Funnel Water Race

from 14 months · 5-10 min · Sensory

What you need

Place the funnel over the bowl on the tray.
Give your toddler the cup of water and show them how to pour it into the funnel.
Watch and listen together as the water rushes through.
Refill the cup and let them try again.

Watching water disappear and reappear through the funnel builds their sense of cause and effect and where things go.

pouring control: Aiming the cup at the funnel opening sharpens the hand-eye coordination used later for filling containers neatly.
object permanence: Tracking water as it vanishes into the funnel and reappears below builds early understanding that things exist even when out of sight.
listening attention: Noticing the splash and trickle sounds sharpens the sound-focus they'll rely on for early word learning.

Notice if they pause to peer underneath and anticipate the water coming out the bottom.

Keep a cloth nearby and only fill the cup a little at a time to keep it manageable.

Easier: hold the funnel steady for them while they pour

Harder: let them hold and aim the funnel themselves over the bowl