OK. So here is a change of pace. Aiden loves to be busy so I found these cool little books at Wal-Mart for just a few bucks. However, when you like to stay busy as much as he does, he can easily do a book in a day or even a few hours which can get expensive. Also, he doesn't nap that often but at his daycare, he is required to lay down and not really move for 2-2.25 hours and I needed to find him something he could do quietly and discretely.
I've heard of putting paper in page protectors and then using dry-erase markers, thereby, saving the paper. However, without a wet wipe or something similar, the page never really gets clear again. Also, erasing is hard on a page protector because they move around some (and can cause a little noise). What I decided to do was tear out pages to the books I bought and trim them slightly so I could fit 2 pages onto one page of laminate.
I have a thermal laminator an I love it. It's totally worth the money. I can't tell you how often I use it, especially since Aiden loves to stay busy with seat-work type activities. So, I laminated a bunch of sheets (I put 4 activity sheets into one page of 9x12 laminate because I also made them back-to-back) and then cut them out. After I cut them into a single page (there are puzzles on both sides of the paper), I used a hole punch at the top so I could put them all in a ring.
I actually made a few of these and keep them in various places (car, nap bag, etc.) so that we always have one somewhere. I buy the dry-erase markers with the eraser on the end so it eliminates the need for a wet wipe.
Another fun activity we did a bit ago was to build our own straw maze. I took the top of a big and taped the four corners together. I got a bunch of straws at the dollar store, a pair of scissors, and eventually tape.
We put a star where we wanted to start and finish our maze at. I then let Aiden cut up straws of various sizes. This involves fine hand coordination to cut the straw and great visual skills to have to cut the right size. I told him we could make the paths in pencil and then put the straw down but he wanted to just put the straw down right away. He cut the pieces and then I would help put glue on the straws and then he would place them or he would have me draw a glue line on the cardboard and then he would cover it with straw.
It was a fun activity. We let it dry overnight and then the next morning it was ready to go. I must admit that even though I used craft glue (which is strong than school glue), many straw pieces came off. This was also due to our 3-yr old not realizing that you have to be gentle on it and that the straw maze (we actually used a ping pong ball because it was lighter and bigger than a marble) quickly became a race track for a handful of mini-cars that we have. I taught Aiden how to put tape over the straw to keep it in place so he could fix it on his own if one came off. It's now officially a race track and parking area for our mini cars.
Feel free to let me know if you try and of these. I am always looking for activities that sneak in some education and/or occupational therapy with fine motor skills or sensory stuff.
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