Day 15 Montessori-inspired Christmas Holiday Activity

New Year 2017 Activity 

2016 is almost about to say good bye! And to welcome 2017 with our kids, I thought this punching activity will be fun to do. It is a good way to reinforce counting in toddlers and also introduce the New Year 2017 in a unique way. Let’s see how this activity pans out…

AGE GROUP – 18 months onwards

MATERIALS NEEDED

• 4 pieces of paper
• Toothpicks or single punching machine or anything that can poke a hole in the paper
• Pen
• Blocks or pebbles or straws or any kind of counter (optional)
• Cute little hands of your child ☺

TIME REQUIRED FOR ACTIVITY PREPARATION – 5 Minutes

HOW & WHAT TO DO

• On these 4 pieces of paper, write the digits 2, 0, 1, 7
• Ask your child to poke a hole in the respective papers counting up to the digit written on it. For example, paper with digit 2 should have 2 holes, so on and so forth.
• You can also have your child count the respective number of blocks or any counter and keep it alongside the number cards.
• This exercise also teaches the kid about zero, that it means nothing. It is as important a concept as the numbers 1,2,3.
• After all the 4 papers are done, you might want to talk about new year 2017, month names etc or whatever you want, related to new year.
• And I am sure after this activity, your child will demand more papers to just poke away holes randomly, it is such a fun activity!

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Practical life
• Fine motor
• Maths
• Hand-eye coordination
• Concentration

CAN SOME MATERIALS BE REPLACED?

As mentioned in the materials list, you can use anything that can poke a neat hole in a piece of paper. Make sure if it is pointed, you constantly supervise your child.

HOW TO TWEAK FOR YOUNGER KIDS

You can have them count the digits using any kind of counter like blocks, pebbles, pompoms, straws  or any such thing you can find at home. For kids who are still mouthing everything, you can even make them count using edible things like popcorn! Yes, you can use pretty much anything as a Maths counter ☺

HOW TO TWEAK FOR OLDER KIDS

• Let them cut the papers themselves, cutting is a great skill to master for older toddlers
• You can ask them to trace the already written digits on paper using a crayon or something
• You can also write big sized digits and ask them to poke multiple holes following the outline of the digit. This will keep them occupied for longer 😉

_{Explore the entire collection of articles: Christmas & New Year} 

_{If you are reading this article on our website and have an Android phone, please download our APP here for a more personalised experience based on your lifestage}

#earlylearning