Paper cup stacking
Use paper cups for quick, open-ended play—perfect for stacking, building, and knocking down!
Paper cup stacking is a simple play idea that uses everyday household materials to create endless opportunities for fun. With just a set of plastic cups, your child can explore building towers, creating structures, and then knocking them down. It’s a perfect activity for developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving abilities, all while having a blast.
This open-ended play idea is quick to set up and allows children to get creative. Whether they’re competing to see...
Materials
Prep
Step 1:
Place a set of paper cups on a comfortable area on the floor for your child to stack and build safely
Step 2:
You can start to build a pyramid or tower (without finishing them) as a play prompt.
Play
Step 1:
Encourage your child to stack the cups as high as they can, creating a tower.
Step 2:
Let them experiment with different shapes and structures, like pyramids or castles
Step 3:
Have fun knocking down the cups and starting again—part of the joy is in the destruction and rebuilding!
Extend
Cup Bowling: Set up a tower of cups and use a ball or toy car to knock them down for a fun bowling game.
Counting Game: Count the cups as you stack them or challenge your child to build a tower using a specific number of cups.
Obstacle Course: Use the stacked cups as part of an obstacle course, encouraging your child to weave in and out of the stacks without knocking them over.
