Materials:
Light table or horizontal mirror
Red dry-erase marker
Clear, red, and blue floral stones
Directions: Draw a large spiral shape on the light table or mirror with the dry-erase marker. Present your child with a small bowl of the floral stones. Show him how to pick up the stones and place them on the spiral. You can work with the concept of patterning, placing a red, then clear, then blue stone on the spiral, repeating the same sequence to create a pattern. Or you can practice eye-hand coordination, letting your child pick up random stones and placing them next to each other on the spiral. We even observed a little boy counting how many stones he’d lined up. You could extend the counting by asking, How many red stones did you place? How many blue? How many clear?
Doing this activity on a light table creates a beautiful work of art! If doing this on a mirror, the reflection adds another dimension to explore and observe. This is a fun activity to set aside when interest wanes and come back to on subsequent days. The children are always intrigued by it!
