Transferring, Scooping & Sorting: Learning Activities for Kids at Home

Improving your child’s fine motor skills can help when it’s time to transition to writing and other daily activities. Doing so can also make them feel more confident and independent to complete simple tasks without needing to be supervised all the time. With this in mind, we've gathered a few simple and fun developmental activities that focus on transferring, sorting, scooping, and pouring.

 

1. Water Pouring

Most children will enjoy teasing their minds with poured water, whether they are 2 or 10 years old. Young kids might be more interested in wiping the spills than running the water. If this is the case for your child, include a rag and bowl within reach. But most young children are fascinated by pouring and watching the water disappear into another container.

 

 

Materials for this activity: Plastic pitcher, small bowl, and cups. It's best to use rugs and waterproof/non-slip mats to avoid slippery floors and keep the babies and kids safe during this activity.

This activity is a great way to promote concentration, patience, and hand-eye coordination.

 

2. Transferring items between two bowls with a pair of tongs.

Here's a fun, hands-on activity you and your kids can do together. It's an opportunity to practice and reinforce the problematic skill of transferring items from one place to another with stability and control.

 

 

Materials for this activity: Bowls and small to medium-sized tongs (for easy grip). Little pieces of cotton balls, slices of bread, and macaroni pasta. Always watch your little ones while playing to avoid accidental choking.

Since most of the materials of this activity have different textures, the mess is usual; that's why always prepare the play area with clean towels and easy-to-clean playmats to catch all the crumbs, bits, and pieces.

 

3. Sorting and Scooping two different items into different containers.

If you are looking for activities to do with your kids, try this sorting activity that is fun for you to teach them about separations and classifications. In addition, this activity teaches early learning skills to mix and match items into different categories.

 

 

Materials for this activity: Three different colored bowls or containers and spoons. Prepare the colored items for sortation, and they should match the color of the bowl or container. Then, use the spoon to scoop the sorted items into each bowl. Again, always watch your kid's closely to avoid accidents.

This activity gives you a wide range of items to sort, from dry materials/ food to small snacks with shapes, jellies, and bread. However, it can be cluttered, and small pieces of dried edible stuff can stick to the floor, which can cause molds in the long run. That's why it's best to protect your floor with these fun activities with hygienic mats that support your kid's movement and have a cleaner area to move.

These simple activities are a great way to introduce your child to sorting and categorizing. They also teach them valuable skills they can apply to more complicated tasks down the road, like sorting their clothes into piles. Start with two categories and work your way up as your child becomes more comfortable accomplishing the task.