Nesting Dogs

Five nesting dogs can aid with spatial and hand skills.

Nesting Dogs is a simple set of wooden, nesting dogs that I picked up from Oriental Trading. This is a fun activity to use when comparing sizes and using two hands. The five dogs are wooden, hollow and all but the smallest one are cut across the middle so that they can be opened and closed. Put the smallest dog into the next size up and put the top on. Now you have one dog with another hidden inside of it. Then put that dog into the next size up and put the top on. Now you have one dog with two dogs hidden inside. Keep going until you have only one dog with the other four neatly hidden inside.

UPDATE: After using this for awhile the top and bottom of each dog no longer fit tightly. Knock one over and it falls apart. Knock over the dogs all stacked inside each other and they all fall apart.

Try this:

• Use the non-dominant hand as a stabilizing hand to hold the bottom of each dog as you add the others and the top with the dominant hand.
• Complete each dog without nesting them, ending up with five different dogs. Then line them up in order by height.
• Use the opportunity to talk about how dogs can differ in size, shape, breed, etc., but how they all fall into the "dog" category.
• Line the dogs up from smallest to largest. Ask the individual to pick up the smallest and put it into the next dog in line. Then take that dog and put it into the next dog in line, etc.
• Open and place the two pieces near the beginner for each dog as they learn to nest, open and close the dogs.
• Start by nesting only two dogs. Play with them until the individual can do it independently before introducing the third dog. Proceed in like manner, adding only one dog at a time after the individual is able to nest the previous dogs independently.
• Open all the dogs and mix the pieces on the table top. Give the individual the smallest dog and let him find the matching pieces as he judges sizes and nests the dogs. 
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, visual form constancy, eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, sequencing sizes, coordinated use of both hands, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 5 dogs (9 pieces)

 

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below. You can also buy different versions of these at Amazon.

Oriental Trading Nesting Dogs