Cognitive Development – FEATS Techniques

“So Close You Can Feel It” MATERIALS: You will need: a shoe box or another box that is closed on all sides. A variety of small objects that are in your child’s everyday environment (small ball, spoon, sock, pencil, doll, paperclip, etc.). Cut out a small circle on the...

“Threadin’ The Needle” MATERIALS: A long, thin shoestring and a bucket of different colored ½-inch beads (you can buy the beads and string at an educational toy store or a craft store). Tie a knot at one end of the string (big enough that the beads won’t come off)....

“Has Anyone Seen The Other Half of My Necktie?!” First, determine if your child is left or right-handed. Then, you will need to have the appropriate child scissors and some paper ready for this activity. Show your child the scissors and the paper. Demonstrate cutting,...

“Position Acquisition” Gather small objects from your child’s toys such as farm animals, action figures, and place them in a line, all facing in the same direction. Talk about which one is first in line and which one is last and why. Ask if your child can find which...

“Budding Architect” MATERIALS: 20 index cards or paper cut into small, equal squares (similar to the size of index cards), a marker, or little circle stickers that are the same color.  The circle stickers are preferable so that all the circles are identical, instead...

“Sign On The Dotted Line” To help your child learn to trace over letters in his name already written, here are some activities that you can do: Have your child first trace over the name with the pointer finger when it is raised, to help your child see how the letters...

“Hey Mom, That’s ME (albeit represented in letter form)!” MATERIALS: 8-10 Index cards, one with your child’s name printed on it and the others with different names printed on them (at least one or two with start which with the same letter as your child’s). Show all...

“Between The Lines” Make circles on white paper that are at least 5-6 inches in diameter.  To make this task easier for your child initially, make the circles out of raised outlines, using glue with glitter, sand, yard/string. This will make it easier...

“My Little Picasso!” ACTIVITY: Your child imitates drawings of a square, triangle and diamond when shown how first. You will need: blank sheets of white paper, crayons or markers suitable for your child. Sit at a table with your child. Make sure your...

“Match Game ’77 With Gene Rayburn” MATERIALS: Straws, pipe cleaners cut in half, Popsicle sticks, etc. (any of these will do). Arrange sticks into a simple design on the table (a triangle would be a good one to start with, using three sticks). While placing the...