Simple For Mom: Magnet Set

I bought this set from Amazon a few months ago (Learning Resources Classroom Magnet Lab Kit). This set comes with all the magnetic items you see as well as activity ideas for teaching about magnets.

This has been a great activity for the children to explore and play with when I needed something simple and easy to just pull out and do. Magnets are fascinating to children, and just playing with them allows a lot of exploration. We have been very happy with this purchase. When I bought it, it was about 30 dollars and as I write the post, it is about 37 dollars. So you might try to find it cheaper if you like, or wait for the price to lower on Amazon. You never know what the prices will do :) At least I don't.

Valentine Magnets

You may have seen these around...they were quite popular around here about 4 years ago. We were learning about magnets a couple of weeks ago and I thought this would be a fun thing for my 5 and 3 year old to do.

AGE RANGE

Probably 3 or older is best. Kids, and grown ups, of all ages can enjoy this. Some 2 year olds might be able to do it (with lots of help). I decided my 21 month old was too young for this, especially because I knew my 3  year old might need a lot of help. 

SUPPLIES

• Gems (used often in flower arrangements. I found the bigger ones at Michaels).
• Magnets (small, round magnets that can hide on the back.
• Paper (we used Valentine scrapbook paper as well as plain paper to write on)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Decoupage or Mod podge 
• Foam brush
• Hot glue gun (to be used by you only!)

ACTIVITY

1. Give your child a paper and a pencil.
2. Give your child the gem to trace onto a piece of paper. 
3. Have your child cut the circle out. The nice thing is this doesn't have to be perfect.
4. Have your child use the foam brush to put the glue on the flat side of the gem.
5. Have your child put the paper on the gem so it can be seen from the front.
6. Have your child put another layer of glue on the back of the paper.
7. Let dry. It will take some time, so clean up, take a nap, play....whatever.
8. Once dry, use a glue gun to glue magnet onto the back of the paper. Let dry.
9. Put it on the fridge!

You can do this for any holiday or any other reason you want to! You could do the child's name to hold up pictures the child made, letters, numbers, shapes...endless possibilities! You can write on the circle, draw pictures, use stickers...lots of fun.

Cutting the circle out

Gluing the paper on

Magnets!

This was a fun way to teach names, recognition of family and friends to my daughter. We have quite a bit of family we don't see often, as well as people at church I wanted my daughters to start to recognize. It helped with my oldest daughter's shyness when seeing people at church and at family gatherings.
I took family/friend photos, as well as photos from our church directory, and laminated them with packing tape. I then stuck a large magnet (using magnetic tape) on the back. That way I didn't worry about a choking hazard as much. :)
We practiced sorting by children and adults, boys/girls men/women, church friends and family friends, members of the family and people that are not members of the family, hair color, daddy's family and mommy's family, etc. There's unlimited ways you can sort them. It also helped us when we got presents or cards in the mail. I could tell them, "This is from aunt ____" and then show them the picture or have them find that person's picture.

ABC Dog Food

When I was teaching elementary school, I attended a conference by Dr. Jean Feldman. One of the activities that I especially loved (as does my toddler) is Who Let The Letters Out?

This is a great way to teach letter recognition, to review letters that your child knows, and to teach letter sounds.

Materials:

*Bowl (I used a plastic bowl that resembles a dog food bowl)

*Stuffed animal (dog works well)

*Magnetic letters/numbers

Prep:

*Glue a magnet or magnetic tape to the nose of any stuffed animal.

*Pour desired letters/numbers into the food bowl

Activity:

*Let the dog "sniff" and dig his nose around in the bowl. His nose will grab the magnet on the back of a letter.

*Pull his nose out, with a letter stuck to his nose.

*If an "s" comes out, sing "Who let the S out? /s/ /s/ /s/ /s/(make /s/ sound)" to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out? "M" would be "Who let the M out? /m/ /m/ /m/ /m/!!"

*Repeat for each letter.

*After we finished, my daughter enjoyed having the letters dive back into the bowl, yelling their name or sound. "Here comes O! O! O! Here is the T! /t/t/t/t/"

Extension:

*This can be done with anything you are teaching. Just find a picture of that skill (colors, numbers, shapes, animal names, foods, family members) and put a magnet on the back of it. "Who let Aunt ___ out? Who? Who? Who? Who?"

*For older children, you can extend it and have them sort. For example, if you are working on letters, sort vowels and consonants or capital and lower case letters. Animals, sort by covering (fur, scales, feathers). Family members, sort by side of the family or male and female. The list could go on and on!

ABC Relay

Once you've started working on the alphabet with your toddler or preschooler, it's always nice to find fun ways to reinforce what has been learned. And if your toddler is like mine, burning energy is always a plus!

Ages: 1+ (I started at 18 months)

Supplies needed: Alphabet cards (like flash cards). I put magnets on the back of mine. Small basket or bucket. Even a bowl will work.

Prep Work: Hang random alphabet letters at one end of the room. I stuck mine to the fireplace since they would stick with magnets. Two will do if you are just starting. My daughter is 2 and knows her alphabet, so we do 5-8 at a time. Any more than that seems to be visual clutter for her. As she gets older she should be able to handle more letters at one time.

Activity:
1. After your letters are in place, start your child at the other side of the room. Explain that you will call out a letter and their job is to go and find the letter, grab it, run back to the "start" position and throw it in the basket.
2. Demonstrate for them.
3. You place them at the place to "start" (mine was a chair), say something like, "You are looking for the letter Y. Look for the letter Y, but don't move. When I say go, you run and get it. Ready, set, GO!"
4. They run and get it, cheer for them, repeat the letter again and again, and remind them of the goal while they are running. ("Look for the Y! Do you see it? Find the Y! Grab it! Good job! Put it in the basket!)

Variety:
*You can do this with numbers, shapes, colors. You can also make it more difficult by trying sounds with older children instead of the name. (Find the letter that makes the ssss sound.) Or look for the letter that is at the beginning of the word "dog."

*Another way is to incorporate a new movement. Dance to the D. Jump to the J. Skip to the S. Crawl to the C. Twirl to the T.