Toy Review Tuesday: Pictures on Lids of Baby Food Jars

I saved some lids of the jarred baby food Matthew used to eat. Then I cut small pictures from magazines and glued them on the inside of each lid. We've successfully used them for several activities.

Activity Ideas
"Look for something... (descriptive)" is one game we have played. We'll have all the picture lids facing up and look for something yellow or round or shiny and so on. As a learning activity, not a testing activity, if I find something first, I'll pick it up, show it to the kids, and say, "This banana is yellow." Elizabeth is usually the first echo in the room saying, "banana yellow." (Yes, she's very verbal and articulate).

Matthew doesn't process complex "wh" (what, who, where) questions yet, except he knows some simple, straight-forward ones through rote learning. If I were to read a short story to him and ask him what, who, and where questions in relation to the story, he would not know how to answer them. But if I showed him some picture lids and asked him, "What do we drive?" then he'll pick up the lid with a car. "What can we eat?" then he'll pick up the lid with green beans or other food instead of one with a telephone.

To help improve auditory processing and short-term working memory, I ask Matthew for 3 or 4 pictures out of 4 to 6 picture lids laid out face up in front of him. And I require him to give me the pictures in the same order that I had requested verbally. Ideally, he should do it without any prompting or repetition of the request. When he can't seem to remember or he gets the order mixed up, I guide him hand over hand. Matthew can usually get a sequence of 3 correctly.

Elizabeth likes to look at the pictures, verbally label the ones she knows, and drop them into the can with the slotted lid.

iPhone Apps
For the tech-savvy like Matthew, iPhone apps that are structured like the activity I described above include:
"ABA Receptive Identification by Class" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification - FFC Combined" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Function" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Feature" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification" created by Kindergarten.com

Matthew Likes Jazz

Simple, spontaneous moments can be a lot of fun. Sometimes they turn out to be one of the most special moments I have with my kids.

We usually listen to kid music. Matthew enjoys songs by Greg and Steve, The Laurie Berkner Band, songs from the Kindermusik class he was in a couple years ago, and other similar kid music.

The other day, I had my iTunes playing an audio recording of Matthew's cousin reading a book for him. It was in the iTunes list on my laptop. Before I could click on the stop button, a lively jazzy song came on.

Matthew started dancing. He could not contain his excitement. He loves music. He loves to dance. I turned up the volume and we danced. We twirled. We moved around the kitchen. We made up simple dance moves (a fun way to practice listening to directions, reinforce body awareness and body movement).

Elizabeth danced for a little bit then decided to play with cups instead.


"The Blue Room" by Tommy Dorsey from the album "Anthology of Big Band Swing".

It was a lot of fun and brings a smile to my face whenever I think about it. We're going to do this more often.