You Can With Cans

Ini satu lagi variasi permainan buat toddler, sekalian belajar angka dan bilangan. Lumayan buat nyalurin kelebihan energi daripada dipakai buat ngelempar2 barang atau mainan. Saya ambil dari buku Smart Play : 101 Fun, Easy Games That Enhance Intelligence karangan Barbara Sher, part three : Games That Enhance Math Skills

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YOU CAN WITH CANS

Aluminum cans are easy to collect and great for games. Try this fun bowling and counting game before you recycle your cans to get double the use out of each can. But if you want the excitement without the noise, use empty plastic water bottles instead of aluminum cans.

 

MAT E R I A L S

empty aluminum cans or plastic water bottles

beach ball or beanbag or other ball

 

D I R E C T I O N S

Stack a few cans on top of each other or set up six to ten cans in a pyramid shape as if they were bowling pins. Have your player stand two to six feet away, depending on his skill level, and roll a beach ball at the cans. Count how many cans fall down. Take as many turns as needed to knock down all of the cans. Have the child help you set up the cans again for the next round. If you don’t have a beach ball or another rubber ball handy, use a beanbag that players can toss at a stack of cans. If you don’t have a beanbag handy, make your own by putting some dried beans in the toe of a sock and tying the top into a knot.

 

VA R I AT I O N S

Cover each can with some paper and write a number on each can. Line the cans up and ask your player to aim for can number 2, for example. Or, for the very new learners, simply exclaim their achievements: “Look, you knocked over the number 2 can and the number 5 can!”

For the older learners, write down the numbers that got knocked down and have your player add them up. “Let’s see, you knocked down number 3, number 4, and number 7. Let’s figure out what your score is for this round.” If you have children of various ages, you can assign them different tasks or have them take turns; for example, the younger one can name the number, the older one can do the adding, and the middle one (the one who already knows his numbers but it not ready for addition problems) can stack the cans back up for the next round. Kids like to have titles, so the person who does the adding is King Counter, the person who stacks the can is Sir Stacker, and the person who throws the ball is Major Thrower.

 

WH AT I S B E I N G L E A R N E D

Children are learning eye-hand coordination and figuring out how much force is needed to knock many cans down at the same time. They are learning how to count the number of cans that they knock over. They are also learning to help each other by stacking the cans after each game and the coordination it takes to stack or line up the cans.

If you play the variations, children also learn about number recognition and addition. If they are asked to set up the numbered cans in order, they are also learning the order of numbers.