Cup Stacking
STEM concepts: Engineering (building), Math (grouping, sizes, counting), Science (observing, colors), Technology (the use of objects)
Materials: Plastic cups of various sizes and color (could use toy cups or cups from your kitchen)
What to do: Place the cups around your child. Allow her to explore the different cups and hold them in her hands. Encourage her to put cups on top of one another to form a tower. She can also place smaller cups inside larger cups. Try building a tower as tall as she is. The key to this activity is free play! Children can learn a lot from simply exploring and playing with different objects.
Language and Communication: Every time your child picks up a cup, say “that cup is blue” or whichever color the cup is. Encourage your child to say the colors along with you as you explore. Every time he picks up a cup to stack, count how many cups are in the stack. For example, if he has put three smaller cups into a larger cup and goes to pick up another cup, say “cup number four.” Be sure to use words like inside, above, under, behind, in, and out during this activity as well to start talking about spatial skills.
Expand the activity: Introduce larger containers or bowls to add a twist on the stacking. Create a game where your child has a minute to build the tallest cup tower that she can. As the timer goes closer to zero, count down out loud. If you have any plastic drinking cups that you no longer need, once your child builds a tower, allow her to decorate it with stickers, markers, pom-poms, and other art supplies. You may need to tape the bottoms of cups together to stabilize the tower as she decorates.