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olivia@nfamilyclub.com

DIY pinball at home

A child playing with a DIY pinball
A child playing with a DIY pinball

What you need

  • A cardboard box (the size that a child could hold)
  • Some scissors
  • A few balls/pom poms in a variety of sizes

Benefits

  • This is a very fun way to explore shape and size with your child.
  • They will explore their balance, motor skills and patience trying to get the balls to go through the hole.

The experience

To prepare for this activity: Take the lid off of the cardboard box and cut a few holes in the bottom of the box. Make sure the holes you cut are a variety of sizes.

Then, as your child holds the box, you can add a ball in. Encourage them to move the box around to get the ball to fall through the hole. They may need to tilt, shake, and bounce the box to try and make the balls fall through.

If you want to make this more of a challenge (for children aged over three), you can add a time limit on each turn to see how many balls you can get through in 30 seconds.