Cup Stack and Sort

Cups are a very easy activity for children to play with.  They are very versatile and can be used for many different activities.  In this post, I'm going to show you what my kiddos and I did with these cups that I found at the dollar store.

What you will need is very simple: CUPS.  I found these multicolored hard plastic "tumblers" at my local dollar store probably two years back.  If you can't find these specific cups, multicolored thinner plastic cups that you find in the napkin aisle at a local grocery store will work as well.

In this activity, we learned:

• Precision and how to place the cups inside one another and side by side
• Colors
• Sorting
• Stacking
• Counting
• How to use eye-hand coordination
• Cause & effect
• New language - we talked about how high we could build the towers, how to put cups in a line

Here are some of the things that we did with the cups:

First, we placed cups one inside the other.  We talked about how the cups fit together and made a big tower.  This also took some strength as the cups became stuck at times, but my kiddos' persistence won that battle.

Next, we stacked them and made even bigger towers.  Here we counted how many were on the bottom, second row, top, etc.  We then had fun knocking them down!

Then, we placed them in "piles" according to their colors.  Actually, my son did this on his own and I helped him by reinforcing what he had done and kept encouraging him to make those piles by placing the cups according to their color.  

Finally, we practiced putting cups into a line.  Although they weren't placed by colors, we still learned about coordination and also the beginning and the end of the line.

We had a lot of fun with this activity.  My kiddos sat for almost 20 minutes with the cups.  I can only say that doesn't happen that often with toddlers!  

"Pick a Card" Math Game

Last year, my husband started playing poker and really enjoyed it.  For his birthday party, I planned a poker theme and bought several decks of cards.  During the party, they were highly used and after that, not so much.  I left them in a box in the basement thinking I would probably never use them again, but to my surprise I have thought of a great use for those extra cards!  I am going to teach you a simple math game that you can create using one deck (or more) of cards and a few extra items you find around the house.


While playing this game, your child will learn:

• Number recognition
• Sorting and classifying skills
• Counting
• Shape and color reinforcement
• Social skills, such as turn taking, if he/she is playing with another friend

The materials you will need include:

• Plastic cups - doesn't matter which color they are
• Black permanent marker
• A deck (or more) of playing cards

First, count out at least nine cups.  Unfortunately, with a deck of cards you will not be able to teach ALL the numbers from 1-10, but you will be able to teach most of them.  *If you want to, you can take a A, K, Q, J card and tape a piece of paper over it and write the number one on it to make your own "one" card for the game*  

Next, take your cups and the permanent marker and place the numbers 2-10 on the cups.

Once there is a number on each cup, place them in any order that you feel is developmentally appropriate for your child.  Then give your child the deck of cards. *If this is the first time you are completing the activity, start with half the deck and you can work up to the whole deck*  Encourage your child to sort through the cards and you can also help as needed.

After the cards are displayed for the child, encourage him or her to name the number on the card, and then place into the appropriate numbered cup.

  

This activity is a great math activity and yet so simple to make!  If you don't have plastic cups available, you can use plastic/styrofoam plates or bowls as well!

Have fun!

Extension Idea:

So what to do with those A, K, Q, J cards?  Go ahead and make cups for those as well!  You can either combine the two activities together or separate them.