How to Make Jar Games

Alphabet Identification Game

• 1

  Trace the top of the baby food jar over the printed letters on alphabet flash cards.

• 2

  Cut the circles from the flash cards with scissors. You should see a letter centered in each circle.

• 3

  Attach the circles to the insides of the jar lids with craft glue. Let the glue dry for at least 20 minutes.

• 4

  Place a wrapped piece of miniature candy or other small treat inside each jar and twist on the lids. Place the jars on a table in two long rows.

• 5

  Instruct children to take turns twisting off a lid and trying to identify the letter on the inside of the lid. The child gets the treat inside the jar and the jar is removed from the grid if he gets it right; if not, he twists the lid back on the jar and the other child gets a turn.

Find It

• 6

  Lay out 12 small objects, like buttons, coins, jewelry charms and small wooden shapes, on a white piece of printer paper in a three-by-four grid.

• 7

  Take a picture of the objects with a digital camera. Print the picture out.

• 8

  Place the 12 objects into a large glass jar.

• 9

  Pour 2 to 3 cups of rice into the jar, leaving enough room in the jar for the rice and objects to move around freely.

• 10

  Screw on the jar lid tightly.

• 11

  Give the jar and the photo of the items to your child and challenge her to find each of the pictured objects by shaking the jar around to move the rice. Create two of these jars so that children can race each other, or have your child race the clock to see if she can find all the items in a set amount of time.

Ball Toss

• 12

  Label 10 different-size jars with various point values. Jars that have small openings or are not deep should be labeled with a 15; jars with medium-size openings or a medium depth should be labeled with a 10; jars with wide openings or deep jars should be labeled with a 5. Place the point labels near the top of each jar.

• 13

  Arrange the jars in a group in the center of a table.

• 14

  Gather everyone playing the game around the table. Give three ping-pong balls to the first player.

• 15

  Throw the three ping-pong balls into the jars, aiming to accumulate the most points.

• 16

  Tally each player's points as you remove the ping-pong balls from the jars, and then give the balls to the next player. Write the player's point total on an index card and give it to the player to hold. Play as many rounds as you like. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.