Playing with rubber bands could be very exciting for the toddlers but can hurt them if they do not play it well. So, let’s turn rubber bands into harmless but exciting tools in activities for playing and stimulating their fine motor skills.
1- Insert It!
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Prepare a hard sponge and give some thick rubber bands to toddlers. Ask them to insert the rubber band around the sponge. Be careful parents, this activity might look easy to us but to toddlers, they are difficult and will need to use full force energy on this one. The longer the sponge that you have, the harder this activity will be. Let your little ones explore and find strategies on how to make it easier for them. Hey, if you have pool noodle around, use that!
If it becomes too hard on them, help them to do 1 or 2 rubber bands just to give them hints on how to make it easier inserting the rubber bands around the sponges. Play around with patterns (colours of the rubber bands) when your little ones master the skill.
2- Shaping on the Muffin Pan
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The muffin pan is the best thing for kids’ rubber band activities. Take your muffin pan in the kitchen, provide some rubber bands and start shaping on it. Before shaping, give the challenge to the toddler to insert rubber bands on the muffin pan mold behind it. Once the toddler masters the skill to insert rubber bands on the muffin pan, allow them to form shapes or patterns with the rubber bands. Two hands will definitely be needed for this activity. If you do not have muffin pans around, do this activity with egg cartons. We will always help you to find alternatives.
No preparation needed for this activity makes it more awesome and incredible for parents. Do you think your toddler can do this? Do not forget to share your experiences with us!
3- Rubber Band Powered Bird Kit
Learn how birds fly with this Spark Kit. With using the elasticity of rubber bands, the rubber band powered bird kit can flap its wings around your house for a few minutes. You might need to help your little ones to assemble the bird from scratch. Not only that, the toddler will also get a comic magazine with this kit. Read and do the activities together in the comic. I bet the toddlers will love the activities, especially the colouring part in the comic magazine.
Have fun with your little scientists at home! Get it, toddlers and little scientists?
4- Pass the Objects!
For this activity, pass the objects game will require strength and strategies, in some other cases, cooperation from others too. What you need is a few thick rubber bands and hands, fingers specifically and also some small objects.
Just wrap the rubber bands around your little ones’ fingers and ask them to pick up something. This will create resistance and it will be difficult if they open their fingers wider. Once they get the game, add more rubber bands to add more resistance and ask the toddlers to pass small objects to their siblings, or you! There will be a lot of hands needed for this activity. All the toddlers will see is just a game, but little did they know that they are exercising their hands and improving their fine motor skills.
5- Tie ‘Em Up!
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You will be very surprised at how simple this activity is but there are a lot of things for your toddlers to explore! Put different households such as biscuit can, plastic containers, glass, Pringles’ container, tissue roll and tissue boxes in front of your toddlers. You can bring them around to prep all the materials too. After that, get some rubber bands and ask the toddlers to wrap the rubber bands on each of the items prepared earlier.
While doing this, pinching, gripping, pushing and pulling will be involved. Say hello to excellent fine motor skills! Let’s see if your little ones could differentiate the sounds made by the rubber bands when it hit the items.
6- Pencils Launcher
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There are days that you cannot go anywhere with your little children and all you have around are pencils, plasticine and rubber bands. You know what? You can easily make launcher with all these items.
One of the kids’ rubber band activities are the one and only, THE PENCILS LAUNCHER! Stand two pencils apart from each other on a plasticine to make sure that they will fall on the floor and keep standing. Now, combine few rubber bands together. Here’s the trick. Demonstrate on how to tie the rubber bands together and ask your toddlers to do the rest. Now, tie the ends of the rubber bands to the pencils, and now… You are ready to launch anything. Oh! Alternative for the plasticine is egg cartons.
Use different numbers of rubber bands as the launcher in the middle. Which one can launch something the farthest?
7- Guitar Painting
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Are you in the mood of colouring with your toddlers? This is might be the best activity. Well, you need to prepare a box, drawing paper, water colour, brush and of course, rubber bands.
Since this is our list for kids’ rubber bands-related activities, rubber bands are the most crucial thing in all of the activities, so do with this one. Ask your little ones to insert the drawing paper in the box and wrap 6 rubber bands around the box, each apart with each other. Then, dip your brush on the colour you like and pluck the brush on the rubber bands to make splatter on the papers. Isn’t it beautiful?
Actually, before the toddlers start to paint, play some songs by plucking the guitar. You would not want colours splashing on your floor, don’t you?
