# 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.

## What do I need?

- 3 Kitchen containers: small, medium, and large

## How do I do it?

1. **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. **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. **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. **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.

### Another way to play

If it's tricky for them, start with just 2 containers, the small one and the large one.

## 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 practice 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 around
- **Visual discrimination**: Compares at a glance which one is bigger and which is smaller

## What the research says

- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.31-7-267)
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.871)
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21798)
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0814-0)
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327078IN0102_1)
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01842.x)
- 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.
- 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 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610382787)

Reviewed by Javier Atance Ibar, PhD in Education.

https://papakoala.com/en/activities/containers-that-nest/