Nesting cups: 5 ways to play

A beautiful, open-ended toy that will allow your baby to experiment and play in many different ways. Play with the cups can start as simple as experimenting with in and out, sizes, shapes and colours then open into a world of pretend play as your child grows.

In our house this toy is used daily and the cups are used to build pillars for elaborate fairy houses, make birthday cakes, as baths for tiny dolls and of course serving me countless coffees (🤦‍♀️😂 must stop drinking so much coffee in front of the kids!). 

1.Standing play- babies don’t need to spend time inside equipment like baby walkers in order to learn to walk, find more on baby equipment here. All they need is time spent playing in standing. Nesting cups provide the perfect opportunity to develop your baby’s balance in standing and help them get ready for walking. Try;

• Spreading the cups out along the play surface to encourage your baby to cruise along and play
• Place some cups on a table and some on a lower surface to encourage your baby to squat and play
• Watch your baby as the stack and nest the bowls, they will become so engaged in play that when they are ready they will let go with their hands and stand alone momentarily. 

Cruising, Squatting and momentary independent standing are the little milestones your baby will do before they walk alone.  

2. Tea Party - A wonderful way to develop your little one’s pretend play skills, model using your nesting cups as a cup of tea and see if your little one will copy. Add in some spoons, plates and food items and watch to see where your toddler goes with this play! As you watch, add language to their play so they are learning about language related to everyday activities through play (‘stir’ ‘pour’ ‘drink’ ‘mix’).

3. Developing toddler finger strength- by toddlerhood object permanence is well developed but your toddler may still enjoy putting things in and out of containers. Let your toddler’s interests and creativity guide you but they now start enjoying games like grouping by colour or size. Try a play set up like laying the nesting cups out with some tongs or tweezers (depending on age) and some smaller small figurines, beads or blocks. Using the tongs or tweezers to collect the smaller toys and put them in the nesting cups will develop your little one’s hand strength and dexterity. 

4. Prepositions- These little location words like ‘in’ ‘on’ and ‘under’ are great for your little one to learn as they can be used in lots of different contexts and can be used in 2 word phrases once your baby reaches this stage (e.g. ‘cup in’). Grab some items to put ‘in’ the cups and model this simple word every time your baby puts an item in. You can also try a hiding game - hide an item under the cup and talk about looking ‘under’ as you search for it!

5. Build it up and ask for more- Add some communication opportunities into your play by providing a reason for your little one to ask for more. More is such a powerful early word for your little one to say and/or sign as it can get them more of what they want! Try building a tower using the cups and then knocking it down, using lots of big noise and facial expression to make it extra exciting! Once you’ve knocked it down, wait for your little one to indicate they want ‘more’. Then say ‘more? want more?’ and pause to see if they will copy you. Then do it again and again, as long as your little one likes (hint: you’ll get bored before they do!). 

This is a toy that will be loved way past the baby months so if you want to invest in a good quality and beautiful set of nesting cups we recommend the Grapat Nesting Bowls from Wooden Wonderland. They look and feel beautiful and have coped very well with lots of mouthing and explorative play in our home!