and screwdrivers, and safety goggles enabled the children to practice not only their hand-eye coordination, but also fine motor skills and patience as well.  It took  several tries for most to get the screwdriver to stay once they put it on top of the screw.  When they really got going turning the screw into the board, it was as much fun to then unscrew it and start over again.  They also learned to match the right screwdriver to the right screw, and learned their names such as a phillips or flat head.  

Currently out is a touchy feely sensory experience.  We’ve hung up large camel and king cutouts with a variety of fur, velvet, dried beans and other materials glued on for the children to rub their hands over to see if they can guess what they might be feeling, and ask questions like is it rough, smooth, soft, hard, scratchy or bumpy.

Starting this month at math is geometric shapes.  These are very popular colored wooden pieces shaped like circles, squares, triangles and rectangles which have a pin hole through the center.  Accompanying them are corkboards, small tacks, and a wooden hammer.  There is a picture sheet to follow if they choose, or they can create their own geometric design.  This not only helps with hand-eye coordination, but also learning colors and shapes and using their imagination to create their own picture. 

Currently out are Geoboards, another way for the children to learn their shapes.  They are square shaped looms with little nails on them and colored rubber bands for stretching over the nails in various ways to create triangles, squares, rectangles and more!

Christmas time, what better activity than to create your very own Christmas cards!  The children are enjoying using colored markers and pencils to decorate cards for those they love.  Some children are able to write their  own names and even a few other words such as Mom, Dad, and Love.  Some are interested in learning to write “Merry Christmas”, while others are quite content scribbling or drawing a picture.  It’s all about being happy working at your own developmental level.   

The children have enjoyed purple and currently red playdough this month.  They used turkey cookie cutters and made a variety of turkey cookies, pancakes and pizza!  Yum!  Currently they have been using a manual playdough machine that makes different shapes by squeezing the playdough  through stencils.  What fun!  There’s also an attachment they have to push down very hard on to make hair grow.  They then cut it with scissors.  They are enjoying this so much while strengthening their hand muscles and conversation skills.  Up next, green playdough with glitter!  

The sensory table was “bubbling” over with fun this month as the children were very busy and serious washing dishes.  There was a soapy bucket and a rinse bucket with a variety of washcloths and dishes in the table.  There was also a strainer and dishtowels  available.  What great dishwashers we had!  It didn’t take the children long to learn the process of soaping, rinsing and drying.  Others just enjoyed the water play!  Currently we have sand with camels and trees available in the table to reflect the story of Christ’s birth.  Next in the