Vegetables

For Q's birthday some friends gave her a set of fruits and vegetables that come apart and then velcro back together. I put out the some of the items that we are growing in our home garden--ones that she would be familiar with. Onion, lettuce, and corn.

This brings up an important consideration when preparing materials for young children. Just because a set of learning materials or toys comes with 10 pieces doesn't mean you should put all 10 out at once! When an item is new and the child is young, I try to stick with just a few at a time. This keeps the child from being overwhelmed, eases clean-up because there are fewer items to restore, and allows the child to be more in-control of their environment. Once they have mastered the first few items, you can either add more, or switch out.

This set has about 10 more pieces that we'll save for another time.

This activity works on science skills, vocabulary (naming vegetables), fractions (each vegetable comes apart into a different number of equal pieces), and fine motor skills (putting pieces back together/taking apart).