Cookie Sheet Slider!
Cookie Sheet Slider!
Toddlers love to see things slide and make noise. Here’s a fun way to do both and learn at the same time. Take your cookie sheet and a big pot. Put the big pot next to your couch and then prop up the cookie sheet on top of the pot leaning against the couch like a slide. Next let your toddler put some different toys, books, or objects at the top of the slide and watch them slide down into the pot at the bottom. Listen to the sound they make as they slide and when they drop into the pot! What fun!
Supplies Needed-
– cookie sheet
– big pot or bowl
– toys, small objects
Tips/Suggestions-
– Use some socks or soft things to show your toddler that they don’t make as much sound as they drop into the pot
– Put a piece of no-slip material or washcloth under the edge of the cookie sheet so that it doesn’t slide off the pot.
I was excited to read about the cookie sheet slide and plan to try it out with the group of children I care for. I just wanted to comment on the choice of items to slide – I would never use books. From infancy on, I teach all children to have respect for books. That means we don’t step on them or bend them or in any other way misuse them. To help toddlers enjoy books thoroughly and not have to say, “Don’t touch!”, I allow them free access to dozens of board books. My selection is well over 200 hundred and I rotate them on a monthly basis, sometimes more often depending on the topics we’re learning about.
The books that have pages that can be torn are ones I take from a shelf and read (quite often); this way I can model the best way to turn the pages.
Bottom line – the sliding cookie sheet is a great idea – I just wouldn’t use books!