Dear Reader,
I confess that the idea for this activity really came spur of the moment. I’d been keeping these coins as a prize system for a certain stubborn preschooler who needed a little motivation to go potty, and we had finally gotten past the need for a reward system (translation: Mommy is over rewarding something that should be standard procedure by now), so the jar was just sitting on the shelf, waiting for me to come up with a different need for plastic tokens. When I walked past it today while cleaning my house, I thought, eh, “I’ll let the toddlers play with these.If I’m watching them (the coins are easily inserted in mouths while backs are turned), I bet they’ll have fun!
It was definitely more of a hit than I anticipated. I ended up sitting and watching them play with these coins for easily 20 minutes, but probably close to a half an hour!
They even took turns reaching into the jar! Bonus skill! I guess I could say I planned that, I mean the jar is only big enough for 1 little hand to fit inside, and there were about 12 coins total so enough for them to still have something to do and hold while the other is putting coins in or pulling them out. I totally didn’t though. Maybe they did so well at taking turns because it was right as they woke up from a nap. Either way, I was kind of impressed and in awe at how well and how long they played with something so basic as plastic coins in a half-pint jar. I guess it just emphasizes the fact that play can happen with just about anything. No need to spend big green or hours of time. Once you start looking for ways to spark intentional learning experiences for your kids, the whole world takes on a new unexpected light.
I will definitely say that has been my favorite part of this activity challenge: anticipating the joy of a toddler, intentionally playing with or introducing something new to your children, embracing little moments – all of this has made me start looking at even simple things things with a new light.
