Moving Color Targets Game for Toddlers

For our last A Very Toddler Olympics activity this week we decided to take some of the skills used in some of our favorite Olympics throwing/target events (archery, hammer throw, discus throw, and shot put) and create a fun target activity.

We grabbed an old cardboard box and some cups and created a super simple moving targets color game for toddlers.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR COLOR TARGET GAME:

styrofoam cups
cardboard box
scissors
permanent markers
string
clear packing tape
a soft ball

HOW TO MAKE THE COLOR TARGET GAME:

To get started we cut three sides off of a cardboard box. You could cut all sides off, but I thought it balanced better leaving one side on.

Next cut a tiny slip in the top of several styrofoam cups and pull some string through the hole. Knot the end that is inside the cup so that it can't go through the hole. Add some packing tape to secure the string to the inside top of each cup.

Add a colored circle to each cup using a permanent marker (and a number value if you want as a well- for older kids).

Cut small slits on the top edge of the cardboard box. Make one slit for each cup. Pull the cups with strings through the slits and tie knots at the top so that they won't go through the slits.

Vary the cups so that they are at different levels.

Once everything is secure you are ready to play the moving targets game. For extra security you can also add a strip of packing tape along the top of the box, on top of the threads, to secure them in place.

HOW TO PLAY THE TARGET GAME:

Give your toddler a small soft ball and use a barrier to mark where he should sit when he is throwing. Older kids move further back, little kids sit closer.

I encouraged my son to pick a color and call it out before he threw the ball. His goal was to try and hit the colored cup he "called."

Usually he stayed behind his blue tape line... sometimes he snuck in front of it. We tried to hit the different color targets again and again and again.

This activity worked on simple color recognition along with hand-eye coordination and throwing! It was a lot of fun and the more we practiced, the better we got.