At around 18 months my daughter was really interested in stacking, doing the velcro on her sandals, and was also starting to show an interest in “counting” (though at this point it was more of a memorization exercise rather than an understanding of the mathematical concept).
Based on these observations I put together this shelf, which worked on fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, practical life skills, color recognition, language development (animals, shapes and colors) and offered some opportunities for open-ended play.
On Top:
Shelf from left to right:
Because she was enjoying stacking, I offered wooden blocks, nesting cubes (which were a favorite for a long time) and a stacking rainbow.
To begin to introduce 1:1 correspondence I offered the counting frame which also doubled as a color matching exercise and was a perfect opportunity for language development.
The nut and bolt activity was quite hard for her at that time but she seemed to enjoy the challenge, so I continued to offer it.
The horizontal dowel is great for hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, pincer grasp and crossing the midline (the ability to reach across the middle of the body to the opposite side), a useful skill for reading and writing later on.
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