Peel and Stick by Numbers

Recently, I was randomly looking for something new for Grant to play with.  Since nothing was sparking my interest through this method, I thought about all of our favorite toys. Then, I decided to search for other products made by the manufacturers of the toys we liked the best. This search method yielded one of Grant's absolute, all-time favorite things to do: Peel and Stick by Numbers from Lauri Toys (see my review of one of their other toys here: http://aweplay.blogspot.com/2010/11/model-airplanes-and-helicopter.html).

The Peel and Stick by Numbers kits come with four pictures, all related to the same theme (ie: trains, wild animals, pets, etc). It's the same concept as paint or color-by-number, except the child uses tiny stickers to "color" with. Each picture is made of tiny little squares with a number inside. There is a color code on the box, indicating which color foam sticker should be placed in each square, based on the number inside the square. The stickers measure about 1 cm square and can be tricky to get onto the picture. If your child is having trouble with fine motor skills, this is a great manipulative to use to gain finger strength!

Each picture takes a couple of hours to complete, and as I mentioned earlier, this is one of Grant's favorite things to do. We leave the picture he is currently playing with on the table, so when he wants to have some quiet time, he can sit and do stickers.  He plays with this for at least an hour every day! I'm starting to get concerned about what we will do after he's completed all of the sets Lauri has for sale. Hopefully, they have new ones in development!

Alex Paper Roll Dispenser

Grant loves to draw and paint.  I bought him a paper roll dispenser for his craft table, so he always has paper handy when he wants it. The cutting process using the built in cutter works well for an adult.  After every cut, I have to refeed the paper through the cutter before he starts his next painting. Because of the dexterity required in this process, Grant probably will not be able to do it himself until he is school-aged.



  

Dot-Paint

I was fortunate enough to have a child who dislikes getting dirty or sticky. One of the benefits of this is he also doesn't like to make sticky messes. His pre-school introduced us to dot paint last year.  Grant prefers using dot paints, rather than paint brushes and open containered paint. This way, he doesn't get paint all over himself and I don't have to clean up spilt paint. It works for both of us.  We use the Alex Washable brand below, but there are several brands available.