Mini Unit - Candy

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:

Sensory Tub & Playdough (Sensorial/Practical Life/Math/Language). This sensory tub is just a mini version of our larger candy tub, and the playdough is chocolate scented. :) Yum!

Alphabet Beads (Practical Life {lacing}/Language {spelling}).

Worksheets (Language/Math/Art). Most of these printables came from 1+1+1=1's fantastic candy preschool pack. Other sheets came from abcteach.com. I also found some chocolate scented stickers (Sensorial) and I printed out a recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge (Practical Life) for James and his daddy to make together. :)

Cutting Practice (Practical Life/Art). These cutting strips came from here and are unique to Montessori classrooms. I had been making my own strips, but ran across these recently and thought they were much better. There's an entire series of them which we'll gradually work our way through. I added the jelly bean stickers for an added point of interest. After James cuts these he'll put the pieces in the envelope provided.

Memory Game (Language/Sensorial). These were a part of the candy preschool pack I linked to above.

A mini gumball machine, just for fun! Also an excellent fine motor activity as James will need to press down the little yellow lever to extract the "gumballs" (wooden beads). The gumball machine was a gift; I'm afraid I don't know where it was purchased.

Sequencing (Math). I found these candy die cuts online and there are enough of them that we can work several patterns.

Less Than/More Than/Equal To (Math). I created these cards using words and symbols and gathered an equal amount of green, pink, and white buttons. We'll set up some scenarios and James will need to use the cards to finish the mathematical sentence.

Graphing Game (Math). I made this grid after seeing something similar somewhere else (can't recall where - sorry!) and used a plain wooden block to create a color die. James will roll the die and place the corresponding colored lollipop brad on the grid. He'll do this until one of the color sections is full.

Even/Odd (Math). These are homemade, too. I simply created some labels and blank number cards and then added puffy candy stickers to each card to make them more interesting and fun to work with.

Pouring (Practical Life). The red bumpy beads look a lot like candy and make a nice clinking sound when they move along the glass. I chose two small, identical lidded jars for this work so the beads stay contained with the unit's bin.

Candyland Game (Practical Life {taking turns}/Language).

That's it! I purchased (here on the island) several of these clear snap lid containers - they're perfect for these units. I labeled each bin and later (after the baby comes) I plan to place each bin on a shelf. James can choose any bin he'd like to work with, but there are two rules: he may not mix the bins and he needs to put everything back into the bin when he's finished working with it.

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Candy Sensory Tub

Want to make your kiddo smile from ear to ear? Make them a sensory tub filled with CANDY! (Pretend candy, that is!) :)

Oh my goodness, you'd think I'd given James the moon when I handed over this tub the other day - he explored it for, and I'm not exaggerating here, 45 minutes! And he's returned to it several times since then, too!

Here's what's inside:
:: Lots of pom-poms of various sizes, colors and textures. Some homemade, too!
:: Empty containers from real candy (found in various stores around the island).
:: Mini gumball machine filled with wooden beads (i.e. gumballs) - a fun gift from my bloggy friend, Susan (I *think* she found it at Target).
:: Stretchy worms (i.e gummy worms)
:: Small baggies (see far right side)
:: A purple scoop
:: Little tongs
:: Polka dotted beads (purchased from a local store, Daisy & Mac) - some I left as beads, others I turned into lollipops (see below).
:: Bumpy red beads (i.e. gum drops)
:: Teeny tiny fruit beads (i.e. Runts)
:: Red lacing string (i.e. licorice)

Another fun addition I thought of, but didn't have time to create, was Hershey kisses - you could wrap some tin foil into a little cone shape and, if you're super creative, make personalized tags for them.

I made these little lollipops using the polka dotted beads and some Q-tips. I simply stripped the cotton from the Q-tips and stuck them into the hole of the bead. These are, by far, James' FAVORITE thing in the tub!

I added some baggies and tongs to the tub to simulate what you'd do at an open bin candy store. James had fun collecting various candies and setting them aside to "buy later". :)

This has really been an "all in one" kind of tub. With it James has done lacing, scooping, tonging, pouring, sorting by color/item/shape/texture, counting, adding, subtracting, sharing, pretending, and even spelling (he likes to arrange the puffs into letter shapes and create words). I just love that he gets so much out of these tubs!

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

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