Here’s a fun and easy game that I recently made that ds3 has been enjoying.

I used an empty formula can as the basic container.  Ds14 drilled six holes in the top (I tried to cut the holes with a knife but ruined the first lid, also tried a hole puncher but what I had didn’t allow me to reach into the center of the lid).  Once the lid had holes in it, we cut colored stickers around each hole.  Then I cut a bunch of colored straws into thirds, enough to almost fill the inside container.   The idea is to put the colored straws into the hole with a matching color.

Ds enjoyed playing with this even before I put the colored stickers on to make it a sorting game (as you can see in the top picture); he found it fun just to push the straws through the holes!  Ds5 played with this also, and the two of them told me it’s like putting money into the pushke (charity box).  This game is not only good for classifying skills, it’s also great for fine motor skill development.

This basic idea can easily be adapted based on what you have in your house and the age of your children.  You can use whatever smallish recycled container you have around that has a lid; the holes should be made bigger if you have younger children.  You can use beans or small pebbles to push through the larger holes.  You can also make the holes different sizes and then cut dowels of different diameters to match the hole sizes. You get the basic idea – it’s pretty easy to adapt.

This was a fun and easy game to make, and it’s gratifying to make something fun out of free or inexpensive materials that you already have in the house!

Avivah