Constructive mindExperiment · 12–18 months

Containers that nest

You put one container inside another together, and they find out by trying which one fits in which.

To do with your toddler between 12 and 18 months. It works on: fine motor skills, problem solving, spatial awareness and visual discrimination. You'll need: 3 Kitchen containers: small, medium, and large.

In the app, one activity a day for their age →

What do I need?

• 3 Kitchen containers: small, medium, and large

How do I do it?

1. 01

   Pick the containers

   Find 3 unbreakable kitchen containers in different sizes (plastic tubs, bowls or pots): a small one that fits in a medium one, and both inside a large one. Sit on the floor with your little one and set them out in front of you, spaced apart.

2. 02

   Show them how

   Take the small container and slowly put it into the medium one where they can see. Then take it out and hand them the large one to see what they try to do.

3. 03

   Let them try

   Wait while they try different combinations until they find that the small one fits in the medium one, and both fit in the large one. At first they may try to put the large one into the small one. Let them feel with their hands that it won't go in.

4. 04

   Cheer the fit

   Cheer when they get one inside another: “They fit!” Then take the containers apart together and start again for as long as they like. If they lose interest, put them away for another time.

What are they learning?

To nest them, they have to look at the sizes and compare which one is bigger. When the large one won't go into the small one, they find out by trying that the order matters. As they hold one container in one hand and put another in with the other, they practise using both hands together.

• Fine motor skills

  Holds one container in one hand while putting another in with the other

• Problem solving

  Tries and tries again until they find the order that fits

• Spatial awareness

  Discovers that the small one fits inside the big one, not the other way round

• Visual discrimination

  Compares at a glance which one is bigger and which is smaller

What the research says

1. Motor milestones: what little ones learn to do with hands and body

   Gerber et al. · 2010

2. How babies learn to use one thing to get another, and apply it elsewhere

   Babik et al. · 2019

3. Getting around on their own broadens babies' minds

   Campos et al. · 2000

See all 8 references

1. Gerber RJ, Wilks T, Erdie-Lalena C. Developmental milestones: motor development. Pediatrics in Review. 2010;31(7):267-277. doi:10.1542/pir.31-7-267 doi.org/10.1542/pir.31-7-267
2. Rochat P. Object manipulation and exploration in 2- to 5-month-old infants. Developmental Psychology. 1989;25(6):871-884. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871 doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871
3. Babik I, Cunha AB, Ross SM, Logan SW, Galloway JC, Lobo MA. Means-end problem solving in infancy: Development, emergence of intentionality, and transfer of knowledge. Developmental psychobiology. 2019;61(2):191-202. doi:10.1002/dev.21798 doi.org/10.1002/dev.21798
4. Lucca K, Horton R, Sommerville JA. Infants rationally decide when and how to deploy effort. Nature human behaviour. 2020;4(4):372-379. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0814-0 doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0814-0
5. Campos JJ, Anderson DI, Barbu-Roth MA, Hubbard EM, Hertenstein MJ, Witherington D. Travel broadens the mind. Infancy. 2000;1(2):149-219. doi:10.1207/S15327078IN0102_1 doi.org/10.1207/S15327078IN0102_1
6. Kretch KS, Adolph KE. Cliff or step? Posture-specific learning at the edge of a drop-off. Child Development. 2013;84(1):226-240. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01842.x doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01842.x
7. Vassella F, Giambonini S, Heits B, Kaufmann R, Kehrli P, Wälti U. Development of visual discrimination (pattern preference) in normal infants. Helvetica paediatrica acta. 1977;32(4-5):319-329.
8. Farzin F, Rivera SM, Whitney D. Spatial resolution of conscious visual perception in infants. Psychological science. 2010;21(10):1502-1509. doi:10.1177/0956797610382787 doi.org/10.1177/0956797610382787

Reviewed by Javier Atance Ibar, PhD in Education