Holiday Loose Part Bucket Balance!
- Learning Resources Posted On Dec 14, 2022 | STEM
Looking for a low-prep, low-pressure way for your toddler or preschooler to explore holiday items independently but with a STEM twist? Enter this holiday loose parts bucket balance play invitation!
Materials we used:
- Learning Resources Primary Bucket Balance
- Learning Resources Counting Surprise Party tiny gift boxes
- Hanukkah-related loose parts, including small menorah candles, dreidels, and plastic gelt
Setup:
To create an engaging, open-ended invitation to play, we set up the Bucket Balance with various small loose parts arranged in front of it and hidden inside its storage drawer. We chose a Hanukkah theme for this particular setup, but in the future, we might try other themed loose parts, such as:
- Christmas: jingle bells, small ornaments, mini candy canes, etc.
- Winter: pine cones, acorns, snowflake-shaped beads, Arctic animal figurines, etc.
- Nature: small stones, seashells, tree bark, pinecones, etc.
- Snacktime: Animal crackers, goldfish, carrot sticks, cereal, etc.
- Random: tiny cars, small blocks, wooden beads, -- the sky is the limit! You know your child best -- choose items that will excite and delight!
Play & Learn:
This activity allows young children to freely explore and sort various small parts, including textures, colors, and quantity. Adding in the Bucket Balance invites them to compare these items with new measurement concepts like weight, mass, and volume.
After some free-play, caregivers can lean in and prompt additional curiosity by asking questions about the various loose parts. For instance: How many gelt coins might you need to balance both buckets? Which is heavier, X number of candles or X number of dreidels? Let's count them together and see if our hypothesis is correct!
This is a fun new way to get festive and keep those curious brains active during breaks from preschool! What items would your child enjoy comparing on a Bucket Balance?
About the Author, Sarah Yale: With a background in education, youth development, and restorative justice, Sarah Yale wears many hats, including Mom and Librarian. She endeavors to combine her love of children's books and the great outdoors to plan inclusive, play-based activities that foster curiosity and social-emotional learning. An advocate for literacy development, loose parts, and sensory play, Sarah's activities invite you to lean in, read up, and get messy together! See more of her ideas on Instagram at @staycurious_sadertot.