What Are Posting Activities? How to Satisfy Your Child's Need to Put Objects In and Out of Containers

If you've noticed your child trying to fit objects into small openings, there is a term for that. It's called posting!

Once you understand this behaviour, you can offer more opportunities to help your child satisfy the urge.

What Are Posting Activities?

Posting activities are activities where the child is releasing an object into a container.  Children going through this phase are working to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Posting activities also allow children to explore object permanence, spatial relationships, and cause-and-effect concepts.

Plus, they're great for developing problem-solving skills, as children figure out which objects fit through an opening and which don't.

When Does An Interest in Posting Start?

Interest in posting starts as young as 7-8 months.

Around this age, children are able to take one larger object and fit it into a larger container.  An easy DIY option is simply a smooth ball in a similar sized bowl.

The comparable Montessori material for this age is the Sphere and Bowl from the Fine Motor Set.

As the child grows, they will post smaller and smaller objects into smaller and thinner openings. This happens as they refine the pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination.  

For example, in the Montessori classroom, they would go from using an Object Permanence Box to the Slotted Box with Chips.

If you think your child may have an interest in either of these activities, you can DIY them using the instructions we put together here: https://themontessoriroom.com/blogs/montessori-tips/diy-montessori-activities

Other examples of early posting activities include:

• Shape Sorters
• the InnyBin
• Hammer Balls (without the hammer, having the child push the ball through the hole with their hand)

More advanced posting activities would be:

• Pushing pom poms into a water bottle
• Pushing playing cards through a small slot
• Inserting pipe cleaner into a colander

Don't Overthink It

Posting opportunities are everywhere. You just have to look for them!

You can see my 12 month old in this picture from the park last summer. Here he is pushing sticks into an empty water bottle.

It was around this time that I had also offered him crayons and instead of colouring with them, he put them into my water bottle.

What To Do If Your Child Isn't Showing Interest in Posting

If your child is under 3-4 but not showing any interest in a posting activity, keep in mind that it could be too easy or too challenging.

Consider adapting the activity by removing pieces (i.e. instead of offering 30 pom poms, offer 5) or making the object or opening smaller or bigger.