Tot Trays/Practical Work (Montessori inspired)

What do you do when you have to teach a preschooler/kindergartner or any age groupwhile you have a toddler/toddlers running around and distracting you??  This was something I had been working on for a while and now that I have come to a basic understanding and things have been working out for us, I want to share this with everyone.  This is not a new method but I learned it through online resources and also through exploring Montessori method.  I am a big fan of Montessori method where we take the lead of the children.  

Toddlers can do a lot of things which we think are not quite possible for them.  Tot trays are just a twist on Montessori inspired activities.  I use these activity trays to expose early learning skills and to simple engage my Anna's curiosity and wonder while I do school with George.  The trays are rotated often, using the same materials in different ways and with different twists.

Most of these items are not expensive and many items can be found at home itself.  I have only bought a bunch of stuff from Dollar tree just to get things started.  I would say it took me almost 3-4 months to collect everything and start using the tot trays with Anna during our school hours.  The following are the main ideas I go by for Tot Trays: Pouring, transferring, Beading, spooning, sorting, matching, cutting, gluing, simple arts/crafts, stickers, fine motor muscle skills etc.  

Transferring

Stickers

Matching

Transferring

Spooning

Arts/craft

Pouring

Puzzles/Matching

I arrange the tot trays ahead of time so that when we start school I don't have to run around and find things

Sorting

Beading

Extra items I add which are available at home already

George loves to join in and sometimes begs if he could do it because it is so much fun

Motor skills

Magnetic toys

Spooning

Sorting

Using the stuff I already have at home

Using skinny objects like straws to put into small spaces 

Counting

Using cutips to fill up the small spaces in a Parmesan bottle

Coloring

Beading

Good muscle/motor skills

Pouring

Sorting

From the above pictures I hope you can understand the different ways in which I keep reusing the same concepts in different ways.  We also have to keep switching items and alternate it every week so that kids don't get tired of it.  Some of the trays Anna does not even touch and she is free to pick which ever activity she likes to do.  The only rule is to keep the things in tray.

I love this idea and really want to encourage others to do this also.  It is a bit of work in the beginning but once you have most of the items collected you can start and it gets really easy.  We have to keep our eyes open stop throwing away some cans and cereal boxes etc so that it could be used for ideas for the tot trays.  When you go shopping keep your eyes open for things on sale and be creative.

Once again I want to stress that it took few months to come up with all the items needed for Tot tray activities.  So don't rush or don't feel like you have to get it all at once.  Take your time and explore with your kids with stuff that you already have at home and then build on it.