My middle son has a great collection of marbles that I sometimes use in activities – depending on the ages attending! I got together a collection of plastic tubs, bottles, spoons, containers, baskets, ice trays – you name it – and left everything out for the children to explore. I don’t have to tell you how much they enjoyed it – they spent absolutely ages sorting through the marbles! Filling, counting, pouring, rolling…After a while they started noticing all the different sizes, colours and patterns and this sparked off a whole new train of conversation and delight…

The pictures say it all – great for fine motor, manipulation, numeracy etc.