Get Ready:  What you need are some unopened cans of food and a pile of various sizes and colors of rubber bands.

Get Set:  Set the cans out on the table along with the rubber bands.  Depending on the age & experience of your child, you may want to explore the bands with your child showing him how to pull & release them.  Show your child how to wrap the rubber band around the can.

Sit Back and Watch Your Child Go:  As your child manipulates the rubber bands on the can, he is strengthening his fingers and hands.  There is some problem-solving and higher-order thinking involved in this activity as your child decides which bands he wants to use and how to roll the bands onto the can.  You may see some sorting and patterning of colors as your child works. 

Want to amp up the learning?  Introduce words that describe the rubber bands.  Ask your child to describe them.  Ask your child which rubber band stretches the most.  Ask them why they think some rubber bands stretch more than others.  Encourage your child to remove the rubber bands one at a time and count them as they go.  Increase the challenge by suggesting they take off only a certain color at a time.  

Get Creative:  What else will a rubber band fit over?  Experiment with other objects.  Poke push pins or golf tees into thick Styrofoam and stretch the rubber bands from pin to pin, like a geoboard.  Gather some papers or toys and bind them up with the rubber bands.  Bind them in amounts of five or ten and count the items in those increments.  

As your child grows: he will understand how rubber bands work & how to use them.  He will grow in attention and focus.  His eye-hand coordination will increase.

Your child will love: the challenge of using his fingers and hands to create a colorful can and deconstructing it too!  He will enjoy the texture and movement of the rubber bands.  

You will love: seeing his interest and delight as he works independently, feeling confident and capable using unique materials.