Monkeys and Shapes!

Two of my son's favorite things are monkeys and singing the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". We've been doing some activities based on these interests lately! Magnetic Monkeys: I copied 5 monkeys, colored them and then laminated and put magnets on the back. I made corresponding number cards. We sing the 5 monkey song and take one away as each falls of the bed, as well as the highest number. My son is really into counting right now, also. So often we put the cards up or count the monkeys out.
Jumping Monkeys: This is an activity that they do at our library story hour. They give each child a stuffed monkey and have the child make their monkey jump as they sing the song. You can put this on a CD or just sing it. We like to put on the CD and jump along with our monkeys.
Shape Matching: This game helps with identifying shapes, hand eye coordination, and one to one correspondence. All I did was create a "mat" with shapes on it. I kept it simple at 4 shapes, but you can include whichever shapes you want. Then make a matching shape to use as your "piece". Your child will match each shape to the one on the mat. While playing this with your child you want to be saying the name of the shape (and colors too!).
Twinkling Stars: Nothing is as fun for a little one as something hands on. That's why I created these twinkling stars for my son. We simply use these when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle" and wave them in the air. A simple activity that is really a favorite with my little guy.