So, I finally gave myself a pat on the back because I manage to complete number activities of 1-10 with Umar two nights ago. It was like an achievement which seems forever to complete because besides counting with him randomly as I go up or down the stairs of any sorts (multi-storey carparks, overhead bridges and malls), counting coins as we insert them into our froggy-bank and counting to 10 while playing hide-and-seek, there was not much counting done formally. Now, not only he can recognize the numbers 1-10 but he can relate the numbers to counting which I feel is more important when it comes to numbers. I know I have a gazillion numbers to go but give me a breather while I think of what to do for the rest of the numbers. 😛
How come it took so long? Firstly, I am ill-disciplined. One week I can be very enthusiastic and do preparations way in advance for the upcoming week’s activities while another week, there are barely any activities to do because my mind was simply flooded with work. Work is definitely of no excuses but.. … ok.. no buts!!!
So here are the list of activities and reflections I did with my darling Umar Khalif. I revisited some craft activities and to my surprise, things have changed. I am glad I revisited them because his past fears are something he loves doing now. 🙂
The sandpaper number cards were bought from Little Muslim Readers while those heeeyuge poms-poms were from my all-time favorite store- DAISO. The last time Umar met poms-poms were perhaps a year ago when I was still doing #FuntabulousFridays. I used a sticky paper for this. The first time Umar saw this and realized the sticky texture of the paper as well as the fluffy and ticklish texture of the poms poms, he literally took a few steps back. So I started showing him that he can pull the poms-poms off the sticky paper and throw it around like a ball. I even threw it at him, playfully of course. Only when I relate it to a ball, he was more willing to play around at the sticky board.
During this week, all of our activities involves glue. It was glue-with-anything week. Prior to this week, I was quite anxious because of his history towards paint. He dislikes paint and he seems icky about it. I revisited it anyway just so to see if he still have adverse reactions towards it. Luckily, he didn’t. In fact, he goes on and on with the glue and after that the poms-poms. I was really glad too that poms-poms are one of the things he likes playing with right now.
So this was the outcome of it all for 4,5 and 6. 😀
Thanks to the husband, while looking at his 4, 5 and 6 artwork, he thought it will be a better idea if I infused something he really enjoys most – BALLS. Of course, I jumped to the idea the weeks that followed because I do have a tub of foam stickers that came in various types of balls – baseball, football, tennis ball, rugby – you name it!
Right after number 7 activity, I had a lot of extra little poms-poms left and he decided to play with it. I quickly found some expired pasta, placed everything in a pail and did a sorting activity. That gave me time to store other craft materials and clean up any mess.
The next activity involving Number 10 will be a lengthy, lengthy reflection from me! This ice-paint lollies activity is a re-visited activity. He did this perhaps a year ago too. He really loves water in all of the 3 states – ice(solid), water(liquid) and water vapor(gas). (definitely, not steam. I do not want to try either.)
Ok anyway, we tried colored ice-cubes using food coloring. He enjoyed that activity so much he sucked on the ice-cubes. #FuntabulousFridays. But when it came to ice-paint lollies, he was not THAT interested. He was done in 5 minutes flat because he was icky with the paint that was oozing from the frozen paint cubes.
This was him barely 18 months and was introduced with iced-paint lollies.
When I present him with the tray, I was anxious (yes, I get anxious easily) to see his reactions. To my surprise, he took the iced-paint lollies very positively and spent close to an hour with this activity. That explains the MANY photos that followed after these. Not only he found it interesting to paint with but he also found other play activities for himself which I felt, it was a good time invested with minimal resources.
Soon after, I found him having sensorial play touching the ice-cubes and painting with his fingers. In between he went “cooooold” with his shoulders quivering. 😀
Then, he started squeezing the ice and trying to pull the ice apart from the ice-cream sticks and throwing it back to the tray to make music.
He also started to attempt to cut the iced-paint with his ice-cream sticks. Even after many failed attempts, he still continues to do it. Of course, the iced-paint lollies started to splutter all over the place.
Oh! Even the walls were not spared but I am the least disturbed because:
1. It’s ice!! Water. What is so hard to clean water. 2. Water is mixed with Crayola Washable Finger Paint.
For once, (ok many times) I was a ‘cool cat’. All I needed was a clean wet cloth to wipe it off. It was a biiiiiiit hard to wipe off the dirt off the wall because my wall has those tiny stones on it making it uneven. Thus, it was harder to wipe with just a swipe.
Of course, him, seeing me with a WET (spells: water) cloth, he insisted to have his own wet cloth. I cannot help but to offer him a wet cloth too so cleaning did not feel too alone.
I would say the last activity ended with a bang because he explored more than one type of play on his own and beyond my imagination. It taught me a lot of things and one of which is to allow Umar more room for exploration because no two minds are the same although “I’ve been there, done that!”. Of course, after this, I will definitely relook at the previous activities I did with him and revisit them when I can because I will never know if it brings him a different kind of joy this time round. ♥ ♥ ♥