Toddler Playtime with Cups
Children can do so many different things with cups. A good way to connect with your child is to focus on what they are doing and what they are interested in. Watch their play. Point at what they are doing. And talk together—even before they have lots of words.
- Audience
- Caregiver
- Subject
- Open-Ended Play
- Age
- Toddler
- Languages
- EnglishHaitian CreoleSpanish
- Materials
- Cups
Play is a natural way to support the parent-child bond. Try engaging your toddler in playtime with cups!
Get ready
Clear some space on the floor and sit down. Smile at your child. Hold out the cups and say, “What should we do with these cups?”
Try this!
Just explore
Give your child the cups all stacked together. What do they do with them? They might take them apart. Then put them back together. “Out and in. In and out.” Or they might line up the cups in a row. Point and count, “One cup, two cups, three cups, four!”
Make sounds
Bang two cups together. Tap them with your hands or some spoons. Sing into a little cup. Laugh into a big cup. Put a smaller cup inside a bigger cup and shake it around. How many different sounds can you and your child make?
Build together
Take turns adding one cup at a time to make a tower. “Your turn. Put this cup on top.” “Now my turn.” “Now your turn again.” When the tower is finished, invite your child to knock it down with a “Crash!” and lots of giggles!
Safety tip!Most paper or plastic drinking cups and containers are great to play with. Just make sure the plastic is not sharp if it breaks!
While you Play..
Watch carefully. Let your child show you how they want to play. They might move or carry the cups. Or put things inside them. Or stack them and knock them down. Say, “That’s interesting!” There is no “right” way to play with cups.
Practice together. A tower might fall while your child is building. Or your child might knock down a tower that you are building—and that might be frustrating for you. Say, “Oh no!” Then take a deep breath and say, “That’s okay. I can build it again.”
Say, “Yay!” Tell your child what you like about what they’re doing. “Wow! I like the sound you made with those cups!” Whether they are trying something for the first time or the fifth time, show your child you are proud of them.
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