Is your child curious about croquet? Forget buying an expensive set at a toy or game store! You can simply make one at home using old shoe boxes and and an empty paper towel tube. Your little one will have a blast hitting a sponge ball into the tunnels on the sides of the boxes, while greatly improving his hand-eye coordination in the process. Make this an ongoing game that you and you child play together by finding your own makeshift mallet in the form of a golf club or walking stick and taking turns hitting the ball.
What You Need:
- 15 stick-on dots
- 5 shoe boxes
- Paper towel tube
- Sponge ball
What You Do:
- Make a set of croquet tunnels by cutting wide arches in the long sides of the shoe boxes.
- Place one dot on top of the first box, two dots on top of the second box, and so on.
- Arrange the boxes in any order on the floor.
- Encourage your child to use the paper towel tube to hit the ball through the boxes, beginning with the box with one dot and moving through the other boxes in order.
Consider inviting over some of your child's school friends to play croquet! Buy a couple of extra sponge balls and ask parents to send their child with a paper towel tube. If children wish to personalize their croquet "mallet," they can decorate them with markers and stickers.
Adapted with permission from "Count On Math: Activities for Small Hands and Lively Minds." Copyright 1997 by Pam Schiller and Lynne Peterson. Used with permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
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