This ping pong ball counting game is so simple but the learning benefits are so big!
I was inspired to create this activity after I came across this ping pong and golf ball game in Pinterest that looked like something my daughter and the daycare kids would enjoy but my local Wal-Mart was out of golf balls (I’m not sure how this is possible) so instead, I decided to make my own version.
Ping Pong Ball Counting Game for Toddlers
Items needed:
- Ping Pong Balls
- Paint Palette
- Sharpie
It did start as an entertaining game of scooping the ping pong balls out of a bowl of water with a spoon and placing them into the paint palette. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of this part because my camera died and my phone was missing (later found in the fireplace) thanks to my toddler.
My toddler is still working on learning numbers and we use this game to practice counting. It doesn’t matter what number she puts where at this point. We just count along together as she puts one in each spot. It also is a great fine motor workout! 🙂
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…”
Personally I find this a great way to teach her about numbers and counting because she can actually see the quantity associated with each number. It also allows her to self-correct because she can count the ones already on the palette before continuing.
For the older kids, I put dots on the balls and we practiced letter recognition by counting the dots and then placing them in the correct spot. One daycare child is still learning to recognize each number so after he counted the number on the ball we would start at “1” and count around until we found the correct number. He thought this was so awesome that he found them himself!
I also plan to use these with colors and shapes for the younger ones because they love the balls and think it’s hilarious when they get it all completely filled and then get to dump all the balls off! 🙂
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Love this. Following you from We made That.
Blessings,
Janis http://www.janiscox.com Author of Tadeo Turtle
Such a great idea. Thanks for linking to Share It Saturday.
Stopping over from the After School Linky party. I LOVE this idea! Thanks so much for sharing. I hope you stop by and share more!
Great activity to practice basic counting skills in a fun way! Pinning this to my math board!