Cups? What's the big deal?

When my daughter turned 1 she recieved a set of cups for a gift. The person that gave her the cups was so excited about these cups she could hardly stand it!

I on the other hand thought- what is the big deal? They are just cups. Sure you can stack them and nest them.. but why are they so important or cool? Parenting magazine states that they are one of the top three products that babies need along with a ball and blocks.

So it took me until my second child to realize the value in a simple set of cups! I didn't even realize that the original set included a parent guide that gave me all kinds of ideas to use with the cups. Ooops!

Now granted, there are a lot of cups on the market. The cups I received were Discovery Toys. This was even before I started to sell the product. Now with my third child we have enjoyed the full benefit out of these simple set of Measure Up Cups.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. On the bottom of the cups are animals from smallest to biggest. You can also stamp them in playdough or cookie dough.

2. Cups work as great snack cups. We always take a few to church with us to fill and dump cheerios.

3. Bathtub- gotta have them! Great for pouring and dumping. Can also do math with older kids- take 3 and 4 and dump in 7 it will equal 7!

4. Teach children to drink. I used these with each kid and placed a small amount of water in the bottom to get them used to drinking out of a cup.

5. Time- each cup has a sticker on it that shows dots that line up like the face of the clock. Inside the cup also has the dots. You can also take the twelve cups and set them out like a clock and have kids use spoons, socks or whatever to set the "clock".

6. Multiplication: my oldest struggled with this concept. I asked her how many times would it take to fill up the 3 to equal 12. Once she saw the visual she began to understand!

7. Stacking: cups can stack upside down or right side up. Easy for children to manipulate.

8. Nesting: the design of the cups are easier to nest than square cups.

Okay... so you get the idea. Lots of uses for Measure Up Cups! I'm sure other people have more ideas! Be sure to comment what you favorite use for the cups is with your child!