While working at the church the other day, Little Mister was getting bored waiting on me. I raided the cabinets and found a bag of different colored flat plastic shapes (people, flowers, animals, etc.). I cut some matching color squares from construction paper and set it all on the floor. This kept him busy for some time. First he played with the shapes. They had conversations with each other which I eased dropped on. Too cute! Then, he made shapes with them. Finally, I started asking him to find all the blue things and stack them on the blue paper. We eventually made it through all the colors and I finished all my work as well.
Once I went over to see what he had been doing and noticed some wrong color placement. I pointed to one and asked "Are you sure this is in the right place?". He got so upset. And kept repeating a pitiful, "Oh No!". I was shocked. He was actually on the verge of tears! This from the same little boy who once told me, "I'm happy and I'm a genius". I had to stop for a moment and gather my thoughts.
We discussed how we don't always get things right the first time but we keep trying. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes, even Mommy doesn't always get things right all the time. We learn by trying. Some may have to try longer than others and that's alright too! Of course, all this was followed by some snuggles and then happily moving pieces around on the paper!
Totally caught off guard by this teachable moment!
Totally caught off guard by this teachable moment!
Great activity! I do something similar once a week with my son. He is 8 years old but is partially color blind so skill exercises like this help him make progress and make him feel more comfortable. I love how you handled your son's upsetting moment when he did not get something right. Thank you for linking up to my Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop!
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