Playing with marshmallows can be a fun way for preschoolers to practice size discrimination and strengthen fine motor skills at the same time! After seeing what a hit our other fine motor jar was, I came up with another way to utilize our jars by just changing out the lid. I created our Marshmallow Sort Jar for my preschoolers to be able to sort by size!
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Create the Marshmallow Jar
The supplies are simple for this activity!
- jar
- cardstock
- marshmallows (regular sized)
- mini-marshmallows
- any fine motor tools to add to the fun!
To set up the marshmallow jar, take the top off of the jar. Separate the inner lid from the outer lid that screws onto the jar. Flip the outer lid over and trace it on cardstock. This will give the exact size of the lid and will fit perfectly under the lid when screwed back on the jar. Cut the circle out.
Add 2 holes to the cardstock towards the center of the circle. One hole should be big enough only to fit the mini-marshmallows. The other hole needs to be big enough to fit the regular sized marshmallows.
Fit the cardstock circle with holes under the outer lid. Screw the lid carefully back on the jar.
Now it’s time to play!
Marshmallows! My preschooler was excited to see this tray set up to play with. She sat down and immediately shoved a marshmallow into her mouth. After explaining to her that this was not an eating activity, she caught on to the real game right away!
My preschooler played around with using different fine motor tools to pick up the marshmallows with. I had chopsticks, kid chopsticks, and plastic tweezers out. She had fun trying to use real chopsticks! She could pick up the marshmallows but couldn’t keep them squeezed and still long enough to lift them up to the jar. But it was pretty impressive anyway!
The most efficient way to get the marshmallows sorted into the correct holes in the jar was using her fingers. She quickly filled the jar with each and every marshmallow in the bowls. It was funny to her to put a few of the mini ones in the big hole, but knew that the bigger ones would never fit into the small hole!
Sorting by size is a preschool skill that takes practice. The marshmallows are all the same color and the same shape. Little learners need to use their visual discrimination skills to really decide which is bigger and smaller. Another great item to use when sorting by size is buttons. They may be lots of colors, but small, medium, and large buttons can be tricky!
The Marshmallow Sort Jar works those finger muscles that need to strengthen in order to write and form letters correctly down the road. Each pinch, grab, and squeeze works those fine motor muscles!
In my own classroom, there are fine motor activities set out each day for my preschoolers to play with in small groups or independently. You can see all of our ideas here!
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