Post the Lid
What you need
- a shoe box
- big yoghurt pot lids, bigger than a toilet roll tube
How to do it
- Cut a slot in the lid of a shoe box, a little wider than your yoghurt pot lids and just wide enough for a lid to slide through edge-first.
- Show your toddler turning a lid on its side and posting it through the slot.
- Give them a small pile of big yoghurt pot lids to post one at a time. Every lid should be bigger than a toilet roll tube, so no bottle caps.
- Open the box together and tip the lids out to post them all again.
Why it matters
Turning a flat lid on its edge to fit it through a narrow slot takes more thinking than dropping something into an open box. The box and the lids both started life as recycling and go straight back once posting is done.
What they're learning
- Pincer grip
- Turning a lid to find its edge trains precise finger and wrist control.
- Hand-eye coordination
- Lining the lid's edge up with the slot ties what they see to how they turn it.
- Focus & persistence
- Posting every lid one by one keeps them on the same small task to the end.
What to look for
Watch for them turning a lid to find the edge that fits before they push it through, rather than pushing it flat against the box.
A tip
Cut the slot smooth with no rough card edges the lid or their fingers could catch on.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: cut a wider slot so lids do not need turning on their side
Harder: cut two slots of different widths and ask which lid fits which
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