Help your child develop independence in caring for self and their environment.

Purpose Vocabulary Enrichment for 30 months and up

Materials

• Brown Construction Paper

• Basket

• Blue Construction Paper

• Land and water items to sort Cardstock

• Vehicles: Boats and Cars

• Scissors

• Animals

• Glue . Plants . Laminate (optional)

Preparation

1. Cover the cardstock with ½ blue and ½ brown construction paper.

2. Glue in place.

3. Laminate if desired.

Show Your Child

1. Show your child the laminated land and water mat and the basket of objects.

2.Point to the brown side and say, “this is brown like soil. This represents the land. What are some things we do on land?” Have a short conversation and discuss things like walking, driving, riding bikes…

3. Point to the blue side and say, “This is blue like water. This represents the water.” Continue with a conversation about water and all that we do in the water.

4. Point to the brown again and say, “land.” Point to the blue again and say “water.”

5.Remove one of the objects from the basket and name it. For example, “whale.” Then say, “The whale lives in water,” and place the whale on the blue side of the mat.

6. Repeat with an object for land.

7. Continue to do this with your child until they get the idea. Then allow them to continue the sorting. Give the names of the objects that are new to them.

8. When they are all done, help them to put the basket of objects and mat away on a shelf. Once you show them this activity, they should be free to take it out whenever they have time to play at home.

Note: If your child places an object incorrectly, you do not need to correct them right away. It may take more time and experience for your child to understand how to sort them. If you notice this, at another time, read books about animals that live in water and live on land, or vehicles in the water and vehicles on the land. Then, represent the activity.

Resources: Inexpensive collections of plastic objects can be found on Amazon.com/Safari-Ltd