The girls had so much fun playing with the miniature ducks we used for our duck math activity recently. I wanted to use them in another hands on way. This time we focused on fine motor skills and sensory play. Although kids of various ages will enjoy the activity, it will most likely be a toddler favorite, especially if your kids love to play with spray bottles like mine do.
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SETTING UP THE DUCK RACE FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY
To get ready we read 10 Little Rubber Ducks again. Then I quickly set up a large plastic bin with water and a few drops of blue food coloring. We placed the small rubber duck party favors in the bin along one side and grabbed a couple of our spray bottles.
I originally thought the girls would want to play together and race each other, but they decided to take turns. Tinker went first, and she was quickly intrigued by the challenge of squirting the ducks to get them across the “pond.” This was quite a workout for her fine motor muscles, and she loved celebrating each time one of the ducks made it across.
After a few more races, she also spent a while playing with the ducks in the water. As she did she made even more discoveries about sinking and floating and how the rubber ducks move in the water.
Lovey also enjoyed her turn at the duck races. She chose to experiment with the spray bottle nozzles to see whether a stream or a mist made the ducks move faster. She observed that the stream made them move faster but usually flipped them over, and the mist made them move a bit slower but helped them stay straight up in the water.
That’s a lot of scientific observation for a quick and easy activity! Don’t you think?
More Math and Science Activities with Fizz, Pop, Bang!
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JDaniel4's Mom
I really love this idea for duck racing individually. It is being featured on the Sunday Showcase this week.
Nichole {youclevermonkey}
I love this idea and my 5yr will too! Great way for us to enjoy some water play during our colder weather here in Australia 🙂