It's summer and pool noodles are everywhere...Let's make some games! Materials:
- Pool Noodles (I purchased mine for $1 at the Dollar Tree)
- Clothesline or small rope that will fit in the hole of the pool noodle. (I found a synthetic clothesline at the Dollar Tree)
- Box cutter or Serated Knife
- Total Cost: $5 (I purchased 4 colors and the clothesline)
~Using a box cutter or serated knife, cut the pool noodle. My pieces ended up being approximately 1.5 inches wide.
~Depending on the skills you'd like to work on with your tot, use a permanent marker to write on the pieces. I made an ABC set and Numbers 1-20 set. You could also leave some blank and use them for patterns.
(Just a side note about my thinking process for the Numbers 1-20 Set: I had 4 colors of pool noodle beads. Instead of mixing up the colors, I chose to make them in sets of 5. For example, Numbers 1-5 are red and Numbers 6-10 are blue, etc. I thought this would be easier to pull the numbers I needed to use with my kids and would help visualize skip counting by 5's. I was thinking ahead, and not being random.)
Games to play:
- Lace the "giant" beads on a piece of the clotheline or rope. (Motor Skills)
- Lace the beads in ABC order. (Motor skills & Literacy)
- Lace the beads in Number order. (Motor skills & Math)
- Lace the beads to spell words or names. (Motor skills & Literacy)
I bought 4 colors of pool noodles and ended up with a ton of beads! Partner with a friend and share the wealth! Happy Summer!
7 comments:
What a great idea - and fun for grandparents and grandchildren too. I'll pass the info on. :) Have a lovely day by the pool.
Clever idea.
We love pool noodles and play and learn with them quite often as you can see here - http://www.ourjourneythruautism.com/2011/06/wearing-spd-lenses-7-all-season-reasons.html and here - http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2011/05/we-play-pool-noodle-hockey.html n
Love that noodle activity , thanks,
Barbara Smith, M.s., OTR/L
RecyclingOT.com
I bought some of these to do this with my special needs students. I used the electric knife to cut through the noodles. Love the ideas of 5 of each color!! Ingenious idea!
Randy Sue McKeever
Just found this post but wanted to share an idea that a colleague used with pool noodles. She strung a clothes line. Ethically from the ceiling so the children could reach it and encouraged them to string upwards patterns. They were able to keep them on using a clothes pin!
What did you put on the end of the lace or rope to keep the noodles from sliding off? Thanks. :)
You can also use shoe laces with the pool noodle beads. Tie a knot around one bead to make a stop. The stiff end of the shoe lace makes threading the beads easier for small, young hands. Such a great and inexpensive toy. You can also found shoe laces at the Dollar Tree.
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