Did you try Slot Drop yet? If not, be sure to check that fine motor activity out. This is a similar activity to that one, but with a little more challenge. Your child will not only be grabbing the popsicle sticks from the egg carton, but fitting them back in the slots which is tricky. To make this activity easier, make the slots in the egg carton larger. For more of a challenge, make them thin slits.
Materials
- empty egg carton
- popsicle sticks
- box cutter to make slits in the egg carton for the popsicle sticks
- optional: paint or markers to decorate the outside
Directions
- Flip the egg carton upside down. Cut slits in each of the egg mounds that is large enough for a popsicle stick to slide into. The larger the opening the easier it is for your child to fit the popsicle stick back in. That is a good way to start the activity. As your child’s hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills progress, you can make a more challenging egg carton popsicle stick grab by making the slits thinner.
- Optional step: Decorate the outside of the egg carton. This is not only aesthetically pleasing but can also be used for color matching and introduction. As your child becomes more familiar with their colors, you can use colored popsicle sticks and have them match the colored popsicle stick to the correct colored spot on the egg carton.
- Put a popsicle in each slit and offer the egg carton to your little one.
- You may need to show them how you can hold the egg carton down with one hand and pull the popsicle sticks out with the other hand.
- Also, model how you can put the popsicle sticks back in the egg carton.
- Let your little one explore!
Riley's experience
Riley loves removing all the popsicle sticks from the egg carton. She is still working on using both hands to do this-one hand stabilizes while the other one grabs the popsicle stick. She prefers to grab the popsicle stick, and then shake the egg carton off. Fitting the popsicle sticks back into the egg carton took more practice. I had to make the slits wider so that she could see the opening better to fit the popsicle stick back in. We aren’t working on color matching yet, but I painted the egg carton for that day when we are ready to introduce that.
Benefits
- Hand-eye coordination: Your child is working on their hand-eye coordination as they fit the popsicle stick back in the egg carton and to pull the stick out.
- Bilateral movement: As your child holds the egg carton steady with one hand and pulls or fits the popsicle stick in with the other hand, they are working both sides of the body together at the same time.
- Fine motor skills: Your child is working on pinching, grasping, pulling, and pushing during this activity.
- Problem solving skills: It is hard work figuring out how to put the popsicle sticks back in the egg carton, and how to use both hands together to pull them out.
- Language development: Your child is being exposed to contextual vocabulary such as pull, grab, popsicle stick, push, hold, different color words, etc.
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