"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!!

Homemade Puzzles

Today I am going to show you a fun yet quick activity that you can make with food boxes that might be just sitting around in your food pantry or cupboard.  It seems that puzzles can be costly sometimes and children out grow them making them an expensive investment.  Little do some know though, you can make your own at home that are very affordable and you can change them out without worrying about costs!


After making your own puzzles, your child can learn all kinds of things:

• Fine motor
• Cognitive skills - Letters, Shapes, Numbers, Colors
• Problem solving skills
• Eye-hand coordination

The only two things you will need are:

• Empty food boxes
• Scissors

Basically the steps are so simple.  First, you need to take the empty food boxes and cut the front panel out from the rest of the box.

The front of the boxes

The next step and the last one :) is to cut the boxes into the shapes and pieces you want.  You can go completely simple and cut them into 2-3 pieces or more complex with additional pieces.

These are cut into random shapes; 1st box into 3 pcs. & 2nd box into 4 pcs.

In my past experience with homemade puzzles, I have learned the more letters/numbers on the package the harder and it can be to put the puzzles back together.  Therefore, keep this in mind when you are cutting the boxes into your desired pieces.  I also use random cuts when cutting them, but you can always have a plan and cut out precise shapes or edges.  

*I used the boxes that I HAD in my pantry.  I don't have grown kiddos yet so I don't have any kid friendly boxes.  Choose boxes that your child enjoys looking at or recognizes to make the activity more exciting!

Enjoy and feel free to share any ideas that you have!