Children love to throw—from babies dropping their cups off a highchair to older learners throwing balls in a game of catch. When tossing items, children are using their bodies to discover cause and effect and explore concepts of force and motion. In this Thinkery at Home activity, you and your child(ren) will use recycled materials to build your very own ring toss—a great game for indoor or outdoor fun while exploring STEAM concepts and moving your whole body!
One of our favorite places to move, wiggle, and jump in the museum is Move! Studio. In this space, we have large, moveable, freeform shapes—called SnugPlay. Children are the creators here, choosing how to rearrange and use their whole bodies to interact with these forms. We see so many inventive and creative ideas in Move! Studio, and we often see children tossing large hula hoops onto the cones, creating a larger than life ring toss game! Even though we may not be able to play together in Move! Studio right now, there are so many fun ways you can take those playful ideas into your own home!
Why we love this activity:
- Strengthen hand-eye coordination as you aim and toss rings at a target: Hand-eye coordination isn’t just for sports! Your learner also uses gross motor skills during everyday activities such as eating with utensils and putting on pants.
- Exercise age-appropriate number sense and math skills: Keeping score during games provides opportunities to practice counting, addition, and even measuring distances! Once you’ve played a few rounds, engage your creativity, and invent your own set of rules for this game!
- Build social-emotional learning (SEL) skills as you play with others: Taking turns, playing by the rules, and winning (or losing!) gracefully are all SEL skills that we actively build through gameplay. End each round of play with a high-five & a “Good Game!” all around!
Be sure to check out the bottom of the activity guide for more ways to support your learner and go further with this activity!
Click here to find a step-by-step guide for Recycled Ring Toss!
Click here to find a Spanish step-by-step guide for Recycled Ring Toss
Share your creative ring toss rules or your best trick shots with us on social media! Be sure to tag #thinkeryatx and #thinkeryathome to share your creations with our Thinkery community.