The Mommy Time Fun Box

I'm in the process of transitioning my role in society from middle-school math teacher to full-time Mama and Manager of our home.  I'm reading several books for inspiration and ideas on how to make the most out of my role and my time with our girls, A (3-1/2) and E (1).  As a result of my reading, easy access to the Learning Palace, and the generous gifts from a friend (also a home-schooling mom), I've created the...

Mommy Time Fun Box

Here's a little more information, for those who are interested, on what it is and how I plan to use it.

Inspiration:

Terry Maxwell in the book "Managers of their Homes."  Specifically Terry's mentions of "pre-school" time with her little kids.  I decided I needed activities that were productive AND fun and something A (especially) would look forward very much to doing, tossing in the element of quality time with Mommy.  A will NOT be allowed to use any of those resources shown during other play times, at least at this point.  These are items and activities that require supervision and adult support.  It may be that, down the road, A will be able to use some of these items for special quality time with E (e.g., doing letter/number flash cards with her), but NOT YET.

How/When I will use it:

Part of my daily schedule will be special one-on-one time with A and E.  During A's Mommy Time, she'll get to choose an activity category from the cards I made.  Each category has a few different choices within it, so the number of "new" things to do during Mommy Time is pretty huge.  I'm sure she'll have favorite activities, but this box SHOULD keep us busy for some weeks.

Contents (supplies):

• Flashcards: alphabet match flash cards (match the capital to the lowercase), number identification, telling time
• Workbooks: Pre-K from Costco (a variety of topics), sticker books
• Play dough
• finger paints and finger paint paper
• pip-squeaks markers (just 'cause their cute and easy for her to handle!)
• "sewing" cards and string (cards can also be used as tracing templates)
• glue, scissors, and (eventually) other general craft supplies
• "splash jack" cards and, eventually, other tot-friendly games
• (eventually) special read-aloud/picture book

Categories/Activities:

• "Reading": Letter practice (play dough, flash cards, work books, finger paints) or Read-Aloud
• "Math": number practice (play dough, flash cards, work books, finger paints)
• "Painting"
• "Color Or Create": coloring books, crayons/markers, play dough free play
• "Sewing"
• "Kitchen Time": to bake or cook something special together.  I should really be working with A on some independent "cooking" skills (like spreading her own PB and Jelly).
• "Cut & Glue": scissor practice, pasting practice, guided creativity with scissors, glue, stickers, etc.
• "Building": build together using Lincoln Logs, Legos, wooden blocks, or (possibly) play dough
• "Princesses": I'll sit down and play with her and her tiny princesses
• "Games": I'd like to teach A some basic card games, like slap jack, old maid, etc.  We also have Hi-Ho-Cherry-Oh, Ants-in-the-Pants, and Don't Spill the Beans.  She also likes to play with the dominoes and I may try to come up with some fun dice games.

Ten categories with multiple activities for each category...this outta keep us busy for a while.  Now I just need to come up with some more activities for E and me :)

I'm having fun with this, can you tell?

If you have a Mommy Time Fun Box (aka, "Preschool Box"), what do you have in your box?  Please share your experiences and ideas in the comments!  I'd love to learn from what other moms are doing, even the things that didn't work ;-)