::: fine motor marble play
As we mentioned in our “marble run fun” post this week our children have been having a lot of fun with marbles lately.
On our recent foray to Reverse Art Truck we found some pink sponges with holes cut out of them about the size of marbles.
We grabbed a few of them and then put them out on a tray with a lip with containers of marbles, tweezers and spoons.
That table was never empty of little bodies – they loved it!
They scooped the marbles with the little spoons …
moved them around with the tweezers …
and made patterns with them.
Not only did this prove to be a wonderful fine motor exercise …
but the squishiness of the sponge coupled with the polished finish of the glass marbles made for a great sensory experience as well.
As the day was very wet and we were inside for quite a long time, one of our boys who is a soccer and footy tragic, seized the moment when he noticed the table was unattended …
to make the tray into a soccer field. He cleared the decks, added goals at each end and used the marble as a soccer ball.
It became quite competitive when a mate joined him.
Life is never dull, is it?
Tags: fine motor, marbles, soccer, sponges, spoons, tweezers
Life is only dull when the adults in our lives don’t allow us to freely experiment with the interesting things around us. I love the open-ended exploration. It’s sad, but many, many preschools in the US have forbidden marbles as “choking hazards.” Can you believe it? There is no way on earth a kid could choke on a marble — they slide right down because they’re smooth and round — I know, I swallowed one as a child!
::: You’re right about the open-ended exploration Tom … and as for you swallowing a marble … we are not surprized!!
Oh, and I’ll bet once you’re done with the sponges indoors, they’ll find fun things to do with them in the rain! =)
I LOVE the variety the children used with this activity and how they expanded it to fit their own needs! Thanks for sharing.
Very Montessorial …
Absolutely Love it … forgot to say that in the last comment post moments ago!!!
Those sponges were a great find! Loving the soccer field – I will have to keep that one up my sleeve. Oh, we made the CD spinning tops at preschool last week and they were a big hit.
Where did the sponges come from?
::: Deborah we visit a local recycling company called “Reverse Art Truck” when ever we need ‘invention table‘ supplies. It is open to the public and you can also sign up your school or kindergarten for a yearly fee.
A popular hot weather cousin to this activity at our kinder is to use marbles and ice-cube trays and melon ball scoops in a shallow basin (clear plastic box) filled with water. All children line up to do it, very soothing on a hot day, the glass marbles sparkling in the water, even in the shade.