Here’s the thing about children’s summer vacations — they seem like a dream until the reality of all the free time settles in! How do you keep your child occupied during the summer? How many games can you think of each week?
To help you out, we are returning once again with shumee’s beloved Co-Create series! Each week, we will collaborate with a mom to bring you a simple, fun, and skill-based DIY activity. These are cost-effective and your little one will love joining in to create their own games!
In this week’s hands-on experience, your child will have a blast counting and matching watermelon seeds! This is a quick and multi-dimensional learning activity that’s perfect for pre-schoolers and toddlers.
Number and Shape Activity
Our first activity is brought to you by Anuroopa, a DIY blogger and mom to 4-year-old Aanshi. Today, we will be making a DIY Watermelon Seed Number and Shape Activity Grid.
This game is perfectly themed with yummy summer fruits, and will help your little one exercise their logical thinking and fine motor skills! The benefits of playing this include:
1. Sharpens sensory skills: Playing with the colourful pieces and seeds will sharpen their visual and tactile senses.
2. Enhances critical thinking: Figuring out how to place the right piece in the right spot will boost your child’s problem solving and logical thinking skills.
3. Develops cognitive skills: Working their way on the grid will help build a keen sense of spatial awareness. Figuring out the connections between the shapes will improve their visual discrimination skills.
4. Hones fine motor skills: Picking and moving about the pieces will strengthen their hand-eye coordination and pincer grasp.
5. Improves mathematical skills: Counting the grids and figuring out the right spot to place the pieces will help your child get accustomed to numbers and counting.
Creating the Number and Shape Activity
Age recommendation:
This activity is ideal for children of 3 to 6 years.
Materials required:
1. A cardboard base
2. Small cardboard pieces
3. Paints and marker pens
4. Natural seeds (Anuroopa has used custard apple seeds)
5. Superglue or any strong adhesive
How to create the activity:
1. As shown in the image above, divide the cardboard base into 12 grids with 4 in each row and column.
2. Cut up the small cardboard pieces into circles, semi circles, and triangles, with 4 of each shape. Paint or colour them to look like watermelon slices.
3. Each shape should have one seedless piece, and one with 3, 4, and 5 seeds each. Stick them on using your adhesive.
4. In the first column, leave the first square empty and place one slice of each shape in the other three places. Similarly, leaving the first square, place 3, 4, and 5 seeds in the other three places along the first row.
Playing with the Watermelon Seed Grid Activity
The aim of the game is to place the correct watermelon slice in each grid. Sounds simple, right? Let’s get started!
Show your child how to identify the piece that will go in each place by checking the shape and number of seeds in the column and row. Place the first few slices to get them started. Watch as they take over and master the activity in no time!
Once they are familiar with the game, you could time them and ask them to beat their high scores! You could even turn it into a challenge between friends or siblings and ask them to compare their high scores. Rest assured, your little one’s confidence will grow as they begin to tackle the game on their own!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this activity. If you would like to share your experience playing with this grid, tag us at #CoCreatewithshumee.
Anuroopa is a DIY blogger and mom who creates easy and fun learning activities for toddlers. You can follow her @learnwithaanshi on Instagram.