Having 5 young children, most of our grocery shopping is done in bulk.
When I buy canned vegetables, such as corn, peas, or green beans, it ís never less than a complete flat of 24 cans at a time.
My kids love seeing these coming in, as they're anticipating building CAN-HENGE again.
WHAT on EARTH is CAN-HENGE, you undoubtedly are wanting to know.
CAN-HENGE came into it ís name after we discovered that inevitably, anytime canned vegetables (or soda cans, for that matter) were brought into the house, it was a very short time period before we would have at least 2 or 3 can structures somewhat resembling the formations of Stongehenge in various places around the house.
While some parents might find this troublesome, they really shouldn't.
Not only is it far easier to clean up than paint from carpet, it ís also an excellent developmental game.
By working on CAN-HENGE, my kids are working on their hand-eye coordination.
While many parents do not realize it, one of the utmost important things on the road to reading and writing is that hand-eye coordination.
So, effectively speaking, by allowing my kids the time to play with such simple items as vegetable cans and soda cans, I'm actually furthering their future ability to read and write.
Sounds neat, huh? Although you may definitely not want a huge homage to Easter Island's Stonehenge adorning your home, there are other less frustrating ways to accomplish the same learning and developmental goal.
With the basis of learning to read and write firmly wedged in hand-eye coordination, you should be able to easily recognize some toys which would be quite suited for this task.
Puzzles, and building blocks are two of the most obvious.
Whether you choose to use vegetable cans, or a homemade puzzle made from a picture you laminated, you're going to be working on the same thing as if you'd bought the many wonderful developmental designed puzzles and building blocks today.
It ís all in the play,kids play to learn, and learn through play.