Indoor play - milk bottle fun



My mum and I have been collecting milk bottle tops for a while as I thought they would be useful for different activities.  Luath is slowly coming out of her mouthing stage so I thought it was time to take them out and see what we could do with them.  Some of the things we did I wasn't expecting Luath to be able to do, I was just interested to see what she could do and what she understood.  We mainly have red, blue and green tops so I used these three colours for most activities. NB I didn't leave Luath alone with the bottle tops, they are large enough that it is highly unlikely she could swallow them but she did a couple of times hold them between her teeth.

Sorting

I placed the tops in a basket.  I then took three jars and showed Luath me putting one of a colour in a jar.  I then repeat the same thing again so each jar had two of a particular colour.  Luath copied my putting a top in a jar, sometimes she would do a few right and I would think she understood, but then she would just mix the colours up.

Selecting a twin

I placed three of each colour on a tray.  It took a little time until Luath let me place all nine tops down and not then pick them up.  I was in no rush so I just waited until I got them down.  I then picked up a top from the spare tops in the basket and asked Luath to find me one that was the same.  The first three times she selected the twin, but after that she just picked up anyone. 

Stacking

I tried stacking the tops, they don't stack well if they are all facing the same direction, but if you alternate direction, they stack great.  This was too difficult for Luath, I didn't ask her to try, but she enjoyed me stacking and her knocking the pile down.

          

Making patterns

I like the pattern blocks and cards that I have seen so I tried out making some shapes and objects with the tops.  I can see this being a good activity in the future.  It would be quite easy to make up some cards for Luath to copy.

Musical shaker

 Using the jars from the sorting game, we put some tops into the jar and then screwed the lid on.  They made some fun shakers.  They were also fun to roll.  The dog joined in with this, she thought they were a great new toy.

Just in case you think all this ran smoothly and textbook style here is Luath sitting on the tray (she is still putting tops into a jar).    

The main thing we did was have lots of fun.  We played with these over a few days and Luath liked to select the closed jars to initiate play. We did a lot of pouring them out of the jars and onto the floor.  Rolling them around.  Throwing them into the basket.  Throwing them into the air to watch them fall. I am looking forward to using these free tops again.  I told my mum that we will need to look out for different coloured tops for various milks and shops to add to our collection!

shared with Tuesday tots see what else tots have been doing

(Luath is 15 months)