Using Left Over Egg Cartons

In what I call my "previous life" before I stayed home with kids, I worked as a Family Development Specialist with Early Headstart in USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden school distict. I was P.A.T. certified and worked with families and their children on key developmental areas. Since having my own children I try to incorporate what I know about child development into my time with Seth and Levi. I am always looking for fun activities to do with them that are also fun for me:) I guess coupons aren't my WHOLE life!

With that background information you now have about me don't be surprised if you start seeing little "activity" posts popping up every now and then. I figure I have at least a few readers with young kids or know of moms who do, right?

Here is what we did with 1 of our left over egg cartons after we dyed Easter eggs.

We took the carton and colored the egg holders 6 different colors to represent the items we were using. We didn't have a pink marker, so we saved the pink items for the "non -colored" holders.

The colors corresponded to the "fuzzy balls" or pom poms that would be placed into the carton.



Then, we got out our handy dandy tweezers that light up when squeezed together (our own P.A.T. lady gave us these to use) as our tool to get the fuzzy balls into the designated colored cartons holders.

My son LOVED this activity. I loved it, too, because it focused on a few key developmental areas. Below are the key areas I was using this activity to focus on.

Fine Motor and Pre-Writing/Scissor Cutting Skills: When a child uses tweezers to pick up objects he is using his fine motor skills. The use of the tweezers aids in future scissor cutting skills as the child learns to open and close the tweezers. The use of the tweezers is also strengthening the child's hand and wrist which are important for learning to write. The stronger and more coordinated a child's hand and wrist are the easier it will be for them to grasp a writing utensil and write.

Color Matching/Sorting: The use of the colored pom poms is useful in teaching a child their colors by asking them to "match" similar colors. If they already know their colors then you can talk about "sorting." In this activity you can sort by color and size. These could be considered "pre-math" skills.

Have Fun!