. This is its tentacles, its eyes, shell ... and so on.
You will love to see their wonder at the subject- admire its beauty, learn about its behavior and later on generate questions out of curiosity.
Page 3 and 4 - Counting, Numbers and Basic Math
Count on this fabric abacus for years of play and learning.
The sewn fabric base holds 10 sturdy chords and smooth, colorful beads on each chord - 55 beads in all. Grasp, Spin and Slide the beads for a visual and hands-on way to learn numbers and math concepts while simultaneously promoting fine motor skill development. There are many ways to play as skills develop.
1) Move the beads along the string while counting them.
2) Identify Numbers - Where is 7? Here! Where is 5? There!
3) Call out Numbers - What number is this? It is..Five. And so on.
4) Associate numbers to quantity - Since the numbers are detachable, count and associate the quantity to a number.
5) Sequence the numbers and learn the concept of order.
6) Perform basic Math - addition, subtraction . The +,-,= pieces can be stored in the zipper pocket at the back.
Page 5 and 6
Learn the letters of the English Alphabet in a fun and interactive way.
1) To start with , sing the A,B,C,D song while you move your finger pointing to each letter
2) Since the letters are detachable, call out a letter and ask the child to Unvelcro it.
3) Point to a letter and ask the child to identify it.
4) For older children, sort vowels and consonants.
5) Form words, conjunctions, prepositions, more words, associate objects to words and so on.
Which ever page you are on, always remember to follow your child’s lead.Observe your child and try to match the activity to their interests and skill level.