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Train inspired pre-reading and maths puzzles

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These two ideas wrap up our week of trains, trains and more trains.

Idea One is to make a Sorting Train.

I’ve seen lots of lovely train sets available in shops but my daughter specifically wanted one which had open carriages  so she could take her toys for a ride, so we made our own. We used plastic box containers from the recycling bin for the carriages and attached them together with string – very simple, but just what she wanted. She loaded the train with her toy passengers and played with the train in this way for a while. We have open shelving in the playroom to encourage the children to be creative and grab their own props when they’re playing, and today the wooden blocks were chosen. I asked my daughter if she could sort the blocks into the carriages by colour – which you can see she did. This classification ability – being able to sort objects into groups, be it by colour, size, purpose – is actually a pre-reading skill. It encourages logical thinking and helps to develop visual discrimination skills. Being able to look at a selection of objects and sort them is a step on the way to looking at a selection of letters and words and being able to read them. Of course, she was just having fun! Once the train was loaded she delivered the different coloured blocks to stations around the room.

We used the wooden blocks again for Idea Two. My daughter enjoyed using felt shapes to make a train picture  yesterday, so I thought I’d make her a ‘matching puzzle‘ using our wooden blocks. On a piece of paper I lay out some blocks to make a train shape and drew round them. Then I coloured them in colours that matched our blocks.

Then I asked my daughter if she could use the tub of blocks to find the right ones to go on top of the paper picture to make a block train.

To do this she had to use lots of maths and pre-reading skills as she had to think about:

– their shape – rectangle or square?

– their size – big rectangle or small rectangle?

– their colour – red semi circle or yellow semi circle?

– their orientation – arch pointing left or right?

You could adapt this puzzle game to the shape of blocks you have and what your child likes. You might make a house picture, a face or even a random pattern. If your child enjoys jigsaws, whiy not give this a try?

Cardboard box ride-on train tutuorial

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Got a long cardboard box? Here’s how to transform it into a train, for lots of role playing fun.

We used: a rectangular cardboard box, a Pringles tube, a panettone box, some coloured paper, sticky tape, scissors, a craft knife, a small plate, a felt tip pen

Wrap the tube in coloured paper. We used sticky tape throughout for all out sticking. You could use glue and could also paint the train instead, but then you’re going to have to wait for it to dry – and 3 year olds need instant gratification!

Place the tube where you want your chimney to be and draw round the bottom with your felt pen. Then cut the circle out with a craft knife (grown-ups only, of course).

Poke the tube through the hole and you have your chimney.

Cut your other box into the shape of the cab, wrap in coloured paper and stick onto the train with sticky tape

Using the craft knife cut out a square flap to make a carriage for storing cargo and passengers. make sure you leave enough room between the carriage and the cab for the driver to sit. (We discovered later that my daughter fits inside this carriage nicely!)

Now draw round a small late and cut out some circles from  coloured paper.

Stick these along the sodes of the train to make the wheels. Count tham as you go along and talk about what shape they are.

Adding spokes onto the wheels is a good opportunity to practice pencil skills.

Link up the wheels with a different coloured strip of paper . Talk about how this rectangle shape is different to the wheels.

All aboard! Ready to roll! Choo choo!

Add some props to extend the play possibilities – a drivers hat, some passengers, some parcels to deliver.

You can introduce some letters and numbers into the play by making signs for the stations you visit. How about making a train timetable and some tickets too?

We’ve been doing some train inspired art and maths play too – come back and see the next post to have a look.

Happily shared with Today’s Creative Blog.

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Build your own toy town and road system

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Two pounds wisely invested in the local charity shop this morning means we are the pleased owners of a bag of trucks and cars. Raiding the craft box we had an abundance of cardboard packaging from mail order books, so we got busy creating our own town. Do you like it? The kids are most impressed with the flyover bridge system (although it’s a little precarious despite being reinforced with some extra cardboard underneath). I like the car wash. There was a bit of confusion with the traffic lights as I wasn’t sure if the red or green light went on top – you can tell I can’t drive – but kids assured me we’d got it right. Using the fold out book packaging turned out really well as it folds back down for storage at the end of the day. I think we’ll be adding extra buildings over the next few weeks. Why don’t you try making your own town?

If your child enjoys making this they might like to try a castle too.

Make your own street map

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To help children get to know their local comunity you can make your own street map. I’ve used this with children who were new to the area to help them feel settled in their new home, and with children starting school, to help them feel confident about the school run.

Start by taking a walk around your local community. You might want to pick a particular route that the children take regularly – to school, to the childminders, to the shops. Help your child to spot local ‘landmarks’ which they recognise on the way – a post box, a zebra crossing, a park, the house where the barking dog lives. Use a digital camera to take pictures of each landmark.your own street map

When you get home, print off the photos. Use a roll of paper (or the back of a wallpaper roll) to draw out a basic road map of your journey. It’s doesn’t have to be exactly to scale of course, and you’ll probably need to do this bit for them. Then, together tell the story of your journey – talking about all the things you pass on the way and sticking them in the right places on your map.

When you’ve finished you can use the map to play with toy cars or dolls’ house people to bring it to life.  You could roleplay situations with the child – for example  you could walk a doll to school along the route and have them say goodbye to mummy and line up to go into class. This lets your child try out situations before they occur – giving them chance to prepare themselves and become more confident in the real situation.

Next time you go on the journey keep a look out for all your landmarks and notice if any have changed.

Transport theme food

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traffic light jelly

 

If your child is transport mad you can have a fun lunch eating traffic light jelly and car sandwiches.

Your child can help to prepare the jelly so you can explore ideas of melting, dissolving and setting. Make up some red, orange and green jellies and you can create your own traffic lights.

Making a car sandwich is easy. Just use your favourite filling and cut out a simple car shape. Use cream cheese to stick circle shaped carrots and cucumber on as wheels. It’s good fun telling everyone you ate a car for lunch!

 

car sandwich

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