#22 Extend and Connect

Extend and Connect

Invite your child to finger-paint in a plate or tray covered with gel or granular material: wet sand, shaving cream, or rice. The tactile pleasure of the material and the intellectual challenge of the symmetry combine into a very engaging task.

Take two small cars and dip their wheels into paint. Hand the cars over to your child, stand back and get ready to be amazed at the intricate symmetrical curves that come from “racing” cars around!

Go beyond painting and turn the game into a musical experience. Set up two xylophones, turned so they mirror each other. Or create your own mirror percussion stand out of two lines of identical cups, bottles, and pots.