Ants in the Pants

Ants in the Pants

Ants in the Pants is a fun game that gets kids' attention. The original Ants in the Pants has been around for a long time. I picked up the Sponge Bob version because at one time I worked with quite a few of his fans. Recently I stumbled across Ants in the Can. The versions all play the same and the ants are the same.

Each set comes with a different plastic container to shoot the ants into (garbage can illustrated above) and a cardboard insert (the Grouch). You do not have to use the card board insert if you don't want to, as it does block the opening in the top of the container some. On the plus side, the insert makes a nifty backstop if you tend to overshoot. The ants come in four colors - red, blue, green, yellow.

To play, line up an ant so that it is pointed toward the container. Push down on the tab at the back of the ant, pull your finger off, and the ant will jump up and fly forward, hopefully into the can. If the game is new, the ants are stiff and they fly fairly easily. After they have been pushed down over and over, the ants lose some of their stiffness. At this point, when you press on them they tend to squish down and don't jump or fly as well.

Try this:

• Give each player one color and see who can get all four of their ants in first.
• Mix the ants up and tell the child the color of ant to shoot until they are all in.
• Use different fingers to shoot the ants. Which one is easiest?
• Push the can back a bit and practice tossing the ants into the container.
• Give the individual a verbal sequence of ants to shoot into the can. For instance, red/green/blue. Start with two and add more and more as the individual is able to remember a longer sequence.
• Put one ant at a time into the individual's hand and ask him to turn it in-hand into the correct orientation to set it down to shoot.
• Use other household containers to shoot the ants into, setting up several at a time at different distances.
• Practice shooting to close targets and farther targets, grading the pressure you put on the ants to shoot. 
• Work on finger isolation, grading pressure, manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination, spatial relations, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
•  
• In the box: 1 plastic container, a cardboard insert, 16 ants
  Ages 3+, 2-4 players