Practice Colors and Numbers with Clothespin Drop!

What to Do:

1. Cut each piece of construction paper so it will fit around a coffee can. Use a marker to write the name of each color on its sheet of paper. Then wrap each sheet around one coffee can and tape to secure. You should now have five coffee cans, each with a single sheet of construction paper that names its color.
2. Paint five clothespins red, five blue, five green, five orange, and five yellow. Set them aside to dry.
3. Set up the cans on the floor, in a tight row in the middle of the room.
4. Mix up and scatter the clothespins around the cans.
5. Invite your child to put each colored clothespin in the matching coffee can. Use the stop watch to see how fast he can separate the colors! Encourage him to complete the task within a certain time limit, and see if he can improve his score as he gets more practice.
6. After the time is up call, "Stop!" Then invite your child to count how many clothespins are left on the floor.
7. Dump all the clothespins out of the cans. Practice patterns by encouraging your child to place clothespins in the cans in a specific order. For example, he might place two red clothespins in the red can, then two in the blue can. Or hang a clothesline or piece of yarn in the living room and encourage your child to create patterns by clipping the clothespins to the line in patterns like ABAB or AABB (for example, red yellow red yellow (ABAB) or red red yellow yellow (AABB)
8. Eventually add in other colored cans and clothespins such purple, pink, and brown.