Exploring Stickers
We're really into stickers at the moment. I even took them in my bag of tricks to entertain August on the flight to Christchurch. They're a sticky, colourful novelty and I'm here for it - they keep him entertained for ages. Plus I know all that peeling and sticking is great for his fine motor development.
WHICH STICKERS?
Head to your nearest $2 store. Choose stickers that are puffy/ raised / not totally flat. They're stiffer and easier to grab. You can teach your little one to bend the paper under them and they magically begin to peel off. Choose high interest images - we have animals and palm trees!!
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Talk about what's on the stickers and where you're sticking them. Yep - August sticks them on all our furniture. They come off - any residue comes off with sticky stuff remover. His learning is more important than being scared of a bit of sticky stuff! Talk about locations like on top of, next to, on the left, on the right, under, in.
BARRIER GAMES
Who's heard of barrier games? It's basically where you both have the same set of resources and a screen/barrier between you. You take turns telling each other what to do with the resources then pull the screen down to see if you both did the same / copied correctly. Excellent for positional language development. Stickers are great for barrier games with older kids - buy two of the same and put a tall book between you or sit back to back. Take turns telling each other where to put a sticker, e.g. "Find the biggest monkey and stick him on the giraffes head". Check at the end to see whether you made the same picture.
Has your little one explored stickers?this one's too easy not to try. Let me know how it goes.
