During the Circuit Breaker period last year, I was looking for ways to keep the twins meaningfully occupied, and Tickle Your Senses very kindly sent over this Early Math 101 Geometry & Problem Solving (Level 1) Set for the twins. I honestly don’t do as many homelearning activities with the twins as I used to do with N, so this set was perfect, since I didn’t have to prepare any materials on my own.
The set provides 25 suggested activities, but you can definitely use the materials provided to come up with even more activities of your own.
The twins were very excited to start playing with the materials, so I started with the geo pegs pattern cards. The patterns are printed clearly on the sturdy activity cards, and all the twins had to do was to follow them. It looked simple enough, but to my surprise, they had a little trouble initially, as I think they weren’t observant enough to notice that the shapes they picked were different from those on the pattern cards. After I pointed that out to them, they managed to select the correct geo pegs, though they needed some help occasionally.
I thought it was a fantastic activity to teach patterning, colours, shapes, sequencing, and hone observational skills too! I liked that the geo pegs had to be pushed firmly into the pegboard provided, as this helps to develop their fine motor skills too.
They progressed to patterning with the laces, and I liked that the geo pegs were large enough for them to hold properly as they threaded the lace through the holes in the pegs.
The twins had a bit of trouble with the symmetry pattern cards initially, so I got them to place the shape blocks directly onto the pattern cards first. This made the activity a lot easier, as they just had to find the correct blocks, and adjust them till they fit the pattern on the card.
Once the twins got used to the idea of creating patterns with the blocks, I got them to try doing it on the table, instead of directly on the cards. They could manage the easier ones on their own, but required some help from N for the more complicated patterns.
Interestingly, N found this activity fun and asked to do it on his own too. He started creating his own patterns out of the blocks and spent quite a bit of time trying to see what he could come up with.
The lacing board activity was quite challenging for the twins, and even N had trouble with it initially, as he approached it in a haphazard manner, and the lace was too short for him to complete the pattern. After he figured that out, he was quite pleased that he was able to thread the lace properly. Meimei asked to try it too, and succeeded with some help from me, but Didi said it was “too hard” and didn’t want to do it.
I’ve been using this set with the twins for some time, and I think it’s time to move on to another set, as they are very familiar with the activities already. They can now create the patterns confidently and quickly, and Didi no longer has trouble with the lacing board activity! You can compare my first review of this set on IG HERE and watch videos of them using this set on my IG Highlights, under TYS.
I really liked this Early Math 101 Geometry & Problem Solving (Level 1) Set and I felt that it would be such a pity if we just kept it in storage, now that the twins have outgrown it, so I’m hosting a giveaway for it! Do note that this is a PRELOVED set, but everything is still in really good condition. If you’re okay with winning this preloved set, do pop over to my Instagram page to participate in the giveaway HERE! Terms and conditions apply.
Terms and Conditions: This giveaway will end on Monday, 8th March 2021, at 2359h, and is open to readers with a Singapore mailing address only. The winner will be contacted via the particulars provided when entering this giveaway, and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be selected. All incomplete entries will be disqualified, and all entries will be verified before the winners are announced. To be fair to our sponsor, please note that all fake Instagram accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in contests, with no or very few real posts), will be disqualified.