Take some heavy paper, old wallpaper or wallpaper samples is great. Make sure
it is a plain color or not too "busy" if a print. Cut little shirts
out of the paper. Find someone with a button box or buy some cheap buttons at
WalMart. Put four buttons on the shirt, you can sew them on or glue on
with craft glue. Three of the buttons should be identical, and the fourth just a
little different in size, color, number of holes, etc. Make lots of these. If you
don't want to use real buttons just cut circles out of paper, felt or fun foam,
but real buttons are best. Your child's job is to locate the different button by
placing a ring around it. You can buy plastic rings in the craft dept at walmart
or even use the ones that are left on juice or milk bottles when you first
unscrew the lid.
You can extend this activity by getting a jar of play buttons, they are big
colorful ones made for stringing and teaching your child to "sew" them
on a piece of plastic canvas with a yarn needle. You can also go to a thrift
store and buy some fun, button down shirts for dress up play.
Skills covered: visual discrimination, identifying different
characteristics of similar objects, fine motor development, spatial awareness.
