Here Kitty!

 Presentation:  Shape Sorting

Now that the holidays are over...

(It's time to get back to some Lab Work.)

Handing out kitty crackers?  

Nope....he's sorting Hello Kitty Pins!

A New HapaLab tool.
Re-purposed.
Our favorite kind.
Found this random bag of Hello Kitty Broach Pins at our Group Yard Sale.  There were around 40 pins in 5 different shapes, each with a country and it's national flower on the face.  The shapes include:  Square, Circle, Butterfly, Large flower, Small flower.  We just threw all the pins into a cloth bag (a cinch sack that held my Singapore Airline slippers in flight once), found a tray, and a new tool is complete for the lab.  Cost:  Free.
 

The Goal:
1)  Shape sorting  & counting
2)  Blind recognition of shapes thru touch

The Set Up:
1)  A tray
2)  A cloth bag
3)  A set of shapes (could be blocks, cards, anything else that has various shapes)

The Presentation:
1)  Ask child to bring the tray
2)  Reach into the sack
3)  Take out one pin
4)  Place each new shape in it's own row
5)  Go down the line, from left to right, matching the shape to each row.
6)  Only put it down when it reached the matched row.
7)  When done, ask the child to count how many of each shape they have.
8)  Replace all pins back into the bag.
9)  Can do this again and ask the child what shape they have before they pull it out of the bag (tool extension).

Sorting the shapes.

This was a no-brainer set up and a great pay off!  Zozie instantly liked it because of all the cute Hello Kitty pictures on the pins.

Also, he liked how I said the flowers and names of the countries.  A visually intriguing tool that quickly engaged him in active play learning.  Just what we needed.

what's next?

they are SOOO pretty, mama!

The Prize.
At the end of the exercise, Zo likes to select ONE pin to wear as his "prize."  This selection process keeps him looking and noticing every pin, evaluating the flowers and the costumes that each Hello Kitty has on.  These are all factors that help him come up with his end winner.  Sometimes it's a particular combination of shape, color, and motif...whatever it is, I'm just glad he's enjoying the mini-geography trip around the world!

See the Kitty(s) in Action: