Last year I shared about some wooden beads I purchased at a yard sale for a stringing activity. I got them for only 25 cents, but I have come up with something even cheaper.
I got out some of the plastic bottle caps that I have been saving and used an ice pick to make a hole in the center of each. (I imagine a drill with a small bit would work as well.) Then I tied a knot at the end of a shoelace I already had and set out the caps for my son.
I was pretty sure he would group them by color first, so I made sure I had 5 each of 4 different colors. Then he came up with a pattern and set to work stringing the bottle caps. He had fun with this and I may have to add more bottle caps sometime. If you use only large caps they wouldn’t be a choking hazard for littler ones.
Stringing bottle caps (or beads) encourages fine motor skills. My son also turned this into a color recognition and counting activity.
