Kangaroo Fine Motor Tong Treasure Hunt !

I love to introduce new ideas and games into our outside spaces to encourage children to explore their environment, use their fine and gross motor skills and generally just enjoy all that outside play has to offer!

I recently introduced a game using only a few resources but even I was surprised at how much fun this group had and how they extended and evolved the activity into their own games without any prompting from me.

I used some lovely little kangaroo counters given to me by one of my fantastic Family Day Care parents but you could also use the little bears, dinosaurs, farm animals, zoo animals….whatever you have on hand and that your children are currently interested in.

We have been talking about the wallabies that come to visit us here lately so the kangaroos were a perfect fit to our current journey of learning and play.

Setting Up

This is what I used but please modify according to what resources you have!

A large bowl
Pair of small tongs for each child
Kangaroo counters (see suggestions for other inclusions above)
Coloured stones (kangaroo food)
Wooden discs (any loose parts to use for ‘food' will do…just get creative)
Some hay (or garden plants, pot plants etc…anywhere that provides a hiding spot for the toys used)

I used our Imagination Circle as we already had hay in it from our farmyard fun earlier in the week. Depending on your outdoor space you might spread the game across the yard or keep confined to a smaller area.

Outdoor fine motor , colour, count and sort treasure hunt game by Mummy Musings and Mayhem

I asked the children to go and play while I ‘hid' the kangas all around the circle, some I made more difficult to find, others were easy to find to allow for the different personalities and developmental stages.

Then it was time for the fun part! I asked the girls to chose a pair of tongs and see how many kangaroos they could find and put back into the bowl. They also had to find lots of food for them to eat!

They had to use the tongs which helped to strengthen their fine motor muscles and control as they picked up, squeezed to hold and then carried over to the bowl.

They worked independently to find as many as they could and when it become more challenging they began to communicate and work together as a group.

They climbed over rocks, walked planks, investigated pot plants and moved hay around….always thinking, always intent on their task.

Feeling the smooth rocks, the crunchy, tickly hay, the hard pebbles and wood….a wonderful activity to explore with the senses.

Let the kids get their shoes off and really explore…..

The game soon evolved as they began to hide the kangaroos themselves and then tell their friends to go look for them. A little word of warning…keep an eye on where they are hiding them as I am still searching for a few of the brown ones!

When they grew tired of hiding and finding they began to use the resources within the environment around them to create new games.

The set them up on the planks and rocks and a small play world with lots of imaginary play began to occur.

I began to work with them and we explored some sequencing, counting, sorting and colour activities as a group.

And then they were loaded onto trucks and taken over to the rock quarry area where there was an unfortunate accident and a lot more social and dramatic play!

A simple activity that can be easily modified to suit the resources and spaces you have in your home or care area.

It can of course also be set up indoors but I think it's so much more fun to explore outside and incorporate the natural materials and environment.

Why wouldn't you take it outside?

What would your children love to find hiding outside?

A Little About Me

Jodie Clarke is an early childhood professional supporting educators who want and need to stay passionate about the work they do! She has 30 years hands-on experience in the early childhood and human services sectors across many different roles.

Jodie is mum to 3 in Australia and has already helped thousands of educators with their work through her popular blog posts, activity ideas, online training and e-books.

Comments

Pinkoddy says

30/03/2014 at 11:28 pm

They use tongs like this to help my son at school so I ought to get some for at home. We have loads of gravel he could help me clear (might take a while mind). I have a new pinterest account for the SPD so I shall pin this there. Thank you for the inspiration.

Setting Up

What would your children love to find hiding outside?

Comments

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