Pipe Cleaner Deep Sea Divers

Ages:: Preschoolers (3 to 5), School age (6+)
Play time:: 15 to 20 minutes
Setup:: 5 minutes
Where:: Table

Why it helps

This activity helps your child work on their hand strength and coordination. By threading heavy metal nuts onto fuzzy pipe cleaners, they learn to use both hands together. It also introduces basic concepts of weight and gravity! They will love seeing their divers sink and then rescuing them from the bottom of the container.

Steps

Fill the plastic container about halfway with cool water.
Take a colorful pipe cleaner and bend it into the shape of a little person.
Ask your child to pick up a nut from the pile using their thumb and pointer finger.
Thread the nut onto the pipe cleaner diver's legs to act as a heavy weight.
Drop the diver into the water to see if it sinks or floats.
Add more nuts and bolts until the diver reaches the very bottom of the tank!
Use another pipe cleaner as a hook to fish the divers back up to the surface.

Safety tip: Ensure your child is seated at a stable table. Metal nuts and bolts are small and should be handled with care.

Make it easier

Bend the divers for your child so they can focus on threading the nuts.
Use large nuts with wide holes.
Let your child fish the divers out with a slotted spoon.

Make it harder

Guess how many nuts each diver needs to reach the bottom, then test it.
Use the smallest nuts you have.
Fish the divers out with the pipe cleaner hook in the non-dominant hand.

What to watch for

Notice whether one hand holds the pipe cleaner steady while the other hand threads the nut.
Watch how your child picks up each nut, with the fingertips or by sliding it to the edge of the table.
If wet, fuzzy pipe cleaners feel unpleasant, keep a towel nearby and let your child dry the divers between dives.

Where this helps in daily life

Threading onto something bendy while the other hand holds it steady is practice for lacing shoes, sliding a key onto a key ring, and threading a belt through loops.

These activities are for home practice and don't replace the guidance of a licensed therapist.