Fine motor2–4 yrsAt home

Colander & pipe cleaners

The kitchen colander, now a precision board.

Prep

1 min

Mess

None

How to play

Flip the colander over. The challenge is poking the pipe cleaners through the holes, one by one, until it's full. Then pull them all out and start again.

  1. an upside-down colander beside two pipe cleaners
    1

    An upside-down colander and a few pipe cleaners.

  2. a pipe cleaner going into a hole in the colander
    2

    Poke them down through the holes.

  3. three pipe cleaners standing out of the colander
    3

    Then pull every one back out.

What you need

An upside-down kitchen colander and a few pipe cleaners (or dry spaghetti).

What it secretly builds

Fine motor

Hand-eye coordination. Aiming for a tiny hole trains the precision he'll later use to button a shirt and to write.

Spin again