Hello dear parents!

This article will focus on educational games with cereals with children aged 1 year and over. Although I offered my son to mess around with cereals when he was still at the age of 6-7 months. At that time, he squeezed the cereal into a fist and unclenched it. He was very interested in how the grains between the fingers get enough sleep. And of course, these are new tactile sensations. Now we are already a year and a half old, but our interest in cereals has not passed. We use: rice, buckwheat, semolina, beans, peas, millet, pearl barley - in short, everything that is at home.

With the help of such games, the child develops the coordination of his movements, learns to think logically, stimulates his speech, and of course, fine motor skills, beloved by everyone, are involved.

If this is the first time you have decided to do this kind of activity with your baby, I recommend, as a safety measure, to start over with cereals such as semolina. Explain to him that the cereal does not need to be pulled into the mouth, we only play with it.

Then, when the child gets used to it, gets used to it, you can use rice, buckwheat or peas. If a child even accidentally puts it in his mouth, nothing terrible will happen.

Then it will be possible to switch to beans, beans, pearl barley. Under no circumstances leave the child unattended, his hands and mouth should always be in front of you! And of course, each mother decides for herself whether such a game and such cereals are suitable for her child.

Make room for these games. Be prepared that the child will be like a bird - a swan waving its arms and throwing cereal overboard. Let it be a place where it will be easy to sweep the grits, or lay a blanket and sit with the baby in its center, after the games, just collect it and all the grits will remain in the blanket, shake it off and that's it. Let the child sit comfortably and see how you show him.

What can be done with this very cereal, let's see:

  1. Of course, we train our hands and get used to working with a large spoon, a small spoon. Suitable and wooden spoons, all kinds of ladles. Let them be several and different, so the child will learn to use them. And pour with their help from one bowl to another.
  2. We use a bottle, preferably a transparent one. A plastic one with a narrow neck will also work. We put our beans, beads, pasta, peas there.
  3. We teach the child to scoop up the grits of a children's mug and pour from it, for example, into a cup.
  4. You can pour with a spoon into the same bottle using a funnel. If there is no funnel, you can make it yourself. We have such a funnel glued to the side with tape.
  5. We are looking for hidden secrets in the croup. It can be small molds, toys, fridge magnets.
  6. We feed different animals (made from an ordinary tea box)
  7. From thick paper or cardboard, you can make a ramp and pour cereal on it. We also glued it to the side with tape.
  8. Mix semolina with peas, and sift with a strainer to leave peas.
  9. Pour the cereal into molds.
  10. We hide large pasta in the grits. Let the baby find them and put them in a separate container.
  11. Mix a small amount of different cereals (except for millet and semolina) and let the child sort the contents into different containers.
  12. You can also use special equipment, load a dump truck or excavator and transport goods. Here .

We use the groats left from the games in subsequent classes. Watch your child - something will be interesting to him, something will not interest him at all. Do not worry, after a while you can offer him again those classes that he refused, and perhaps he will be interested in them. Consider his mood and morale, and you will definitely find something for him!

Dexterous hands to you! All the best, see you soon!

Grains are very useful for the development of fine motor skills of the hands. And yet, digging in the groats has a calming effect on nervous system child and develops the brain.

Be prepared for the fact that the child may be distrustful of cereals, children are conservative and wary of the new. Do not force the child to touch the cereal by force, let him watch how his mother plays with a new object. After a while, curiosity will take over and he will become interested in the game.

Here is for kids from year until two years. You can supplement them, invent something of your own, you can invent a huge number of games with cereals.

  • Remember, if you are distracted from the baby during the lesson, all the cereal will quickly be on the floor. Tell your child not to throw cereal on the floor.
  • Classes are best done sequentially from the first to the second.
  • Before moving on to the next lesson, first master the previous one, practice it several times.
  • Lessons learned can be combined.

Lesson 1: Introducing the baby with semolina

It will take:

  • semolina - 100 grams,
  • children's unbreakable plate.

Pour semolina into a plate and show how you can play with semolina, draw something on it and be sure to tell the child what it is. Then take one finger alternately on both hands of the baby and draw different patterns. You can draw the sun, a mushroom, a cloud with rain, a circle, faces and anything you want.

Show the baby how to take mana ku in the cam and pour from top to bottom. Learn how to salt with your fingers. Say the word as often as possible semolina“So that the child eventually remembers the name of the cereal.

Class 2: Get to know buckwheat

You will need:

  • buckwheat - 2 kg;
  • a jar with a lid for vitamins.

Buckwheat perfectly massages the child's hands. Dip your baby's hands into the grits so that the brushes are completely immersed. Squeeze and unclench the buckwheat into a fist, pass it through your fingers, then carefully pull the handles out.

Give the child a jar, let him pick up the cereal with his handles and pour it back. Fill the jar by a third with buckwheat and close the lid tightly with the child. Let the baby rattle the jar, and then unscrew the lid with him and pour the buckwheat into the pan.

Do not forget to often repeat to the child that we are playing with buckwheat to remember the word.

Lesson 3: Cooking porridge from semolina and buckwheat

You will need:

  • buckwheat - 1 - 2 kg;
  • semolina - 0.5 kg;
  • 5-6 liter saucepan or plastic food box;
  • a tray or plastic small plate, preferably colored;
  • small sieve;
  • wooden or plastic spoon

If you often did the first two classes with semolina and buckwheat, then the child has already learned to distinguish semolina from buckwheat. We show the cereal to the baby and ask him to determine where is buckwheat and where is semolina. We give the child to delve into the cereals, and then pour them into the pan with spoons.

We interfere with a spoonful of cereals - we cook porridge. Porridge can be fed from a spoon to a bear, dolls.

Using a sieve, sift the cereals: the semolina will be sifted into a plate (tray), and the buckwheat will remain inside the sieve. Let the baby also try to sift the semolina, and then draw on it with his fingers. Repeat the word " sieve“so that the child remembers it.

Put the baby's hands into the buckwheat, squeeze it into fists and unclench it, pass it through your fingers and pull it out.

Activity 4: Grain Bags

You will need:

  • buckwheat;
  • semolina;
  • 2 small pouches laced at the base so that they can be tied tightly.

Let the child pour semolina into one bag with a spoon, and buckwheat into the other. Tie the bags tightly so that the baby cannot untie them.

We ask the child to determine by touch in which bag there is buckwheat, and in which semolina. Let the baby roll the bags in the palms - the croup will massage the hands through the fabric. After a few lessons, the child will be able to easily distinguish cereals from each other by touch.

Session 5: Getting to Know the Beans

You will need:

  • large beans - about 10 pieces;
  • plastic transparent bottle with a volume of 0.5 liters - 1 piece.

Put the beans on a plate in front of the baby, say that they are beans. Let the child touch it, get to know it, make sure not to take it in your mouth.

Take one bean and throw it into the bottle, now let the child take one bean and throw it into the bottle. We offer the baby to close the lid and show how the beans rattle in the bottle.

Lesson 6: Magic bags

You will need:

  • bags with semolina and buckwheat from lesson 4;
  • large beans - 10 pieces;
  • a small pouch, similar to the pouches from activity 4.

We offer the child to pour the beans into a bag, after which we tightly tie it. Now the baby needs to be identified in three bags, where semolina, buckwheat and beans are.

Do not put the bags away after the lesson, let them be in a conspicuous place so that the child, if desired, sorts them out and develops his tactile sensations.

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We started playing with semolina only at the age of 2. But in vain. Because semolina interested Antoshka even more than sand, and he is ready to mess with it at least every day and for a long time.

Games with bulk materials have a positive effect on emotional condition child, develop fine motor skills, sensory perception and much more.

You can praise this cereal for a long time, but I'd rather talk about how we play with it.

What age to play

Semolina is the safest cereal. Therefore, it is never too early to start playing with her. Even if a child tries it on a tooth, nothing bad will happen. However, it is better not to leave a one-year-old child with semolina alone. And then suddenly decides to eat it thoroughly, who knows))

And, of course, than less baby, the more dirt will remain after the game.

How to play with semolina

Prepare your workspace. So that such games do not damage the room and mother's nerves, it is better to tune in in advance that it will not be very clean. Try to play where it is easier to sweep. You can also stock up on a basin in advance and put it under the table in case the child is impatient to pour handfuls of semolina on the floor.

We play on a tray that we put on the children's table. It is also convenient to use a baking sheet with high sides, a bowl or a box.

To start introduce your child to semolina, touch it, pour it, bury your hands in it, inviting the baby to join you. Start with the simplest games, gradually complicating them, and at some point the child will take the initiative in his own hands and you will only occasionally have to give him new ideas.

Antoshka is very squeamish and does not like to touch either sand or semolina with his hands. So I had to accustom him to these materials. A little patience, but it's worth it.

Our games with semolina

So what can you do with mango?

Pour semolina on a tray with a thin layer. And we draw a circle, the sun, paths, etc. finger, hand, brush, chopsticks and any other objects. You can not only draw, but also draw: rain near the clouds, rays near the sun, the missing line of the triangle, etc.

We leave traces. We make handprints and various objects. We leave traces of animals with our fingers - here a snake crawled, and here a bunny jumped. And what an interesting track leaves a passing machine! You can play by guessing which machine the track is from and which object the print is from.

Looking for treasure. I hide pebbles, small toys and any other in cereals small items. Antoshka happily digs up treasures with his hands, rakes, and brushes.

We blow through a straw on semolina poured in a thin layer - circles appear. You can stick small pictures on the tray and then it will be even more interesting to blow. An excellent exercise for the development of speech exhalation. You can also search for stickers with a brush or with your hands.

We cook soup. We pour the semolina into the saucepan with a ladle, add other ingredients, “salt” our soup, do not forget to stir.

We oversleep. We feed the animals, pouring semolina with a spoon into plates. "We pour tea" from the teapot into mugs. Just pour from cup to cup.

We pour into different containers - into bowls, cars, bottles, a funnel.

We glue or draw on the playing surface the figure we need (path, circle, etc.), invite the child to pour semolina, trying not to get beyond the boundaries of the figure.

We sift. Add beans, pasta or any other small thing to the semolina, and sift through a strainer.

The bunny cannot get to the carrot and Antoshka gladly comes to his aid, laying out a path of buttons, beans or pebbles.

Labyrinth. Draw a labyrinth with your finger and help the animals get to the treat or the house.

Role-playing games. We play desert, construction, clean the road from snow, grind flour at the mill.

Applications. We make the drawing we need with glue. We pour semolina, then shake off the excess and the drawing is ready. This is how we did the night sky on black cardboard. And if you pre-paint the semolina with gouache, then you can make many masterpieces.

Games with semolina have become a regular entertainment for us. And also long, because Antoshka can sit at this lesson for 40 minutes or more. And in winter time semolina will be an excellent substitute for sand.


Playing with cereals is not only a great educational activity for children. They also have a calming effect.

For such games, any cereal available in the house is suitable - beans, peas, buckwheat, millet, rice, semolina, as well as pasta and salt. Also, have nuts, buttons, small toys, small cars, bowls on hand. different size, strainer, toy dishes, tweezers, measuring spoons.

So that later the cereal does not roll around the house, allocate a special place for the game:

In addition to simply sorting out cereals, you can offer your child other interesting and useful games. With their help, you can not only develop fine motor skills, but also practical skills, coordination of movements, logical thinking, fantasy, the ability to count and even read.

1. Transfer the cereal from bowl to bowl with a spoon.

2. Pour the cereal from bowl to bowl using a small mug.

3. Pour the cereal into the bottle using a funnel.

4. Rake grain with a small toy excavator.

5. Shift the cereal with tweezers.

6. Throw grains into a small hole, for example, into the neck of a bottle or into a hole in a box, jar.

To make it more interesting, you can stick an image of a bird on the box, which we will feed with grains:

7. Search with your hands in the groats for treasure - small toys.

8. Search semolina, salt or flour for toys, pasta, nuts, beans, cereals using a strainer.

9. String pasta with a wide gap on the cord so that you get beads or a bracelet.

10. Sort: mix, for example, pasta and beans, and then have the baby put them in different bowls.

11. Sort different cereals by color, shape, size.

12. Prepare one row of different cereals in an egg tray and the same cereals in separate bowls. The task is to find a pair, fold the same row of cereals.

13. Sprinkle flour, semolina or salt on a tray in an even layer and draw images or paths between toys on it with a finger or stick.

14. Lay out tracks from cereals - short and long, various patterns, geometric figures, letters, etc.

15. Lay out paths of different lengths from the beans, count and compare the beans - how much more in one path than in the other.

16. Sprinkle small groats or a pinch of salt.

17. When the child learns to pour with a pinch, invite him to draw paths from one object to another in this way.

18. Draw invisible lines or a drawing with glue-pencil, pour semolina on top, and then blow off the excess.

19. Apply PVA glue to the paper, pour randomly different types croup - it will turn out abstract interesting.

20. Use groats in applications in combination with colored paper and other materials.

We made this application with Serezha when he was 2 years old.

21. Apply glue to the coloring book and fill each part of it with grits of a certain color.

22. Color salt or rice with paint or food coloring. Pour into clear jars or bottles.

23. Make applications with colored salt or rice.

24. Pour a bowl of cereal and stomp your feet in it.

25. Press the cereal into plasticine or dough.

26. Pour cereal into bags or socks. We play with sewn-on pillows and balls filled with grits. For babies of the first three months, invest in fists.

27. Look for bags with the same filling of cereals.

28. Throw bags of cereal at the target - a bucket, a bowl, a hoop lying on the floor.

29. Stir salt, sugar in water.

30. Dip pasta, beans in paint and leave prints on paper.

31. Make rattles out of cereals and Kinder Surprise containers or small plastic bottles. Look for those that sound the same.

32. Fill with cereal molds for cookies or plasticine.

33. Make a tactile domino by sticking different cereals on cardboard instead of pictures.

34. Stick numbers on bottles, cups or matchboxes and put the right amount of grains or pasta into these containers.

35. Stick pictures and names of cereals on matchboxes and put the corresponding cereals in them.

36. Rinse cereals.

37. Soak and germinate grits.

The more the baby plays with objects that are different in structure to the touch (soft, hard, rough, smooth, etc.), the more actively and correctly he speaks.

Groats (one type) can be poured into the basin . Add a spoon or a small scoop, various jars, bottles, animal figurines that can be hidden in the groats. You can put beads in the groats and then take them back with the handles and put them in a jar. You can sort them by color.

Grain games

pouring.Take several plates or other containers. Let the child pour the cereal into the bowls. He can do this both with his fingers and with a spoon. Pay attention to the baby that there is a lot of cereal in one plate, little in the other, and nothing in the third. Compare quantities: more, less, the same.

Rain. Pour cereal from one plate to another. In the process, show the little one that you can raise the plate higher and lower. Hear how she makes noise. Play the game "Rain": let the child pick up a handful of cereal, raise the handle and pour out the cereal, imitating how it rains. For her, it is better to take beans or peas to make it easier to clean.

Games with cereals will help develop the child's muscular, visual, nervous and skeletal systems

Tracks. From beans, for example, you can make paths - short and long, lay out various drawings - geometric shapes, letters, houses, etc.

Filling out the forms. Take any molds (for example, for plasticine or sand), put them on a flat surface and invite the child to fill them inside with grits. It can be picked up by hand or with a scoop.

Tweezer games. Give the baby tweezers and invite him to grab the beans with them. This game develops perseverance, and, of course, motor skills.

Well. Take any plastic bottle. Tell the child that this is a well that is completely empty, there is no more water in it. And our bear is very thirsty. Help the bear fill the well. Take the cereal and pour it into the narrow neck of the bottle with your hands.

You can also :
- Spoon the cereal from one bowl to another.
- Try it with a fork. Explain to the baby why he did not succeed.
- Pour the peas with a glass, a plastic bottle (you can take it from under the yogurt).
- Pour the cereal into a glass through a funnel.
- Pour the peas into a deep and flat plate.
- Ask the kitten to pour the cereal into a yellow bowl, and the blue chicken, etc.
- Pour and pour the peas into the container by hand.