The toddler twosome have been showing an interest in the types of weather and also in naming the days of the week recently. I think this is in part is due to the extremes of weather we are experiencing here at the moment and also because they keep trying to work out whether it is a playgroup, park or shopping day!
The questions about all of the above begin as soon as they wake up (I can almost see the parents of toddlers nodding their heads in recognition!) so I thought it might be a nice little morning ritual to talk about the day ahead. I also wanted to add in something that could act as a prompt to discuss emotions and feelings as they are really testing those out at the moment unfortunately!!
So I came up with a Good Morning Chart…and so far it has been a huge success and fantastic learning tool. It is presenting so many opportunities for language and social/emotional growth as well as cognitive development as they think about, discuss and name the days of the week, how the weather looks and how they are feeling!
The chart is very simple and was easy to make with a printer, some cardstock, Velcro dots and printed clipart pictures………..
We were very lucky last year to be gifted a laser printer from my Dad as he no longer needed it for his business….the only problem was it was nearly out of toner and I was in for a bit of a shock when I realised how much they would cost to replace! But I was already hooked with the quality of the printing it produced so I had to order more….my preference for these sort of things is to order online because that way I can compare prices and get things delivered without having to drag the toddler twosome around with me….because trust me…the 3 of us do not particularly enjoy shopping together as yet….well maybe they do but I have pretty much already reached breaking point just getting them both safely out of the car and into a shop on my own!!
So you can imagine how pleased I was to be offered the opportunity for a discount on the purchase of ink through Cartridges Direct. All those printing jobs I had been storing up were finally going to happen…this was the kick I needed!
My first job on the list was the Good Morning Chart! Toddlers absolutely love to feel as if they have a little control over their fast changing world and this chart offers an opportunity for them to be involved and really look forward to a morning ritual.
How to make your own daily chart for toddlers
1. I first typed up the colourful headings and then printed them out…obviously bright colours stand out more but there are no rules here!!
2. I also printed out the days of the week in a smaller font…….
3. I laminated all the headings….you could also cover them in contact or leave them uncovered (just keep in mind that little toddler hands are often grubby!)
4. I glued the headings to the cardstock as you can see in the pictures.
5. I then went searching for some fun free clipart…there are so many options this was what took me the most time!
6. I found some fun little pictures to represent a few basic weather types…
And I also found some emotions cards to represent how the girls are feeling when they wake up. I just kept it to the basic Happy, Sad, Angry/Grumpy, and Frightened for now but you could add in as many as you wanted to depending on the age of your child!
Once I had all the headings glued down with enough space left for the weather and emotion cards to be added it was just a simple matter of sticking down a few Velcro dots to the board and the back of the cards….
And there you have it…an easy to make weather, days of the week and emotions learning tool disguised as a fun activity to look forward to each morning!
The chart offers an opportunity for the girls to name the days of the week, look at the letters in the days, look at the weather outside and use the cards to label it and also identify their own individual mood and find the corresponding emotion card. They also practise recognising their name as they find it on the chart each morning.
It also offers an opportunity to practice fine motor skills as they line up the Velcro dots and press the cards onto the board to stick!
I am really happy with the chart and with how excited the toddler twosome are to change it each morning…they love the bright colours and we have also been using the weather and emotion picture cards on our feltboard. I do love being able to print again…not sure how I got by without it!
Let me know if you make your own version of a ‘Good Morning Chart’…I’d love to share a photo with other educators in my Empowered Educator Community .
What a wonderful idea Jodie! I was looking at your board at the start of the post, thinking it was a kit you had put together. It looks really great & your directions make it sound very simple to replicate. Such a creative Mama you are 🙂
Agreed – every little bit helps. All discount vouchers are gratefully received. 😉
Looks great! I love the emotions, lovely idea.
What a fantastic chart Jode! Love how it incorporates the weather and how they are feeling. And I have to admit that we got a printer again because I wanted to be able to print stuff like this for the kids!
Awesome Jode. What a great chart for your little ones! 🙂
What a great idea! I sooo need a colour printer. Birthday wish list!
I love your board, my girls get confused about our routines too sometimes. “what do we do on tuesdays?” I do use our printer for our projects, it is great to print photos for collages
I have been looking for a calendar/weather chart like this for ages but never found one I was 100% happy with (or happy with the price!) but it never occured to me to just make my own!
We will def be doing this later on down the track, thanks for the inspiration – and for the discount code cause my printer first needs ink!
This is an amazing project! Very clever in deed :0) How old is ur toddler? My toddler is two and while he is quiet good at telling peoples feelings when he looks at their face I don’t believe he knows how he feels yet. This is a clever way to help him articulate I think…
My toddlers are 2.5yrs and one is better at naming the basic emotions than the other…they both still need my help to pick out the days of the week cards and also understand what happy, sad and grumpy mean but since doing the chart each morning they are really getting the hang of it. They had no trouble with the weather cards first go though!
You could even try just using the cards and asking him to give one to a toy teddy etc and name the feeling…i just stick to those basic 3 above though…i printed more complex ones for later on.
I love it! Where do I find the emotions?? Thank you!
One question what is the actual board made out of??
Hi Amanda, the board is just made of normal craft cardboard 🙂
This is a great post… Love it
Richa
http://www.allthatsmom.co.in
Thanks for stopping by Richa!