Showing posts with label stacking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stacking. Show all posts

Stack Up Cup Game - 100 Day Challenge

Have you been checking out all the fabulous play ideas at the 100 days of Play blog Hop?
If you haven't I have been sharing some of my favourites on my Facebook Page  & Pinterest

My contribution to the 100 days of Play challenge is a easy game with materials your children have used already. All you need are plastic cups, Dice, and paper or plastic plates.  I had all of these things in my party box (I sound very organised but I am not).


The stacking up in this fun game builds on focus and hand eye coordination, children need to utilise steady hands with a focused mind and principles of balance to stack as high as they can. Using the die allows children to take turns yet work together, its great for number recognition and practice counting as well.
First, divide your paper plates between all of the players and have your stack of plastic cups ready where all can reach.

Player one rolls, then has to get the corresponding number of cups set them out with the plate on top. Easy right? Well it wouldn't be as easy if you rolled a one, in comparison to a four.
It gets harder the higher you can play to. The best thing is you can play on your own or with a group of people taking turns, you can play how ever you like.


Player two rolls, gets the corresponding number of cups and has to balance them on top of the previously placed plate from player one and so it goes.
The Player whose turn it is sets the foundation for the next player, so they must be careful to stack their cups up as equally and evenly as possible or the whole thing may tumble down. Its a fun game to build anticipation, how far can you go before all the cups crash down?


Dimples and I had a few games before we decided to ditch the plates and see just how good we could stack, still using the die to take turns we made towers, walls and patterns in the cups. You can stack them bottom to bottom or upwards using two below, you can put plates in between or you can start with a circle and build up. Dimples rolled a 6 and 6 cups do not fit on the plate so he very cleverly and to my surprise problem solved and put 3 lots of 2 cups stuck together.

It was lots of fun and so simple. Play doesn't have to be with fancy toys, good company and something from around the house provides a much better learning experience.

How high can you stack them?

Happy Adventures :)

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Bolt Sorting, Matching & Stacking

Like all little boys Dimples loves anything that Daddy fiddles with in the yard. He is always keen to explore the shed, pretend to mow the lawn, build and fix things like Daddy does and play with tools. This bolt & nut play was perfect to keep him occupied on a beautiful sunny day as we tinkered around the yard.


This little activity is so simple and fits perfectly with role playing Mr. Fix it and with an extra learning bonus it offers some practise in fine motor skills, cognitive development in focus & attention, sorting by shape, length and by size, matching and stacking by size.



I started with a collection of different sized bolts and washes. A few different widths and a few different lengths, all with matching ends, Some had multiple ends. Just to make it interesting I added a padlock and keys in to see if Dimples could master it and find the right Key without guidance.



Dimples stacked the nuts up, it took alot of focus and concentration to do so.
Through cause and effect he learnt that he needed to stack it up with the large pieces on the bottom, decreasing to the smallest on top for the best and most stable stack of nuts.



He Balanced the bolts up on their ends. Balancing and sorting them from smallest to largest. Putting them all in a row and making a "fence".
Dimples matched the bolts to the right size nuts and had to concentrate on using his fine motor skills to twist and turn the nut up evenly onto the bolt without stripping it or getting it jammed.
He fiddled around experimenting on which way the nut goes depending on which way he spun it, up the bolt or back down.



Then came the Key, this was tricky. Dimples found the right key, at first it didn't fit so he turned it around and it didn't fit, after a few wiggles he got it in. The he had to manipulate it to hold on the padlock with one hand and turn the key in the correct direction with the other to pop it open.
He threaded some of the washes on to the padlock and lined it up, pushing it locked again.

 

 


 
Something so simple that we take for granted. I had never really considered the skills it takes to unlock a padlock or thread bolts. To a growing and learning mind of a 3 year old who has never opened a padlock before or had to use such focused fine motor skills, this is a huge accomplishment!


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