DIY Shavuos Flower Manipulatives!!

Wow! Har Sinai was so beautiful… all covered with flowers when Bnei Yisrael received the Torah. For the Shavuos Unit, we use these colorful flower manipulatives. They are extremely inexpensive, super easy to make and endless activities to do.

In order to do it yourself, you need to run to your local dollar store and get a FLOWER shaped swimming noodle. You’ll see they come in various shapes, colors and sizes. I picked up some with the flower shape in assorted colors. When the children are not around, using a knife and cutting board, cut the noodle about one inch apart. With just one noodle, you get so many manipulatives! I have them scattered all around the house… too many!

Here are some activities that you can do with your Little Ones and I’m sure you can come up with so many more!

Classifying - Color Sorting

I placed color tape down on the table making four boxes. I laid a different color flower on each box. Then, I gave my Little One a container full of mix colorful flowers and ask her to sort them according to the color.

Counting

On a piece of paper, I wrote numbers 1-3. Then, right over each number we piled up the corresponding amount of flowers.

Completing a Pattern

I started a pattern using two different color flowers and ask my Little One to complete it. We are just starting with patterns, but if your child is more advance you can use more colors and/or alternations.  

We are going to be using the DIY Shavuos manipulatives to make some crafts too! Come back and visit us to see what we are busy making! Im sure you wouldn’t want to miss out.

Have a Good Shabbos,

Wait! Don't Trow Away Those Macaroon Tins! (Part I)

I must admit we've been eating plenty of Matzah and Macaroons the past few days. When I was younger, we had chocolate and just plain macaroons and you either like them or like them because there wasn't much else that we could eat during Pesach. Well, not anymore! My daughters have the options to chose between Rocky Road Macaroons, Chocolate Chip Macaroons, Coconut Macaroons, Almond Macaroons, Banana Split Macaroons, Mint Macaroons..... Yes, quite a lot! Not I'm left with all these empty tins that are taken over the house! We decided to get working to put them in good use and create educational activities Now, go ahead and get your macaroon tin (I'm sure is somewhere) and get working! Here is Part I of "Wait! Don't Trow Away Those Macaroon Tins!"

Mr. Tzedakah Box

I finally have a Tzedakah Box that is adorable and perfect for a toddler. We want to make sure our kids understand the concept of giving Tzedakah, but don't necessarily have to be in contact with actual money. We removed the macaroon labels from the tin and made a little face using googly eyes, a pompom for a nose and mouth out of foam sheets. We then made two arms and hair out of foam sheets.

Instead of real money, we are using apple juice bottle caps that I grabbed from the bottle caps container I have. Here is my confession. I'm a bottle cap collector. I collect all kinds of caps and keep them in a separate container. We always try to incorporate them in some activity or other. You can hop over to DIY Aleph Bet Manipulatives to get another idea how to use bottle caps. Using a permanent marker, I wrote numbers: one, five, ten and twenty-five.

On the top, I cut out a hole the exact size of the caps. My Little Ones love feeding Mr. Tzedakah Box every morning and they like to sing the Tzedakah song too!

Wishing all of you a great week!