From experience I’ve found that one type of play can often inspire another activity a few days later using the same play equipment but with a different focus and different results. Messy play remains a regular activity for Daisy and since their recent introduction funnels have become a permanent part of her activities.
Having watched Daisy playing with funnels, jugs and other containers for water play I decided that she may be ready to use funnels, jugs and bottles with pour-able solids.
I put out the familiar messy play equipment together with some orange lentils and green split peas on Daisy’s little table with a large cloth underneath to catch the spills. We chatted about the lentils and peas: their colours, their texture and how they felt.
I then showed Daisy how I could pour the lentils from the jug into a container and stopped when it was nearly full. This was a great opportunity to explore adjectives like full and empty.
I encouraged Daisy to have a go, with mixed, and messy results. In the days since I did this with Daisy, she’s had more opportunities to use pour-able solids back at home. And I keep finding stray lentils under the kitchen furniture.
Pour-able solids such as rice, dried peas or lentils give Daisy more control and allow her more opportunity to manipulate materials to achieve a planned effect. As she is pouring Daisy can watch the movement and flow of the pouring solids and see where they go. I wanted her to have practice in filling containers to experience cause and effect, like knowing when a container is full, and knowing when to stop. A jug is a type of one-handed tool so this activity requires gross and fine motor control as well as hand-eye coordination. Quite a challenge when you’re not yet three years old.
Another challenge is to see if your grandchild can use ‘pincer grip’ (employing finger and thumb) to pick up any split peas or lentils.
Granny Smith says
This activity also provides Daisy with practice in life-skills such as pouring her own drink, adding milk to her breakfast cereal or even putting water out for the family pet.
Granny Smith's Diary 