It was many years ago that “Tot School” was given it’s official name, and now I see the name floating around everywhere {which is great!}! My oldest son holds the honor of naming this glorious time in a young child’s life, after babyhood but before Pre School. In our home Tot School lasts from about age 1-4. You can see how Tot School was named here!
Soon after the creation of Tot School, came the concept of Tot Trays. A simple twist on an old idea with Montessori based roots. A contained work space for tots, to inspire early learning fun. A way for mom to stay organized in her thinking and provide opportunities for early development in fun ways.
I no longer have tots {sniff, sniff} but still have the passion for teaching tots at home. I have been working on a secret Pinterest board behind the scenes to get all of our Tot Tray ideas pinned and labeled with ages on one board. I finally finished and opened up the board to be public so you can all scroll through and gather ideas quickly! This board is only for Tot Tray ideas from my own blog. I share other ideas from other blogs on my general Tot School Ideas board.
I love that the concept of Tot School and Tot Trays stretches far and wide today, it’s exciting to see! I am so encouraged to see so many families exploring and learning with their tots at home. It is such a beautiful time in a child’s life, full of an eagerness to absorb and take in new ideas. It truly is my favorite, I miss it already in my kids!
Find the Tot Tray Ideas Pinterest Board here!
On a personal note {stemming from an email I received recently} ~ sometimes reading online about concepts like Tot School, Tot Trays and many others make some moms feel
less-than. At times, reading about how one mom does things in a certain area can make another mom feel unworthy and bad about herself. Trust me, I know. I may have the Tot School thing figured out, but there are plenty of blogs I read that can sometimes help me slip into poor-me mode. I remind myself that we all have different gifts and passions. I never want my enthusiasm for early childhood stuff to come across as though I am a better mom. I assure you, I have plenty of things I am NOT good at, like cooking 
for example. I pray my blog, my ideas, and my life encourage and inspire you. If it ever makes you feel less-than or as if you don’t measure up, please remind yourself that you have your own unique talents and strengths. God has gifted us all differently. I am totally real, just like you; I just blog and have a crazy passion for creating early learning experiences for my kids, and taking pictures of the journey {which I then share with you}. Always remember there is MUCH that you don’t see, a photo on a blog is a split second in time, with no sound. I do my best to be a realistic {much of my realism is shared via Instagram} as possible but as we all know, that will never be achieved through photographs, or even video clips. You’d have to be a fly on my wall to see that our life is just as crazy as yours, probably crazier.