It’s 5:00pm and everyone is home from the day’s activities. You are in the kitchen trying to pull together a quick dinner with a toddler pulling at your pants because she is apparently starving and there is nothing to play with! Sound familiar? Unfortunately, this is all too common for many.
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So, what do you give your cutie while you try to whip up dinner? A cookie sheet of course! But this isn’t any ordinary cookie sheet, oh no! This, is a magnetic activity board designed to occupy your sweetie within eye sight so you can successfully parent and peacefully make a meal for your family. Win! Let me break it down for you:
Materials
- Magnetic Cookie Sheet
- Screws (to attach to wall, if desired)
- Magnetic Letters
- Magnetic Animals
- Magnetic Numbers
- Magnetic ABC Bus
How To
First and foremost, make sure that your cookie sheet is magnetic! I originally bought an amazing, ginormous cookie sheet and attached it to the wall before I realized that it wasn’t magnetic (cue tears here!). It was a huge waste of money and time (and I couldn’t even use it for baking anymore since I drilled holes in it!), so be sure to check yours BEFORE you buy it or attach it to the wall!
Now that you know your cookie sheet is magnetic (yay!), decide where you want to put it. Is this going to be a portable activity that you can take from room to room or do you want it to remain in one place? I wanted mine in the kitchen since I primarily use it when I am trying to cook or food prep.
If you want it to be portable, add your activity and you are done! Voila!
If you want it to remain in one location, whip out the screws and stud finder and get that baby attached to the wall. Be sure to secure it well so your littles can’t pull it off of the wall, because they may try (wink).
Now that it is safe and secure, add your activity!
I have a rotation of activities that I switch out when my kiddos seem to get bored with the current one. If they disengage from the magnetic fun while I’m still cooking, I simply prompt them with questions – What letter is that? What word begins with that sound? How many animals do you have? Where do those animals live? Can you line the letters up in order and sing the alphabet song? – to reengage them.
In these photos, my oldest is working on beginning sounds and he doesn’t even know it! I simply put out a few of his favorite animals and placed the letter each begins with at the top. His job was to match the letter to the appropriate animal. I got him started by doing elephant with him. I asked questions like, “What sound do you hear at the beginning of elephant?” “Which letter makes that sound?” “ Can you match that letter with the elephant?” It might take a couple of prompts before your sweetie is ready to do it alone. But, you know what is awesome? This, right here, is the first step to reading! Pretty amazing!
On The Go
This is also a great activity to bring in the car if you are taking a long trip (and have the space). Your kiddos can just plop the cookie sheets on their laps and enjoy some contained magnetic play on the go!
Enjoy the magic of magnetic fun! How else do you use magnets with your littles?
Looking for more easy and engaging activities? Check out my Sticky Note Letter Sort!
