The activity set up is easy, and, if your house is like mine, you already have all of the supplies on hand. I took a glob of Play-Doh and stuck some pasta on it. I had angel hair pasta, and it worked fine, but spaghetti probably would be stronger (some broke during the activity, but it wasn't an issue). Then, I sat Oliver down and asked him to thread Cheerios onto the pasta. He jumped right into it!
After two or three minutes, he "mastered" the threading and then moved on to removing the pasta noodles and replacing them. I realized that I probably just should have let him do the pasta part initially. Some pasta noodles broke, and Oliver learned you can't just fix them.After he re-situated all of the noodles, Oliver threaded more Cheerios. Then, it occurred to him that Cheerios are also for eating. He stopped playing and chowed down!
"Stacking Cheerios" didn't keep him entertained for all that long (maybe 15 minutes), but it was so easy to set up and clean up, that it was worth those 15 minutes of fun. Plus, I'm likely to always have the supplies on hand, so it's an activity we can easily do when boredom strikes. The ease of the activity makes it a good one, so I give this an A-.
4 comments:
I tried this staching Cheerios today with my 19 month old. I didn't have spaghetti or play dough so I improvised. I poked holes in a styrofoam cup and put in cocktail straws. While he was not interested in stacking the the Cheerios he loved putting the straws in and out of the holes. He wanted the straws to go all the way in so I cut them and then he would lift up the cup to reveal the straws when after he put them in. Thanks for the idea! I thought I would share with you since the straws didn't break the way the spaghetti would.
cool idea. maybe i will give it a try. I tried the pipe cleaners in a strainer thing (haven't finished your blog so I don't know if you have tried it) but just poking pipe cleaners through a strainer actually provided a little more entertainment than I originally thought. Also, another idea I used was rice krispies cereal instead of rice and beans for the kids to play with. gave them about a quarter of the box each and 2 or 3 big bowls, spoons, measuring cups, and small cups. I figured it would be better because the 19month old would try to eat it anyway and this way they could play and eat and the dogs could help with cleanup. It was messy but they had a good time. That's what counts anyways right?
I love the idea of Rice Krispies! I've used dried beans, but I worry about choking (especially since I have a baby starting to scoot around the floor now). Your Rice Krispie idea is the perfect solution. I'm going to pick up a box next time I'm at the store.
Great idea... Greyson had so much fun and carried his creation all around the house eating cheerios along the way...
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