Now that Easter has come and gone, are you left with a bunch of plastic eggs just begging to be useful again? If so, here is a great way to use those Easter leftovers. And what a fun way to welcome Spring!

I first read about this idea here at Stacy’s blog. It seemed pretty simple, so I thought I’d give it a try. The steps:

1. Gather your eggs.

I decided on four pairs (or pair, if you prefer) of plastic eggs.

2. Fill the eggs with items that make different noises. Fill two eggs with each item.

I used beads, coins, dry pasta, and rice.

3. Close up the eggs. If you’d like these to be a more permanent addition to your shelves, you might want to seal them shut with a hot glue gun.

4. Present the activity to your child. Pick one egg and shake it next to your ear. With your other hand, pick another egg and shake it next to your other ear. Shake the original egg again. If they match, place them together to the side of your work. If they do not match, keep the original egg in your hand and, with your other hand, choose another egg. Shake the original egg, shake the new egg. Do this a couple of times to reinforce the sounds. Keeping the original egg in its original hand, go through each of the remaining eggs until you find its match. Make sure to keep the exercise orderly by always using the same hand to shake the egg you are trying to match and using the other hand to choose the egg to test against the original. When you think you have found all the matches, shake each pair again to confirm that you completed the work correctly.

5. Invite your child to try the activity. Gently remind her of the order of the activity if she forgets.

What This Activity Teaches

• Sound Discrimination: This is an excellent way to fine-tune a child’s sense of hearing. By exposing them to the different sounds, their ears will learn to differentiate between the sounds and find matches. I’ve been amazed at how keen Pearl’s sense of hearing is. She often does this exercise better than some adults who have tried it with her!
• Ordered Work: By working through this activity in an orderly fashion (using each hand for its own purpose and working with one original egg until its match is found vs. shaking all the eggs randomly), you are reinforcing good problem solving skills. This kind of orderly thinking will come in very handy in the future. Approaching math problems with a mind practiced at thinking in ordered steps will make a world of difference!

If you have a younger child, like Monkey, they will just enjoy shaking the eggs and making music. I made him his own set of eggs filled with rice.

What a great way to recycle those plastic eggs!

Related Posts

• No Related Post