Do you have a ping pong table? We do not, but we do own a ton of ping pong balls. Why? Well, there are so many ways to play and learn with ping pong balls, that having them on hand is always a good idea. Plus, they are super cheap. You can get 144 for under $10. I created this counting fun with ping pong balls game when I noticed that my then two year old got her numbers confused when counting. This game can help preschool aged children with numerical order, number recognition and even fine motor skills. For more fun with numbers and ping pong balls check out Numbered Ball Toss. You can also use ping pong balls to teach word families like they did on Fun-A-Day.
Counting Fun with Ping Pong Balls
You will need:
-
- Large bowl
- Ping pong balls
- Permanent marker
- Spoon
- Plastic paint tray or an egg carton
The first thing you need to do is write the numbers 1-12 on some ping pong balls using your permanent marker.
Drop your balls into a bowl filled with water. Ask your child to use a spoon to scoop out the balls in numerical order starting with the number 1. This is more challenging than you might think as they then have to transfer the ball to a paint tray. An empty egg carton would work for this purpose as well.
The kids had fun placing the balls in the right order on the tray. Since I have three kids, they each took turns scooping a number and placing it on the tray. They have also done counting fun with ping pong balls individually where one child got to scoop all the numbers out in order. It's a fun way to practice numbers. This would be a great outdoor activity as well where you could spread out the trays from the bowl so that kids would have to walk and balance the ball on the spoon.
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Kevin James
That's a creative approach Vicky. Definitely going to try with my niece. Thanks a bunch.