Evie's "Smart Cart" {School for a Two Year Old!??}

Last week was the first week of school and it became quickly apparent to me that Evalynn had no intentions of being left behind whatever was happening at our table.  Let me be clear - Evalynn has zero learning expectations this year beyond general character shaping and learning to obey.  However, she wanted to be near us, and so this weekend I cleaned all her baby stuff off of this little cart (sad mommy moment) and turned it into a "smart cart."  I collected little learning and fun toys that we already had or that I've been putting together for Ev and got them all set up.  I intend to teach Ev how to choose one thing from the cart, take it to the table, and then put it away when she's done (with help).  She'll only have access to the cart when we are schooling so hopefully things stay exciting.  These things will be coupled with lots of book reading, all the free play she desires, the air fort tent, magnetic blocks, light table activities, writing at the table with various mediums, and us schooling outside where she can do messy play (bubble foam, water, shaving cream, etc) or play in the yard (plus whatever we can find to keep her little brain busy).

I love seeing how other people are handling school with toddlers, and this has already been a hot topic in a couple of my homeschooling groups, so I thought I'd show you our collection thus far.

For now, the cart will stay in our room where the door remains shut so that items aren't removed without asking.  Yes, she's completely capable of expressing that she wants something from the cart.

The top contains two trays from Target that we use to contain whatever she is using.  We'll get one out with most everything she chooses.  The trays are nice sensory bins, too.

Shelf 2 has wooden sets on it - I've gotten kind of obsessed with wooden "Montessori/Waldorf" style toys this summer and made several sets.

Shelf 3 is plastic toys/counters/etc.

In no particular order....

We have two sets of these Family counters so I combined them in a Dollar tree storage box.

Teddy bear counters in 3 sizes.  These will be great for matching, sorting by color/size, lining up, and so much more.

Lacing cards might be a bit difficult right now but I thought she might like to try them.  I also thought the older children might use them a bit - never too old to get a little fine motor practice in.

A small set of Lauri pegs that I had for Zayden or Mia...if she likes these it might be nice to expand our set a bit.

Lauri foam puzzles.

I have ABC foam puzzles, too, but haven't brought them up yet - we'll start simple.

Dot stickers - these are used for so many activities.  I'm anxious for when she is able to get them off the sheet herself!

magnet letters, and I need to bring up a magnetic cookie sheet for her to use

A full set of A-Z, plus an extra N zipped into the front for name spelling.

A small plastic coin bank with a few dozen coins.  I don't know where we got these little round money banks but she's able to open them on her own and can almost snap them back together.  

I used whatever containers/bags I had on hand.  I always keep extra art boxes, tins when they come along, zipper pouches, etc.  In a perfect world everything would be in clear containers/bags, but I didn't want to use ziplock baggies, and I'm just not fussy enough to hunt clear for every storage so, alas, you have a stroopwafel tin.

We've had this trail mix lacing set a long time and the others have always enjoyed it.

Translucent ponies for the light table, but she could choose them for a table activity, too.

Zayden's old Winnie the Pooh set...

Wooden tools to use in dry sensory bins.  So pretty, huh?  All of our wooden pieces were ordered from Casey's wood and I sealed them with homemade beeswax seal.

A pastel set of wooden men in cups...

She likes the two wooden matching sets she has a lot and chooses them often.

Peg people with "feelings" faces.

Those peg people were supposed to have matching cups to slide down into, but when I painted them they got just too big to slide into their bean pots!  So, now we have a random box of pots and I haven't decided what to add to those to make them something "different."  Any ideas?

Acorns in pots/cups....the other matching set she loves.

Wooden bowls and balls...we can also take these bowls out for dry sensory play.

That's all on the cart.  Underneath my bed I have a basket of dry sensory items.  I intend to get my chickpeas colored to add to it this week.  So far she seems to prefer the brown beans but it's not uncommon for children to choose "heavier" sensory play (thus, I think she'll like the chickpeas). 

In addition to the teal trays, I keep an empty long tote for messy play, and (when clean and dry) for Ev to sit in when she's doing dry sensory play.

The basket also contains a few more items to play at the light table.  I wish I had thought to get more light table toys when I was birthday shopping for Ev - it completely slipped my mind!

The last item under my bed is this serving tray from Target that is great for sensory play.  

Ev is getting a large water mat for her birthday that will be added to her cart.  I also think she will learn to play with play-doh and perhaps learn to snip with loop scissors later in the school year.

I hope that Evalynn grows in her independent play while we are all schooling, but I am happy to have this resource ready, so that when she requires our companionship we are joyful to have her busy beside us instead of sighing trying to keep her out of our things.

Often when we get Ev set up, one of the big kids will find a few minutes to check what she's doing and enjoy her activity with her.  Sensory play and toddler toys are relaxing and fun for more minds than just the little tots.  I'd love to hear other ideas of how mamas are staying sane with busy toddlers and teaching older children!!