Madison finally did it! She was able to string the fruit loops on the necklace all by herself. We have been working on this activity daily for about 2 weeks. The first time it just turned into a sorting by color activity, which was great, but I wanted something that would challenge her. She doesn't like things that take concentration, require detail, or anything where she needs to stay still for a bit. (i.e. coloring and puzzles.) I wanted an activity that would to help her focus, calm down, and practice some fine motor skills.
Everyday I poured about 20 fruit loops on the table and helped her string them on yarn. When she got all of them on the yarn she was allowed to eat them. At first, I held the yarn (I taped the end!!) while she worked on putting the fruit loop on. Just recently I have given her control of the yarn and she has gotten quite good at it. I learned that if I talk her through it, saying things such as: 'so close', 'find the hole', or 'pull', she was able to concentrate better and be successful. Once she got in the rhythm of doing a couple she was able to continue to finish the rest. I am now can even to do some dishes while she works on her daily necklace. Every once in a while I hear her tell herself to 'calm down'. :)
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| Just had to get a close up of her cute little fingers and her current favorite shirt! |
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| All finished!!!! |
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| So excited to eat her necklace |
We still have days where it is just too much concentration for an almost 2 year old and we have to put it away, but usually she can finish all the fruit loops. I am so proud of her (and myself) for being consistent and becoming successful at a hard thing!
