Material Balancing Activity

Activity Ideas:

• Use the balls to investigate which are rough/smooth - maybe use a sand tray to roll them along to see what pattern they make.
• See how the balance changes by moving the balls up towards the centre - which combination of balls equal the weight of the stone ball?
• Find household items like pegs, fruit, pasta and use them to balance the weight of the balls - make a chart showing how many of which items weight the same

Is cork lighter than wood and is stone heavier than porcelain? How does wax feel, like styrofoam? How does felt smell like rubber?

This Material Balancing Activity is a tactile way to have fun for older people.

The 12 handy, equal-sized balls made of different materials invite you to feel and experiment.

Players weigh the balls in their hands and estimate the weight before placing them on the scales.

On each side of the bar there are 3 hollows in which the balls are safely located.

Several balls can be placed on one side or the position of the balls can be varied.

Set includes:

• 1 ball each of styrofoam, wax, stone, rubber, cork, paper, beech wood, linden wood, wool pom pom, felt and porcelain
• wooden storage box
• instructions

Size: balance: (l) 50cm x (h) 12cm, balls: (dia_ 4cm, box: (l) 27cm x (w) 10.5cm x (d) 5.5cm.

See Balancing Duo game for similar fun.