Cup stacking practice
1–2 yearsEmotional WellbeingMaterials: 3-4 plastic cups
Give your child 3-4 plastic cups to stack. They'll stack them and they'll fall. This is the learning. When cups tumble, pause and say the cups fell down. Should we stack them again. Then help your child rebuild. The repetition of building, falling, and rebuilding teaches that setbacks are temporary and fixable.
Part of the Imprint developmental journey — personalized to your child.
How to Do This Activity
Give your child 3-4 plastic cups to stack. They'll stack them and they'll fall. This is the learning. When cups tumble, pause and say the cups fell down. Should we stack them again. Then help your child rebuild. The repetition of building, falling, and rebuilding teaches that setbacks are temporary and fixable.
Why It Works
Stacking activities naturally involve failure and trying again, making them ideal for resilience building. Each time your child rebuilds after cups fall, they're practicing recovery from setbacks. Early childhood resilience profiles predict persistent positive effects, with children showing higher emotional resilience demonstrating better outcomes in later years (Liew et al., 2008).
Tips for Parents
Let the cups fall without trying to prevent it. The falling is part of the lesson.
Use a calm, neutral tone when cups fall. Avoid oh no or other language that suggests falling is bad.
If your child knocks them down on purpose, that's normal. They're exploring cause and effect. You can still rebuild together.
Materials Needed
3-4 plastic cups
Learning Methods
Hands-On ExplorationLanguage-Rich Environment
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