Fine MotorToddlersPreschoolersGrade SchoolKindergartners6 Comments
Once we get snow in Iowa… there comes snow days and late starts. And I need activities to fill the time!
This was one that we did on a late start morning that had the boys challenged and wanting to do more and more. And best of all, it was suited for all three boys!
This challenged their hand and eye coordination and fine motor skills in a way that wasn’t about strengthening, but about steadiness and focus.
I lined up a chair backwards for each of the boys to stand on and placed a cup below it (not under it).
I secured the cup in place with painter’s tape because I knew it would get bumped around.
Before I share what we did for this activity, I want to put out a word of ‘warning’:
In all honesty, when we do this again, I’ll probably have them stand on their beds, or over the stair railing. We may have tipped over a dining room chair and broke it. But, I still want to share this activity because the boys really enjoyed the challenge and I think there’s a way to do it without anyone or anything getting hurt.
We like breaking rules like this! Check out the indoor obstacle course that had them climbing on tables.
On each chair, I placed 3 strings of yarn. Each in different lengths.
The longest one I cut to about my height. The second was half that. And the third was half of that. Depending on how tall of an object you have to go from will determine the length of yarn. But it doesn’t really matter to be really specific.
The boys then each climbed on the chair and first sorted through their strings to find what they had.
They observed and found they had one super long one, a short one, and then found a medium length piece of string too.
My challenge to them was to get their strings into the cup from standing on the chair. And I asked:
What string do you think will be the easiest to get into the cup?
Their answer was the short string.
They quickly changed their answer when they started with the long one. They realized that they could never reach down that far with the short string to get it in the cup. It was merely hit or miss.
They had really good luck the first round. I think because they were the most nervous and trying really hard then.
Some they made…. some they did not…
The longest string was always the most successful.
They had a good time. Even after Henry tipped the chair over. He got back up and wanted to do it again. We then made a rule that they couldn’t touch the chair back at all. I also moved the chair closer to the cup.
If you do this activity on the chair be sure that its a sturdy enough chair. Or you can sit on it to weigh it down when they’re reaching over. I obviously don’t want any kids, or chairs, to get hurt! Please use your discretion and be smart.
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Rossana says
Good activity. They can do it just standing :)
Susan says
Thank you we will try this out tomorrow with our son. We have a learning tower so that might just be the perfect activity to keep him busy while I cook.
Evelyne says
What a great idea! And smart tip about taping the cup to the floor! Thanks for sharing at the Frugal Family Linky! Evelyne
somaya saeed says
Very nice activities