“Sound Eggs” or “A Descent into Hysteria”

Blissful Moments [Link Removed  because the blog is now private.] had a great idea for tot school of using plastic Easter eggs as a sound matching activity.  I had seen something like this a while ago and was interested in the idea of using the eggs as containers.  I was pretty enthusiastic when I finally bought them and as soon as we came home from the store, I decided we needed to get started on this Right Away.

My first mistake was pushing to fit in an activity even though it was really lunch time and I was dealing with a hungry and cranky toddler.  But I thought this looked like lots of fun, so I was excited to do it anyway.  My next mistake was letting Sweet Pea watch me fill the eggs.   I grabbed some empty Easter eggs and filled them with beans, bread crumbs, and M&M’s.  She could not wait to get her hands on the eggs.  (Note how similar this was to me not being able to wait for a more appropriate time to start the activity.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.)   Sweet Pea was very impatient as I set up the project and had trouble paying any attention as I showed her how to shake them and listen.  She seemed to have the idea though, so I picked up my camera to snap a few pictures.  Of course, she did what any toddler worth her salt would do and immediately tried to open the eggs.

Before I could set the camera down, we had bread crumbs all over the floor.  Next we had a brief lesson in using a dust pan and broom.  After cleaning up,  I got the bright idea to tape the eggs shut so Sweet Pea couldn’t get into them.   When I got us set up for the second time, Sweet Pea instantly tried to open the eggs again, but discovered she could not get into them.  This made her very very unhappy.

So we put the eggs away and Sweet Pea had a good lunch and  a nice nap.

In the meantime, I have read a more explicit description of how to implement the sound egg activity  at Teaching Tiny Tots [04/08/10: Blog No Longer Exists] and a description of how to do sound cylinders at Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s On-Line Montessori Albums.  I noticed that the recommended age for the sound cylinders is 4 years.  Perhaps 23 months is just a bit too young?  The Wonder Years has a sensory sound activity that looks more appropriate to do with younger tots called Loud and Quiet Shakers.

Notes from the Trenches: Be patient grasshopper.  Don’t start an activity with a toddler when you know they should be doing something else.  Don’t fill the eggs in front of a curious child.  Oh… and keep a dustpan handy.

Rating: 0 Stars (but I’m sure I’ll try it again next Easter)