Observe the child playing with small bowls or a regular cup along with any small object such as blocks, small plastic animals, puzzle pieces, etc.
If the child does not spontaneously start putting things in the bowl, the adult can do so with his own bowl. This will motivate the child to try.
“Filling it up” becomes a great game. The child wants to see how many pieces will go into the bowl.
Encourage parents to have cups in the bathtub, sandbox, etc. for “empty and fill” play. Children learn about amount by experimenting with different materials and containers.
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015
©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.