Celebrating Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month
This week, we’re celebrating Hispanic/Latinx Heritage month with books from Latin and South America as well as a simplified continent study of South America. Little Guy is only 20 months old, after all, so this is really more of an exploration than a study.
Continent studies are such a great way to teach little ones about the world in a very sensorial way. Incorporating language trays with animal figurines and pictures can be further supported by trips to a local zoo. Images of major landmarks and world wonders provide invaluable background knowledge that will make future exposure to literature and films a richer experience. And of course, we can’t forget the importance of learning about people and cultures.
Next week we’ll be staying in South America with a focus on the rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. Little Guy loves all things nature, so doing some biome work will be a natural way to continue learning about South America while still keeping things interesting for him!
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Books
I had a lot of trouble finding books that were specific to South America, but thankfully there are plenty of books featuring cultures of Latin America and Latinx kids in the United States. In all, I’m very pleased with this selection in terms of satisfying my expectations for the heritage month, but I’ll need to find some more books to put into our South America box. *Note* All of these books have paper pages. Please use your best judgement about whether your toddler is ready for delicate, easily torn pages or not.
Round Is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Greenfield Thong - I love how this book introduces shapes along with culture. It’s a beautiful celebration of everyday things that happen to be some important shapes for toddlers to learn!
One Is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers by Roseanne Greenfield Thong - Little Guy can count all the way to two, so adding another counting book to our collection seemed like a great way to support his newfound interest in counting while also bringing some Latinx culture to his shelf!
Dia de Los Muertos by Roseanne Greenfield Thong - El Dia de Los Muertos begins on Halloween, but I don’t mind adding this book to his shelf this week because it’s a great explanation of the cultural traditions behind the celebration.
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales - This is the beautiful story of a mother bringing her son with her to the United States, leaving behind so much but also bringing the most important things with them in their hearts: resilience, dreams, hopes, and history. Little Guy loves this book so much that it will be rotated into his Supplemental Library regularly after this week.
Mateo Finds His Wow by Gabi Garcia - I’m a little hesitant about introducing this book so young. This is the story of a very bored, grumpy boy who realizes that there’s a lot of really neat stuff going on in his own home that he can appreciate. I love the message, but there’s a lot of focus on negative emotions at the beginning of the book. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but I definitely think that this would be a great book for 4 and up.
Yara’s Tawari Tree by Yossi Lapid - If you loved Fern Gully as a kid, you’ll love this book. It’s got all of the environmentalism of Fern Gully with none of the scary smog/oil monsters. I plan to keep this book in rotation next week when we explore our rainforest unit!
South America by Rebecca Hirsch - This is a lovely little book about South America. It’s accessible for a small toddler, but it will still be engaging and informative as he gets into elementary school. I love books that are useable and engaging for years!
Language
Have I mentioned that my child loves animals? He loves them. So much. I ordered these Papo and Schleich figurines from Happy Hen Toys and made matching nomenclature cards to go with them. Because we have the figurines, I only put the control card out so that he can match the animals directly to the card. However, once we get into reading, I’ll present the other parts of the cards to him. I might get the matching pictures out for a quick activity later in the week if he seems to lose interest in matching the animals to the cards, though. For mouthing toddlers, I would absolutely just do the cards instead of the smaller figurines. There’s no need to take the risk.
*Choking Hazard* Some of these figurines may present a choking hazard. Even if you think your toddler has stopped putting things in their mouth, an adult should be present if these are available.
Another way that I’m supporting his language development this week is by using this medium sized woven bag as a mystery grab bag. For this activity, I put small items or figurines that he’s familiar with inside and then have him reach in and guess what he’s holding before he pulls it out. This bag is the perfect size for some small figurines or household items. This morning I filled it with a small ball, a toy car, and a small cup!
This bag is the perfect size for a small mystery bag!
Fine Motor Activities
Lacing can be a bit challenging for a toddler, so be sure to model the up and down sewing motion!
This week’s shelf is a little less focused on fine motor activities than previous weeks have been. However, since Little Guy is meticulously collecting all of the acorns and fallen leaves in the backyard, I’m satisfied that he’s getting in plenty of fine motor practice!
He loved last week’s fall leave lacing activity so much that I made him a South America lacing activity this week! I just found a map that I liked on Google, printed it, laminated it, and punched some holes for a quick and easy activity. If you don’t have a laminator, you could use thicker card stock, just be aware that it may not last as long.
Another way that he’s practicing his fine motor skills this week is through opening and closing these gorgeous woven bags from Guatemala. The smaller bag contains a 3” worry doll, and we’re using the larger bag for the mystery grab bag activity. It takes a little bit of work for him to open them when they’re closed, so I’m confident that he’s developing some hand strength!
Flag Matching Activity
I make a lot of Little Guy’s materials, but sometimes I simply don’t have the time. Lately I’ve been pretty swamped with work, so I ordered these great three part flag cards from Etsy. They’re a little larger than I usually make mine, but there was enough white space around the flags that I was able to trim them down a little before I laminated them.
There are many countries in South America, and some of the flags are very similar. Since he’s still only 20 months old, I felt it best to select a few flags that were clearly different from each other to start off with. Five seemed like a reasonable number - not too many, not too few - and I made sure that the colors and stripes were clearly different from each other to make the activity a little more accessible for his age. As he masters these, I plan on rotating in other flags and presenting flags that are more similar to each other so that he has to pay a little more attention to details. This scaffolding should make this activity manageable even though it’s a bit challenging!
