Sock Snowball Drop

What you need

• five or six pairs of white or pale socks
• a bucket or a big bowl

How to do it

1. Roll the socks into balls together and call them snowballs.
2. Stand the bucket in front of your toddler and drop the first snowball in with a big "plop!".
3. Hand them the snowballs one at a time to drop in.
4. Tip the bucket over, say "snowballs everywhere!", and fill it again.

Why it matters

Letting go of something on purpose, right over a bucket, is a careful new hand skill at this age.

What they're learning

Letting go

Opening the hand at just the right moment takes practice and control.

Hand and eye

Aiming over the bucket links what they see with what their hand does.

Cause and effect

Snowball in, snowball gone, tip it out: they see what their actions do.

What to look for

Notice them peering into the bucket after each drop to check the snowball is in there.

A tip

Thick, soft socks roll into the best snowballs. Count them out loud as they go in, if it feels natural.

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