Baby Play: Card Slot Drop

After each of my baby storytimes, I include a Discovery Time free-play session that encourages parents to talk to one another and to interact with their children. I include a variety of fine motor, gross motor, and sensory activities that appeal to 0-2-year-olds.

Similar to the cereal boxes and straws activity, the popularity of the card slot drop always surprises me. This very simple DIY activity involves cutting a card-sized hole into a container–in this case a bulk-sized Oatmeal container–and providing cards for babies to drop inside of the opening.

I have coworkers who regularly donate these cylindrical oatmeal containers, so they become a great, free resource for these kinds of activities. I particularly like how easy the lid is to remove. Parents can easily dump out the contents of a container if it gets full, and older toddlers can manage to open the container themselves, growing finger muscles and providing a sense of accomplishment.

Babies enjoy putting smaller objects into bins, but this activity is particularly beneficial because of the small card-sized hole in the lid. In addition to fine motor skills, it takes practiced dexterity and hand eye coordination for little ones to be able to fit the card into the slot.

How to Make a Card Slot Drop

Materials: pack of playing cards, empty oatmeal container (alternatively could be a box or other sturdy container on hand), duct tape, x-acto knife

Steps:

• Use the knife to cut a slot in the lid of the oatmeal container (or box) that is about a 0.25″ x 3″ (wide enough for a playing card to fit through).
• As necessary, cover any ripped or jagged edges with pieces of duct tape.
• Put lid onto container.
• Put out container and pack of opened playing cards.

Cost: $0-5

• Playing Cards (Dollar Tree)
• Empty Oatmeal Container or Box

Time to Make: 10 minutes

Pro-Tip: I’ve had more success cutting the slot into the lid of the oatmeal container while the lid was on the empty container. This may just be due to my lack of skills with cutting implements.

Conversation Starters

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Start conversations as babies play with this tool by asking questions like:

• Can you put the card inside the container?
• How many cards can you fit in at one time?
• What does the card feel like?
• Shake the container. What does it sound like?
• How can you get the cards back out?
• Play pretend. What else could the playing cards be?

Stretch Vocabulary

When talking with little ones, use big words and small words. The more new words a child hears, the larger their vocabulary will be when they start to learn to read.

Consider using some of the following vocabulary words when using this activity: