Tissue Paper Butterfly, Sound Cylinders, and Learning Poster

Hello everyone. We are still getting settled in from moving and unfortunately learning activities have been slow. Today, I thought I'd do a post about tissue paper butterfly, learning poster, and sound cylinders.

Tissue Paper Butterfly
I am a huge fan of recycling material to make fun projects to do with Zhana. Here is an idea of what to do with tissue paper received in a gift bag. This project is perfect for our little toddlers. It is super cheap, easy, and an activity that is easy for them to do.

1. First of all gather about 3-4 different colors of tissue paper. Next cut them into squares about 3x3.

2. Search the web for a butterfly to print out. Then of course cut it out.
3. Next twist the pieces of tissue paper and dip it into some glue and randomly apply to the butterfly. Voila-you have a tissue paper butterfly.

Learning Poster:

When Zhana and I begin working on a new theme we generally make a learning poster. On the poster we put letters she is learning, number of the week, color of the week, animal of the week, and so on. It really helps to enforce what she has learned. She enjoys having the poster and will often go into her room, point to the pictures, and state what is up on the poster. Try to keep the poster in a highly visable place so your child can refer to the poster and concepts often.

Sound Cylinders:

One of the easiest Montessori activities you can make on your own is sound cylinders. I simply take 3 pill bottles and put 3 different materials inside of the bottles. Try to choose material that sound markedly different to begin with. In the bottles below I have sand, pebbles, and pennies.

What to Do With Them: 1. Name the material for the child, “Sound Cylinders”. 2.Take out each cylinder, one at a time, and place them in a horizontal line (left to right) 3. Pick-up the first cylinder on the left and shake it. 4. Return the cylinder to its place. 5. Pick-up each of the remaining cylinders, one at a time, and shake them. These bottles are see through-as Zhana gets older and better at this I'll use containers that she can not see through.

You can also have the child close their eyes and shake the bottles to produce sounds going from soft to loud. Make sure you use language such as loud, louder, soft, softer, and so on...

I haven't made a set of 12 cylinders (red and blue) yet but it is on my to-do list. For this you have one set of 6 cylinders with red tops and another set of 6 with blue tops. The sounds in the red set match their counterpart in the blue set. Each cylinder in their sets make a different sound when shaken ranging from loud to very soft. Currently, I'm saving up more containers so I can complete this project. I already have the different sounds I'll be using which include sand, pebbles, tiny bells, pennies, lentils, and screws. I have some garage sale dots to put on the bottom of the cylinders so that Zhana can check her own work.

This activity helps to develop auditory discrimination which in turn helps with language acquisition and judgement ability. They help to isolate different sounds an orient the child to the sounds around them.

If you don't want to make your own (which I cant imagine why you wouldn't when you can make them for free in comparison for paying $30+ dollars for them) they can be purchased from Montessori catalogs. For example, the sound cylinders pictured below are from Montessori and Such for $37.50.