I say, whoever invented these pom poms should get a Nobel prize for peace. Because the only few peaceful minutes of the day were while my little man was playing with some pom poms.
He is currently going through some kind of growth spurt so peace is something we can just dream about at the moment. But this activity actually lasted for good 15 minutes. In toddler minutes that is eternity. And I actually managed to drink my coffee while it was still warm.
Setting up a “Pom pom push” activity
I just grabbed some pom poms and baby wipes box and he started to push pom poms inside before I even showed him what to do.
This activity helps to develop eye-hand coordination and practices fine motor skills. In our case, it also encourages independent play because my little man still likes to have someone by his side to play with. It is really rare that some activity catches his attention in a way that he plays with it on his own for more than a few minutes.
As an alternative to baby wipes box, you can also use an empty plastic bottle or any shoe box and just make a hole on the top. As an alternative to pom poms, we also used bottle caps and a few clothes pegs.
Summary
Resources: pom poms, baby wipes box
Focus: eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills
How to: just pick up a pom pom and push it through a hole
Alternatives: bottle or shoe box instead of wipes box; bottle caps, craft sticks or clothes pegs instead of pom poms
A note about pom poms: they can be easily put in noses, ears and mouths so use good judgement if your child is ready for them.