Place the cubes on the floor or table in any order. Let your child look at the blocks for a while. Cover the blocks and ask your child to tell you the colours of the cubes from memory in order from left to right.
Grade the activity by starting with only one or two cubes, gradually adding more blocks to the row. Let your chid place objects (e.g. smarties, other blocks, pencils etc) in the sequence of the cubes. Placing the blue smartie in the place of the blue block, the red one in the place of the red block etc. Of course your child can have the smarties to eat if he/she is able to build the sequence without any mistakes!! 😉
Place the cubes on the table. Cover them up and remove one of the cubes. Uncover the blocks and let your child tell you which cube has been removed.
Grade the activity by starting with only a few cubes, gradually adding more cubes. Change things up by replacing one colour block with a different colour. Your child must then tell you which colour has been removed and which colour was added.
Play games where you take turns to give each other instructions with the cubes. E.g. put the blue cube under the chair. Place the red cube on top of the television. Put the yellow cube inside the drawer etc.
Grade the activity by giving only one instruction at a time at first and then adding instructions that your child has to follow in the correct sequence.
Threading activities: Develop your child’s listening skills by telling your child to thread the cubes in the colour sequence you are giving. E.g. “thread a blue cube, now a yellow cube” etc.
Grade the activity by letting your child thread different patterns.
Hide the block. Time you child to see how long it takes him/her to find the block.
Grade the activity by hiding the block in plain sight initially, then partly hidden and then out of sight.
Pick up cubes: Let your child pick up the cubes in different ways:
- With his/her thumb and index finger
- With his/her thumb and middle finger
- With his/her thumb and ring finger
- With his/her thumb and little finger
- With his/her mouth
- With his/her chin
Grade the activity by seeing how many cubes your child can pick up without dropping one. He/she will pick up one cube with his/her thumb and index finger and hold it with his/her middle, ring and little fingers while he/she picks up the next block.
Kebab:
Place the cubes on the floor or on a table so that the holes are facing up. Give your child a knitting needle or kebab stick and blindfold him/her. Turn your child around a few times. Give him/her instructions (to the front, left right etc) until their stick is lined up with the hole in the cube. See how many blocks your child can pick up with his/her stick.
Grade the activity by letting the cubes drift in the water when your child is having his/her bath. See how many cubes s/he can pick up out of the water. As an alternative to the stick or knitting needle, you can make a fishing rod by tying a length of wool to the stick, opening a paper clip and tying it to the other end. Your child can now “catch” the cubes.
Let your child throw up a cube into the air and catch it when it comes down.
Grade the activity by starting with only one cube, adding cubes gradually.
Draw a rabbit with chalk in your driveway.
Throw the cube in the rabbit’s tail. Your child has to jump over the tail into the feet, tummy, hands, head and ears. When your child reaches the ears, they have to turn around in the air and jump the same way back to the tail.
Now throw the cube in the:
- Left foot
- Right foot
- Tummy
- Left hand
- Right hand
- Head
- Left ear
- Right ear
Remember that you are not allowed to step in the block where your cube is. If your child misses the next block their turn is up and you or brother/sister can have a turn. The first one back at the tail wins!!!!
Important: Your foot is not allowed to touch the ground if you are supposed to be jumping with one leg.