It’s important to explore toys in different ways with your kids. You’ll be amazed at what a wide range of activities you can do with a single open-ended toy like these beautiful Rainbow Pebbles.
I’ve had my eye on these gorgeous Rainbow Pebbles made by Edx Education for quite some time. The colors are bold and beautiful, and they are pleasantly smooth and light. Both my 2 year old and 5 year old have equally enjoyed using the pebbles but in very different ways. Here are six of their favorite Rainbow Pebbles activities.
1. Color Sort
Perhaps the most obvious way to use them, but always a highly engaging activity for a toddler, is simply to sort them by color. You can put out colored cups, plates, containers or even just pieces of paper. Encourage your little one to sort the pebbles by color, repeating the color names regularly.
This is also a great way to encourage fine motor skill development. If your child is a bit older you could also put out some tongs or tweezers for them to move the pebbles with.
2. Making Pictures
The set comes with some beautiful illustrations to explore. Both my kids happily chose templates to add the pebbles to creatively.
As an extension I challenged them to create their own pictures without a template. Big bro loves activities like this where he is free to create with a building material. He made some pretty cool pictures, including a train, flower and face.
3. Pattern Play
The Rainbow Pebbles are perfect to use as pattern manipulatives.
Together we made simple patterns for each other to follow using the pebbles. This was a particularly nice way for big bro to help baby sis with her color recognition. He would make a simple pattern and then help her to copy it. I love seeing them collaborating on their learning!
4. Rocky Rainbow Beach
Combining your Rainbow Pebbles with a sensory material such as rice or sand is a great way to make an engaging small world. Here I used blue and yellow dyed rice to create a rainbow pebble beach!
I normally set up an example for my kids to explore and then let them loose with rearranging everything in the bin to make whatever they like. Baby sis loved making ‘stairs’ out of the pebbles for the crabs to climb!
It’s always so interesting to see how my kids interact with a small world set up. Baby sis really enjoyed exploring how the boats moved through the rice and over the pebbles. The Rainbow Pebbles could be used in so many small world set ups such as rocky roads, rainbow buildings or even a dinosaur themed volcano!
5. Size Sorting
Another great one for toddlers! Use the pebbles to make a line of small to big, or big to small sizes for each color. As you do this keep repeating the key size vocabulary such as small, big, and very small and very big. You can introduce simple questions about size such as ‘which one is bigger?’ or ‘are these the same size?’.
6. Stacking and Construction
Build a structure, balance the Pebbles on top of one another, great for imaginative play, creative design and develop fine motor skills.
As you can see, these Rainbow Pebbles are a great open-ended addition to our toy collection. The vibrant colors and quality texture make them appealing to toddlers, whilst the activity cards and their versatile activity uses also make them just as appealing to older kids. Can’t wait to explore more pebble activities!
Original Author Lucy Baker – Teacher, Mum and Play Advocate. IG @findthelittlemind or findthelittlemind.blogspot.com
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