Toddler Activity: Puffs container and straws

I was introduced to the wonderful world of Pinterest about 2 months ago.  I don’t know WHY I didn’t use it sooner because it is incredibly addicting and surprisingly useful!  This post is inspired by a pin that I saw where you take an empty Pringles container and punch a few holes in the lid.  Then you give your toddler a bunch of straws and get them to slide the straws through the holes and into the container.

I didn’t even pin it to any of my boards, but it really stuck in my mind (and motivated me to buy a couple of containers of Pringles… they are healthier when you need the container for something, right?)

When Kate finished her last container of baby puff snacks, I thought that the little white plastic container was much better suited for the straws-through-a-hole toddler activity.  Plus, I wouldn’t have to see the Pringles label staring back at me, which inevitably would have made me buy even more Pringles.  It just left us with a nice, clean, white container that the colours of the straws could really stand out on.

Toddler Activity: Puffs container and straws

• One empty and cleaned baby puffs container


• One single hole punch


• One package of straws

Leah will be 3 next month, so I was worried that this wouldn’t keep her occupied for very long, but she seemed to like it.  I just used a regular single hole punch and punched about five holes in the plastic lid.

I gave her about 20 straws to see what she thought, and when she was finished sliding all of them through the holes and into the puffs container she didn’t think it was enough.  She must have really been watching me closely, because she got up from her chair, waltzed over to the drawer where I keep the straws and insisted that she needed to use ALL of our straws.

So if you are visiting our house, you may want to pass on the straw and drink right from your glass…

Leah is getting old enough that it wasn’t all that much of a challenge for her to fit the straws through the holes, but she’s all about organizing things, so she was still into it.  I’m sure for a younger toddler this would be great for their fine motor skills and focus.

As an added bonus, when she finished, she turned it into a sort-all-the-straw-colours game, followed by a counting game.  And then she put the lid back onto the container, took all of the orange and pink straws and put them all back through the holes.

Then she lost interest and asked to do something else, but I would say it kept her attention for a good 20 minutes.  She really enjoyed sorting the colours.  I’m sensing that I might have a very organized little girl on my hands.  Is it hoping for too much that she might make her bed and clean her room one day?

 

Source : onelittleproject.com
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