Soaking in the January cold with another fun indoor activity that promotes skill practice.
Let’s chat about simplicity!!!
Activities that entertain your child can be so simple! Have you ever gotten them a toy and all they want to play with is the box? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’ll say it again, your kids don’t need extravagant set ups and expensive items to learn and have fun.
They don’t need much to stay engaged and learn new skills. They might need something set off to the side, separate from their open ended play to learn a specific skill. This is one of those activities! It took less than one minute to set up and can be changed in a million ways to meet the needs of your home and child. And did I mention no clean up?!?!
All I used:
- A container to hold objects
- A container to move objects to
- Cotton balls (any manipulative would work)
- A spoon or scoop
The goal of this activity is to move the “snowballs” or cotton balls from one large container to a set of smaller containers.
Learning to scoop and transfer objects is important for toddler development. I lightly explained the activity to my 20 month old but did NOT show him how to do it. I left it up to him to interpret the activity on his own and to figure out how to do it through trial and error.
Things he learned and benefits of this activity:
- Learning how to scoop
- Balancing items
- Transferring an object from one location to another
- Problem solving
- Confidence and greater self esteem
- Fine motor skill practice
- Listening and interpreting
- Sensory play
- Hand eye coordination
- Concentration
- Exploring and discovery
Although I had a goal in mind for how this activity should go, it is important to remember that even if it doesn’t go as planned, it is still valuable.
They may not achieve what you specifically wanted them to but they are learning so many different things along the way that it is worthwhile. Giving them free rein to perceive an activity and explore it is more than enough.
So give this a try! Use marshmallows, cotton balls, marbles, gold fish, or legos and a scoop and see where your toddler’s mind takes you!