What you need:
Paper cups
Stickers or pens
Fake snowballs/Pair of socks
Use stickers to create a snowman's face on the paper cup. If you don't have stickers you could get your child to draw the face using felt tip pens.
Model how to build a pyramid out of the snowmen cups by placing three cups on the bottom, two on top of them and one more cup on the very top.
Take it in turns to roll or toss 3 snowballs at the snowmen. Score a point for each cup that is knocked down. Score a bonus point if you knock them all down with just one snowball! Take it in turns to rebuild the tower and throw the snowballs. If you don't have any snowballs you could use a pair of socks.
Skills:
Hand dominance – This activity requires each hand to make different movements, which will help children to develop an awareness of which hand is more skilled. One hand will be used to peel the sticker and the other hand used to hold the page of stickers or the cup. Children usually begin to develop a hand preference between the ages of two to four, however it is common for children to alternate hands. A clear hand preference is usually established between the ages of four to six. If your child does not use one hand as their preferred hand, observe which hand they tend to favour but don’t force them to choose. Talk to your child about using one hand as a “doing” hand (their preferred hand) and the other hand as a “helping” hand.
Pincer grasp - Peel off and sticking stickers helps to develop the pincer grasp and develops a good pencil grip. Encourage your child to peel the stickers using their thumb and index finger.
Top tip – You could draw a line for the smile and ask your child to stick the black dots along the line. This might make it easier to create a smile and also gets them to develop their hand-eye co-ordination.
Hand-eye co-ordination – Aiming a ball will help your child to guide their hands to go in the direction they want, which helps to develop good handwriting skills because they will be able to move their pencil to form letters.
Alternative Games:
Target – Draw a target on a piece of paper and tape it to the wall. Throw the snowballs at the target to score points.
Bucket toss – Take it in turns to throw the snowballs into a bucket or a laundry basket. Who can get the most in?
Snowball race – Place a snowball on a spoon and see who can reach the finish line first. Try not to drop the snowball!
Squeeze the snowball - Squeeze the snowball as many times as you can in one minute. This challenge will help improve hand and finger strength which helps to develop the endurance to complete activities such as writing a full page.