Material shelf · tubs, shoeboxes, egg boxes and tins · 8 activities
Jars, Boxes and Containers
Eight activities that need a container and, in most of them, a lid: an ice cream tub, a shoebox, an egg box, a jam jar or a pair of catering tins.
The lid does more work here than the box does. At two, tipping everything back out is half the activity, so a lid a child can pull off herself keeps the loop running on its own, and a lid that needs adult thumbs stops the game every ninety seconds and waits for you. A one litre ice cream tub has the friendliest lid in the house. A shoebox lid that lifts straight off is the next best, and it means the cards can be tipped out and looked through together.
Clear beats opaque at this age. Watching the disc land is the answer to the question of where it went, and a child who can see the pile growing keeps posting. Cut the slot with a craft knife, then fold masking tape over both long edges, which takes the roughness off and stays put for months.
Egg boxes split into two kinds. Cardboard takes permanent marker and keeps it, so the numbers stay in the bottom of the cups for a year. Polystyrene and clear plastic rub off within a week, and those want small round stickers or paper circles taped into the cups instead. A six cup box is the better first one, and the lid folds back down as the tub for the loose beans.
For the stilts, look for large catering food tins, about 15 cm across and 12 to 15 cm tall, or five litre paint buckets. Wide enough for a six year old foot, low enough that stepping off is a step rather than a drop. Thin walled tins crush under weight and then wobble. Wrap the cut rim twice with tape, all the way round, and that is the one sharp thing in the whole build settled permanently.
The eight
Ordered by the age they suit best. Each line gives the setup time, the play time and whether anything has to be bought.
- Cardboard Slotting and Coin Drop Your child turns a disc until it lines up with the slot, posts it, and listens for it landing. 15 min, once · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Clothespin Pinching Your child squeezes a wooden clothes peg open and clips it onto the rim of a bowl, and then does it forty more times. no setup · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Posting and Slotting Your child pushes a plastic lid through a slot cut in a tub, hears it land, and then takes the tub lid off and finds it again. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Cardboard Post Office and Sound Drop Your child holds a picture card, says the sound its word starts with, and posts it through the slot marked with that letter. 15 min, once · 10 to 20 min · household only
- Egg Carton Counting Grid Your child reads the number written in the bottom of an egg carton cup and drops in exactly that many beans, one at a time, twelve cups in a row. 15 min, once · 10 to 20 min · household only
- Painters Tape Floor Balance Track Your child walks a line of tape stuck to the floor without stepping off it, then does it again carrying something. 4 min · 10 to 20 min · one substitute needed
- Weighted Pod Sorting Your child picks up two pots that look exactly alike, decides which one is heavier, and keeps going until all ten are in pairs. 15 min, once · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Bucket Stilts Balance Track Your child stands on two upturned tins, holds a rope in each hand to keep them under her feet, and walks a taped line across the garden. 15 min, once · 10 to 20 min · household only
Half of these are a container plus one adult minute with a knife or a nail. Make It Yourself has what each build involves and how long it takes.