5 Days of Organizing Kids Toys into Centers: Manipulitives

Now that we've talked about selecting toys, the importance of & ideas for centers, as well as "dramatic play centers." Lets move on to those messy centers. You know, the ones we all dread...tiny pieces, lots of parts, and mess ones...but the ones every kids LOVES and we understand the importance of: Manipulatives!

Manipulative Center

We currently have lots of different manipulative centers in our home: Puzzles, baby toy manipulative, Playdough, etc. These toys and tools enhance children's fine motor skills and helps strengthen their hands, helps with eye-hand coördination, helps improve their writing skills. Even your pediatrician ask if they can stack 3 blocks at your well baby visit.

Block Center:

We currently have a set of large Lego blocks {multi-colored} and a small set of Jinja blocks {light wooden brown}. These are great for all ages. Just some of the possibilities for learning are: construction, transformation, measurement, spatial relationships, classification. It can even built language skill when they are asked to tell about their creation.

This is one of the most appealing toys for young children! They are versatile and appropriate for lots of age groups! Toddlers can stack cubes, kindergartners can build elaborate garages, and 9-year-olds can create a mall will tons of stores. Children of all ages enjoy playing with blocks because their open-ended allowing for countless possibilities for construction and transformation.

Blocks provide lots of learning opportunities: measurement, spatial relationships, and classification. It can even encourage language use as children talk about what they've created as well as ideas related to construction.

Board Game/Puzzle Center:

We currently have LOTS of board games. This shelf only contains the building, matching, and simple games they can do on their own. These are really better educational tools for older children with the amount of 'rules' involved with most games. But I've learned that simple games like Coodies, Hi Ho Cherrry-O, matching games, and even Candy Land can be comprehended VERY young! My 4-year-old completely understands taking turns, counting, etc. This is a center that will require more adult supervision at least in the early stages.

Puzzles are another center that with the proper training on the front end can provide for great quiet play time for little ones as theri brain sorts through all that is required to piece together puzzles. There are tons of different skill level puzzle options, so be careful not to jump in over your child's head which could just frustrate them but at the same time challenge them with harder more technical puzzles every once in a while to make sure they're not held back.

Almost anything can be a manipulative. There are TONS of infant toys out there that encourage manipulation as well as aid in teaching colors, shapes, and the like.

Low-grade supervision could lead to this but end in more lessons in sorting, identification, team work, and obedience ;0)

There are lots of other things that can be considered "Manipulitives" that I didn't mention; there are ton of outdoor activities and pretty much anything messy kids have to manipulate ;o) Some our favs: corn {rather than sand}, WATER, cooking, and good ole' dirt.