DIY Color Matching Posting Activity

When my daughter was around 20 months old I made her this simple DIY color matching posting box, as she had begun showing an interest in color matching. At this age children outgrow activities quite quickly so if you don’t want to make huge investments in materials, DIY’ing simple activities like this one can be a really good alternative.

It was very easy to do. I simply cut 6 slits on the box for primary and secondary colours and painted around them. Then I painted wood chips in the same colors (2 of each color), and presented them in a small bowl.

An even easier alternative would be to make round holes and use colored pom poms instead of painting wood chips. Or, instead of a round hole you can make 2 cuts in the shape of an X so the child can push the pom pom through using their fingers to push down.

My daughter loved this activity at the time. It was one of her very favorites. The first few times she did it she would shake the box to hear the sound of the wood chips inside. She was so happy the first time she completed it that she clapped for herself. 🙂

This activity is great to develop: 

🎨 Fine motor skills

🎨 Hand-eye coordination 

🎨 Color matching

🎨 Visual discrimination 

🎨 Spatial awareness

🎨 Concentration

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish playing. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.

Bringing play to life:

• How about posting mail? If you still use your local postbox to post letters, then this is such a simple and fun opportunity for your child to see what posting looks like in real life!
• Do you ever buy from vending machines? How about letting your child insert the coins or notes to see how it works?