Materials
plastic buckets or pailsmasking tapeassorted beanbags, crumbled newspaper balls, sponge balls, sock balls, andsponges cut into various shapes or sizesshoeboxes or baskets
Instructions
1. Place the pails randomly around the room.
2. Create a "tossing line" 2' feet in front of each bucket by adhering a 4' length of masking tape to the floor.
3. Place an assortment of beanbags, sponges, and balls in each box.
4. Assign a group of four children to stand behind the line near each bucket.
5. Give each group of children a box of objects to toss into their bucket.
6. Instruct the children to begin tossing the items into the bucket until it is full. Items that miss the bucket can be picked up later and tossed a second time, if necessary.
7. The goal is to be the first group to fill the bucket with objects and sit down.
8. After all the teams have filled their buckets, invite them to sort the objects into groups and talk about how the items are alike or different. Invite the children to count how many objects are in each group.
9. The children move to a different bucket. Repeat the activity several times.
10. Move the bucket farther away or closer to the tape and see what a difference it makes in how quickly the children can fill it.
