Everyday Items as Awesome Toys: AATA
Everyday Items as Awesome Toys: AATA
Awesome Toys Gifts, The awesomeness of common items in play should not go unnoticed! In this series we will explore one such common item each time and discuss different ways to play with it.
This article is exploring the everyday item: AATA
Aata is easily available in all Indian households. Aata can be easily substituted with any other edible powder. I prefer to use the edible powders to ensure safety during play for children who are likely to mouth it.
Here are four different ways aata can be used to play with your child while building skills:
1. Sensory play
Aata is a fun and easy way to introduce sensory play to young children with or without delays. Use a large tub and fill it with a significant amount of dry (powdered) aata. Allow the child to explore the aata by touching it, rubbing it on the different body parts and even tasting it, maybe!
You can also give specific sand play toys for the child to enhance the play with the aata. Allow the child to get messy. It’s a wonderful way to let them explore the new texture and different motor, taste, visual and other sensory skills.
2. Fill the shape
Kneaded aata needs to be used for this task. Draw an outline of a simple shape on a paper- such as a tree or a triangle/circle.
The child is to be guided to use the aata and paste it into the shape. The child can do that by breaking the aata into pieces and sticking them into the shape.
Tip: If you use butter paper, instead of regular white sheets – the aata is less likely to stick and can be reused for a longer time.
Build sensory-motor and language concepts while also working on skills of sustained attention and sitting for a task completion.
3. Make the balls.
Kneaded aata is great to roll into balls. Encourage the child to do so. Show him/her how to and let him/ her imitate. This will build eye-hand coordination, imitation skills, patience.
For a child who does not know how to roll or does not want to make a ball; other shapes can be made. The child can be creative and so can the adult.
The balls can be counted or placed together to form a wall or caterpillar. Build language at this point in time.
Awesome Toys Gifts
4. Where is it?
Into a large chunk of kneaded aata, hide a couple of small toys. The child is to tear open the aata to find them. This can be considered to be a game of hide and seek where language is also being built.
The adult with the child must use specific phrases and words to allow the child to be surrounded by the new words, repetitive words – such as ‘Where is the (panda)?’, ‘Open the aata’, ‘Peek a boo’, ‘There you are’, ‘We found you’!
Caution: The toys must not be too small to be hazardous to the child.
We hope you enjoy playing with these ideas!
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Do you use aata to play in any other fun way? Leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
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Thanks.I have learnt a lot.
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