Home Learning - Tracing Tools for Children
Now that our little one is home almost non-stop for the seventh month in a row, we’ve started setting up morning mini lessons designed for his current interests and skills. At 4 years old, he’s ready for some semblance of schooling. But due to the ever-rising cost of pre-school in Los Angeles coupled with the COVID-19 rates throughout the city, my husband and I made the tough decision to not send our child to classes for the foreseeable future.
West has been spelling out short words and expressing a more in-depth understanding of numbers (particularly since counting down to his birthday), so we introduced some tracing tools to his daily mix of learning materials.
Our friends at Timberchild (who, years ago, crafted the wooden plates that our kiddo still uses daily), sent him this beautifully made, double-sided tracing board for his recent birthday.
These number boards are made from one solid, smoothly sanded piece of wood. With one side, children can start to recognize and learn numbers 1 through 10, and then progress to 11 through 20 on the flip side. The numbers can be traced with a finger, or by using the wooden stylus provided. Our son likes to invent various ways to count out the numbers, scrounging up crafting supplies, rocks, marbles, and even the annoying ficus seeds from the garden to fit into the numerous, divots — perfectly sized for tiny fingertips — on the board.
I appreciate the minimal design, which allows us to keep the board out without contributing to a feeling of clutter or overcrowding. This is always a consideration for us given the small size of our home, and the lack of a dedicated play space / bedroom for our youngest family member.
Displaying & Storing Children’s Art in a Small Space
In the past, I’ve been asked by magazines, blogs and clients how to best store, display and manage kid’s art in small spaces. Over the years my responses have remained the same, but it wasn’t until this year that I started having to put them into practice myself in our tiny home.
My typical solutions are as follows:
Keep a single, dedicated art portfolio for the most recent and beloved pieces that your child is likely to remember and want to revisit.
Scan or photograph pieces to compile for a photo/art book to be organized, printed and bound by a magazine/book printing service online.
Use string + clips and/or Washi tape to create a magical little secret, ever-changing gallery on the inside of a closet door.
West is now 3½, and he’s into nearly any art project for up to 30 minutes or so.
From simple drawings to molding clay to crafting sculptures with upcycled items from around the cottage, he’s been creating with Adam’s guidance for a while now.
To corral the art, we initially we used a paper portfolio that was hacked together from a brown bag.
I later found a second-hand, wooden art portfolio at The Mart Collective here in Venice, which I purchased with the intention of organizing West’s art until I get the chance to have it printed and bound at regular intervals throughout the year.
When it comes to the sculptures, they usually get pulled apart to make something else, or they get used on West’s garden table or Fairy Garden.
To display the art for photographing, I simply use magnets or hold it by hand against our white refrigerator.
I started searching for an accessible online printing service for custom art and photo books/magazines, and decided to try Recently as recommended by 600 Sqft & a Baby in this lovely blog post of hers: Kid Art in a Book.
As for repurposing old pieces and putting them to clever, extended use without holding on to them permanently, I pull a lot of wonderful ideas from this “Kid Art” post from Reading My Tea Leaves.
For those who prefer to hold on to the tangible a bit longer, Oh Joy! created a delightful how-to via her post entitled: How to Organize Your Kid’s Art.
