Time
10 minutes
Equipment
Lightweight Paper
Bucket (optional)
Benefits
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Tactile Play
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Body Awareness
Ages
3+
Crinkles!
Who knew a crinkled up piece of paper could be so much fun and developmental too!
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About the Game
How?
Play ball without a ball using crinkled paper instead. Great for indoors/rainy days.
Why? Exploring different textures develops their sensory awareness. Adding lots of high-energy fun and doubles the learning.
What you can do. At first, suggest different ways to use the crinkles. As they explore, take a step back and see what they do with them. Prompt them to use the crinkles in lots of different ways with different parts of their body. (See our suggestions below.)
How to Play
Set Up. Gather some lightweight paper from around the house. Ideally colored paper but it really doesn’t matter. Avoid newspaper because the ink rubs off on their hands.
Together with your child, crinkle the paper and roll it up into balls. Make a few to start, but be prepared to make more. Kids love this texture. The more the better.
Note: For the best sensory impact, take their shoes and socks off for this game.
Game Play
Anything you can do with a ball you can do with a crinkle. (And it saves your furniture!) Here are a few ideas to get you started...
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Crinkle Soccer. Pick a goal and kick the crinkles into it. (Again, shoes and socks off.)
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Crinkle Bucket. Use a bucket or plastic dish as a target to throw the crinkles into.
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Crinkle Stomp. Scatter lots of crinkles on the floor and stomp on them.
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Crinkle Roll. Take their shirt off and roll over the crinkles.
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Hot Crinkle! Quick as you can, pass a crinkle back and forth. Now pass it behind your backs, under your knees, over your head, etc.
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Crinkle Crawl. Roll a crinkle all over their body. Narrate the journey for them. ”The crinkle is rolling up your arm...over your head... under your chin... down your back.”
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Crinkle Clean Up. When the fun is done, work together to put the crinkles in the recycle bin. But here’s the catch. Don’t use your hands! Instead, put a crinkle between your knees and take it to the bin. Or under your arm. Or between your elbows. Or balance it on your head, etc., etc. Even clean-up can be fun when you make it a game.
And there's more...