10 things you can do with disposable drinking glasses

10 things you can do with disposable drinking glasses

1. Colourful patterns. Purchase several cardboard disposable drinking glasses in a variety of colors. Use them to create patterns that children will have fun completing. For example, you can set a blue glass, a red glass, and a yellow glass in a row. Add a second blue glass next to the yellow glass. Encourage children to recognize the pattern (blue, red, yellow, blue, red, yellow, etc.) and complete it. Invite older children to take turns creating original patterns their friends can continue.
   
   
   
   
2. Make rolling dice easy. Often, little hands have difficulty rolling dice for board games. To make this task easier for them, provide a sturdy cardboard drinking glass (not too big), preferably one with fun designs on it. Show children how they can drop the dice inside the glass and place one hand on top of the glass and their other hand on the bottom of the glass to shake it. After a few seconds, they can simply empty the dice onto the table or playing surface. Replace the glass as soon as it is damaged.
   
   
3. Cardboard constructions. Provide disposable drinking glasses in a variety of colors and sizes in your sandbox. Encourage children to use them to create roads, towers, etc. If you wet the sand a little, children will have fun filling the glasses with sand and overturning them to create small sand structures they can pile one on top of the other or arrange in a row. If they have trouble removing the compacted sand, show them how they can tear the cardboard right off.
   
   
   
   
4. Tiny plantation. Disposable drinking glasses are perfect for growing, among other things, beans, chives, or grass with children. Their tiny hands can easily grasp the glasses to fill them with soil and plant seeds. Choose pretty glasses with colourful designs or prints. They will add to your décor.
   
   
5. Paint dispensers. Purchase disposable drinking glasses corresponding to the different colors of paint you are planning to offer for a painting activity. Fill a blue glass with blue paint, a yellow glass with yellow paint, and so on. Doing so will make it easy for children to recognize and select the color they wish to use. At the end of the activity, the use of disposable drinking glasses will make cleaning up a breeze. Simply discard the glasses!
   
   
   
   
6. Color recognition. Organize a special building block activity that will help children practice their color recognition skills. Give each child a red glass, a blue glass, a yellow glass, and a green glass. Invite children to fill each of their glasses with blocks of the corresponding color. Name the colors with them as they are sorting blocks. You can choose to have them fill a single glass at a time. Once their four glasses are full of blocks, they can use them for a colourful construction. This method will make sharing and distributing blocks easier for everyone.
   
   
7. Simple bracelets. Purchase several different types of disposable drinking glasses. The more colors and designs you can find the better. Use scissors to cut a strip of cardboard, near the bottom of each glass. Each strip will have a slit where you cut the glass. Children can use the slits to fit their bracelets over their wrist. Provide stickers children can use to decorate the bracelets. You may also choose to use plastic gems or glitter.
   
   
   
   
8. Fist puppets. Purchase several disposable drinking glasses that are large enough for children to be able to stuff a fist inside. Give each child two glasses. Encourage children to draw a face on each of their glasses, placing them upside down on a table. They can also glue pieces of wool or strips of paper on the bottom of each of their glasses to represent hair. Googly eyes can be used to make their puppets even more silly and fun. Show children how they can insert their fist in their puppets to make them move. They will enjoy inventing a variety of scenarios with their fist puppets. They can use them for a short puppet show that can be presented to parents at the end of the day or recorded and sent home via email.
   
   
9. Miniature village. Help children cut a small opening near the edge of several colourful disposable drinking glasses placed upside down on a table. You can cut round, rectangular, or triangular openings. Each opening will represent a door. Invite children to decorate these tiny homes with crayons, markers, glitter glue, stickers, etc. Once the tiny houses are ready, have fun arranging them to create a miniature village that is perfect for welcoming figurines. Children will play in their unique village for hours! The best part: they can reinvent their village over and over again!
   
   
10. Three-dimensional memory game. Purchase a package of heavy-duty disposable drinking glasses. Under each glass, add a sticker, making sure you use pairs of identical stickers (two hearts, two cars, etc.). Arrange the glasses upright in rows, just as you would place cards for a traditional memory game. Children can take turns lifting two glasses. If the stickers under both glasses match, they can keep them. If they are different, they must put the glasses back in the same spot.
    
    
    

Patricia-Ann Morrison