Imagine a world where everything was the same colour, there was only one word we could speak in, and we did not have numbers to count. Sounds impossible, right?
Colours, shapes, alphabets, and numbers bring the world around us to life! And our ability to tell them apart and identify their similarities and differences is called visual discrimination.
If your child is learning this core skill, this week’s Co-Create activity will be perfect for you! This fun game focuses on following a simple code to put sprinkles on an ice cream. Sounds fun? Let’s get started!
Ice-Cream Coding Activity
This week’s Co-Create activity is brought to you by Aditi, a DIY blogger and mom to 4-year-old Aahan. Today, we will be making a DIY Ice-Cream Coding Game!
This is not just a yummy summer-themed game, but will help your child sharpen a whole host of visual and verbal connections in their minds! The benefits of playing this include:
1. Develops fine motor skills: Using the tongs to pick and drop the pom-poms will strengthen the muscles in your child’s fingers and palm, and hone their hand-eye coordination.
From holding your finger to using a pencil, how exactly does your child’s fine motor skills develop and how can you help? Read this blog to find out! |
2. Promotes visual discrimination: Telling apart the colours, numbers, and words will hone their visual discrimination skills.
3. Sharpens problem solving skills: Matching the pom-poms and the bottle caps in the quickest way possible will hone your child’s strategic thinking and problem solving abilities.
4. Improves spatial awareness: Identifying the right bottle cap in the ice-cream at each turn will improve their spatial awareness.
5. Develops reading skills: This game is perfect to introduce small words and teach your child how to read too!
6. Strengthens communication skills: Learning numbers, colours, and alphabets will better their vocabulary and help them communicate more descriptively.
Creating the Coding Activity
Age recommendation:
This activity is best suited for children between 3 to 6 years.
Materials required:
1. A piece of cardboard
2. A4 sheet.
3. Bottle caps
4. Colourful pom-poms
5. Matching dot stickers
6. A pair of tongs
7. Sketch pens and scissors
8. Dice
How to create the activity:
1. Sketch and colour an ice-cream cone on the A4 sheet. Cut it out and stick it on the piece of cardboard.
2. Place 6 bottle caps face down in the ice-cream. Write any small 2-3 letter words inside each cap.
3. Stick a thick strip of paper beside the cone. Mark this scale with numbers 1 to 6 vertically. Beside each number, stick a dot sticker and write the same words as the ones in the bottle caps on each of them.
4. Keep 6 pom-poms in a bowl, one in each colour of the dot stickers.
5. Keep your tongs and dice ready!
Playing with the Ice-Cream Coding Activity
The aim of the game is to place the right coloured pom-pom in the bottle cap. You can start by showing your child how to play the first few rounds and then let them take over.
To begin, roll the dice. According to the number you get, check the scale for the corresponding dot sticker. Using the tongs, pick the pom-pom which is the same colour as the dot sticker and drop it into the bottle cap that has the word on the sticker. Repeat until you complete all the pom-poms and have sprinkles of all colours on the ice-cream!
Once your child is comfortable with the game, you can mix up the dot stickers, or even erase and re-write the words on different stickers. Watch as your toddler sharpens their skills and masters this game no time!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this activity. If you would like to share your experience playing with this grid, tag us at #CoCreatewithshumee.
Aditi is a DIY blogger and mom who shares DIY activities and homeschooling ideas for children. You can follow her @aai_ahaanvlogs on Instagram.