Put Out the Fire
When Finn got this adorable fire chief costume for his birthday I immediately thought we had to play Put Out the Fire, a fun gross/fine motor and counting activity. At 2 years old Finn isn't counting but exposure to new concepts pave the way to learning. Any number or letter exposure benefits the child, especially when it's fun.
MATERIALS:
chalk
water container
sponge
Begin by drawing a ladder topped with flames with each rung numbered. The object of the game is to "climb" the ladder and put out the fire by squeezing water onto it. I placed the water and sponge by the fire and demonstrated hopping to each number. when I reached the fire I squeezed the sponge onto the fire, then hopped down the numbers. Then it was all Finn!
He did less hopping and more running up and down the ladder but I called out each number as he ran over them. Older children can call out each number themselves. It took some time for him to learn to squeeze the sponge away from his body and aim for the fire.
Repeat the process until the fire is gone. Once Finn was done with the fire he continued to squeeze the water over the ladder. I let the game continue until he was squeezing water on me! Overall it was a fun, messy, and great way to work on our gross and fine motor skills while exposing him to numbers and counting.
