Marbles - Page 2 of 3

Floating Egg Carton Marble Scoop

Steps:

Fill a large bowl halfway with water.
Place an empty egg carton inside the bowl so it floats.
Put a small pile of marbles on the table next to the bowl.
Have your child scoop a single marble using a spoon.
They must carry it and drop it into a specific egg cup.
Challenge them to fill all the cups without sinking the boat.
Try using the other hand to make it harder.

Safety Tip:
Adult supervision is required. Marbles are a major choking hazard. Keep these materials away from children under 3 years old.

Bumpy Bubble Marble Slide

Steps:

Lay a sheet of Bubble Wrap flat on a table with the bubbles facing down.
Secure all four corners with Masking Tape to keep it from moving.
Place a marble under the wrap at one corner.
Use your index finger to press on top of the wrap.
Guide the marble through the tiny paths between the bubbles.
Try to reach the opposite corner without popping any bubbles!
Use your other hand to push the marble back to the start.

Safety Tip:
Marbles are a significant choking hazard. Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Ensure all marbles are collected and stored safely after play.

Foil Maze Marble Glide

Steps:

Lay out the aluminum foil pan on a flat table.
Take three pipe cleaners and bend them into curvy, wavy lines.
Use masking tape to secure the pipe cleaners inside the pan as walls.
Place a marble at one end of the winding path.
Use a pointer finger to gently push the marble through the maze.
Try to keep the marble inside the pipe cleaner borders the whole time.
When you finish, tilt the pan to roll the marble back to the start.

Safety Tip:
Marbles are a significant choking hazard. Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Ensure all marbles are collected and stored out of reach after the activity.

Pickup Relay Games

Place two buckets in opposite sides of the room.

Fill one bucket with objects (Lego pieces, beads, plastic eggs, marbles, or anything that the child can pick up using tongs).

Have the child use the tongs to pick up an object from one bucket, run across the room, and drop it in the other bucket.

Grading Option

Place the objects in container or bucket full of sand or water.

Create an obstacle course for the child to go through.

Feed Me

In this activity, imagination and creativity are key components.

Begin by drawing the face of a child, a character (clown, robot, princess, etc.), or an animal that the child likes on the shoe box’s cover. Then, cut out the mouth of your figure so that it looks like the figure is opening its mouth. Make sure the opening is big enough so that the child is able to place the small objects through the opening.

Place the cotton balls (see additional ideas for objects below) on the table in front of the child or in a shallow bowl.

Give the tongs to the child and instruct her to hold it with her thumb, pointer, and middle fingers only, while tucking the pinkie and ring fingers into the palm of her hand. Then, ask the child to use the tongs to pick up one object at a time and feed the figure by placing the object into the figure’s open mouth.

This is where creativity comes into play as you can use the child’s imagination to decide what kind of food the cotton balls represent.

If you chose to draw an animal, you can have the cotton balls be the type of food this specific animal eats (i.e. monkey = bananas, dog = bones, bunny = carrots, etc.)

Based on the child’s developmental skills, you can have her draw the figure (can be a very simple figure) and cut the mouth opening independently.

Additional ideas for small objects (depending on the child’s age and abilities): pasta, beads (large and small), beans, cotton swabs, marbles, and Lego