Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Using Our Digits

This week I'm working on various activities with the boys to help them learn about the sense of touch. This morning I asked Micah, "How do we touch? What do we feel with?" 

I was fully expecting him to reply with, "Our hands and feet!" I was flabbergasted when he, without a moment of hesitation, responded with, "I touch with my whole entire body because it's covered in skin and it tickles everywhere except for not my strong bones because they are deep inside me and are getting bigger everyday because I eat lots of vitamins!" 

Wait, what? You already know about touch? And about skin? And about bones? But you're only three!

We played a few games that involved picking up various objects with our hands and then trying to pick up those same objects with our toes. Hysterical to watch!
Ever tried to pick up a bean or a macaroni noodle with your toes? Trust me, it's a whole lot harder than you think. It nearly brought Grady Lee to tears and I had to tell him, several times, that this was just an experiment to see the difference between our hands and feet and that it didn't mean he wasn't "fast and tough cause (my) toes don't work rriiiigghhtt..."
I also filled a bag with lots of random objects and then blindfolded the boys. They took turns reaching in, pulling something out, and feeling it all over before guessing what it was. They were surprisingly good at this. I wonder if they've already figured out the peer-down-below-the-blindfold-so-you-can-just-barely-see concept...?

I think the boys had the most fun when I taped popsicle sticks to their fingers and asked them to pick things up and put them in a bowl. Ha ha ha ha! I think Annalyse has a better pincher at six months than they did with their fingers locked in place. It was comical to watch, for sure.
When I needed to get a few things done, I sent then up to the toy room and told them to line up all their wooden blocks using only their left hand. Since I wasn't in there watching, I can't say beyond the shadow of a doubt they obeyed entirely, but based on some comments I overheard while in the other room, I think they did.

"No Micah! That's not the hand Mommy told us to use!"

"Stop cheating, Micah! Mommy said to use the other hand!"

"Micah, if you want to be in kindergarten, too, you have to do what I tell you because I'm the leader."

Poor Micah. The just-barely-three-year-old got some harsh instruction from his bossy-almost-in-kindergarten-brother.
Where was Annalyse during all of this? Taking her nice hour and a half morning nap. When she goes down, I kick things into high gear.

This little thing is learning to use her hands and feet too, let me tell you! When on her tummy, she will stretch and reach as far as she possible can to get a toy. It doesn't matter if there are a pile of toys right under her chin, she will choose to reach for whatever is most out of her reach.
She's also figured out that if she raises up on her chest and flaps her arms, she is likely to scoot and inch a bit closer to whatever it is she's after. Talk about determined.
Hhhmmmm, and once she gets something, the reward of all that effort is less than exciting. So, it's on to something else...
 ... and she uses her toes to push and slide little bits at a time until she can get something else. Determined, I tell you, very determined. At not quite six months, this has me nervous for the outta-my-way personality that may be emerging.

2 comments:

  1. What fun and wow, how does Micah know all that stuff! You've got some very smart little ones. Ahh, Annalyse is so sweet playing away with her toys. Sounds like she could be scooting along/crawling soon!

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