Boxes, boxes, & more boxes

A few of the different shaped boxes that we have received

This post is going to be short and simple.  Tis the season for extra boxes hanging around the house from the holidays.  I have kept every size of box from small to large that we received as gifts or through purchases.  I basically keep them until they are no longer stable enough to take a pounding from my kiddos.  Boxes can open the door of imagination for kids, and also extend on so many developmental milestones.

Smaller boxes: (such as cereal & food boxes)

The different variations of these types of boxes are very simple.  Your child could line them up according to size and learn about seriation, stack them inside one of another and learn about basic math concepts such as volume and sequencing, or treat them like stacking blocks and learn about cause and effect and develop some of their large and fine motor skills.

Medium Boxes: (such as the boxes on the bottom right hand corner in picture)

These boxes are good for kiddos to sit in mostly or sit on top.  If your kiddos are light enough, they could also stand on them and practice climbing up.  I sometimes stuff the boxes with extra paper that was inside the box when shipped or even extra plastic baggies that you receive from grocery stores.

My son climbing...

My daughter sitting on the box and using the other box as a drum

Larger boxes: (Christmas tree box, kitchen set box, longer skinnier boxes)

These types of boxes are just good ole' fashion fun boxes.  These boxes are good for climbing in and out of, playing "peek-a-boo" from inside the box with the flaps, and pretending they are a fort.

Inside the box

Hanging out inside the box

Peek-a-boo

The longer skinnier boxes we received when we ordered curtain rods online.  I like to use the boxes as a balance beam for the kiddos mostly.

  

We also integrated the boxes as a tool for them to practice jumping off of and over.  Today, though, my son decided to use it as a race car track for his cars.  Such a cute little imagination! :-)

Boxes can be used for so much and honestly, kids enjoy these so much more than the toy itself!

Snowball Toss

Its that time of the year and well...BRRRR it's cold outside.  In some areas, some of us have already seen some snow...maybe too much...while others aren't ever going to see any.  I put together a fun activity where my kiddos can play in the "snow", while practicing some of their other skills.

In the snowball toss, children will master:

• Gross motor skills such as running and throwing
• Fine motor skills such as grasping, pinching
• Aim of throwing
• Social skills such as turn taking, patience
• Counting
• Eye-hand coordination
• Imagination and pretending

This activity is so simple and versatile and you can add whatever you want to make it simple, more complicated, or even more fun!  

Here's what you will need:

• Socks, socks, and more socks.  The more socks the better.  I used socks that I had purchased at one time and didn't like.
• Baskets for throwing into.

First, take the socks and roll them up as tight as you can so they make a ball.  Honestly, my kiddos had more fun trying to unroll them at one point.  Once they are in a ball, it's time to throw them and have some fun!  

I placed a white laundry basket out because my kiddos are still younger so target shooting isn't something they are great at yet.  The older the child, though, the smaller the basket to help with those skills of eye-hand coordination.

Action shot - my son throwing a snowball

Another action shot of my daughter running around trying to catch the snowballs

Once we threw all the snowballs into the basket, I attempted to count them.  My kiddos, though, were too excited and wouldn't allow me.  They were picking them out before I could count them!

This was such a fun activity, that we do this almost daily.  Some days, we pretend to throw them at each other.  While some might frown upon that, my kids obviously don't have that much strength to throw something that hard, plus it helps to build their gross motor skills.

Any other variations that you do?  Please share!  

"Coin" Drop

This is a fun game children really enjoy playing over and over again.  It can keep them busy for at least 15 minutes (to me that is awesome), but also requires some supervision to make sure the pieces don't make it in the mouth.  My children love when I get this activity out and just have fun with it.  Very content little creatures ;-)


What children will learn through this activity are:

• Object Permanence - an object stills exists when not in view
• Cause and effect
• Eye-hand coordination
• Problem solving
• Fine motor skills
• Sorting
• Numbers and counting

Depending on what children do with this activity, there are also extensions that you can do and we can discuss that later.

To get started you will need:

• Plastic containers - I had clear containers hanging around, but you can use any older recyclable container such as butter or yogurt containers, but make sure that they have a lid.
• Milk caps in various colors
• Scissors
• Tape

First, you will need to collect milk caps.  I have collected these over the years since being a teacher and now a mother.  You can ask friends to help as well, but if you can only collect 2 or 3 colors of caps that is a good start.

Next, take scissors and cut a slit in the top of the lid of your plastic containers.  The slit should be approximately 1"x 2".  Once the slit is cut, use the tape to tape the edges.  This is to prevent the edges from being too sharp.  I used clear tape, but you can also use colored masking tape.

I have been using this game for a while now and in all honesty,
its starting to bend a little and the tape is coming off,
but that just shows how much my kiddos enjoy this game.

Once the slit has been cut and the tape applied, pop the lid on and give your kiddo the milk caps to start playing.  

As I mentioned, my kiddos love this game and started off playing with it by just putting the caps in the slots.  Now, they have figured out how to pop the lids off and love to fill them up through the slots and then dump them out again.  They haven't grown tired of this activity yet!

Once kiddos have played with this activity for sometime and start to not enjoy it as much though, here are some other ideas on how to extend off this concept:

• Counting - as your kiddo plops the coin through the slot, count them.  When done dump them and count them again!!
• Sort - sort the caps by colors
• Add different objects - find other objects that fit into the slot: straws, popsicle sticks, etc.  Any other objects you've tried?  Let me know how it works out for you.

Have fun!!