Fun with Fruit Loops!

One of my favorite things about teaching my boys, is there are opportunities everywhere to get a teaching moment in! My boys had fruit loops for breakfast this morning. I have never been a fan of fruit loops myself, but my boys love them so of course I get them. Once we got home from dropping my oldest off at preschool, I took the dry fruit loops left over from breakfast and sat my two year old down at their little play table and dumped them on the table. Here are the learning activities I did with him:

1. Color Identification

One thing I actually like about fruit loops, is the colors. It's not a total ROYGBIV but it does have purple in place of indigo and violet. I prompted my 2 year old by asking him if he could find me the color..._____ as if I couldn't find it and needed his help. It's amazing how changing their perspective from mom is quizzing me to mom needs my help is such a great motivator!

2. Sorting

After some color identification, I put one of each on their own and asked my two year old if he could help me sort them by color. Instead of having the whole pile to sort from, I grabbed a small handful in my hand so he had a lot less choices to choose from and not be so overwhelmed. As my hand emptied, I added more with the other hand. In such a short time I had color coded piles of fruit loops. When he would pick up a color, I would prompt him to say the color. It works on speech and also reviews what you've already worked on.

3. Patterns

Once we sorted, the piles, I transitioned by saying, "hey let's make these into some cool patterns, can you help me? What colors do you want to choose?" Start with two colors for the first time and when you make the patterns, say the color combination in a rhythmic tune like, "red, yellow, blue...red, yellow, blue..." If they don't get it right away, its ok. Continue encouraging and praising their big help on fun patterns.

4. Counting

If your child is losing interest at this point, it's not a big deal. You can stop and collect the materials to use at a later time that day or let them play for a bit while you continue on with the activity yourself. A lot of times, they will come right back after a short time to see what other fun you're having.

Continuing with the big help routine, if needed, state aloud that you need to eat or just need "___" fruit loops. You could also say you need a # of a color. Count them aloud as you drag them to a pile. Obviously start small and even check your counting a few times. If your child is doing it, count aloud with them, and praise them for their big help.

5. Beginner Math

My boys both love this, and they get so tickled each time. Say they out five fruit loops, and I snatch one and pop it into my mouth. Act super surprised and silly to introduce it as a fun game and not being cruel. Ask how many are left. Count with them. "Ok so we had five and I took away 1...now we have four!" 5-1=4! Your child isn't going to memorize their addition tables right away, but it's a great introduction and helps promote further understanding.

Whenever your child is done, feel free to play a video on your tv or tablet to help reinforce what you worked on today. I would recommend Dave and Ava's color song, and their numbers and counting videos.

What other colorful things do you have in your house? How did this activity work for you? Let me know in the comments or on the Facebook page.