How to play with Pop tube

The modern games industry is developing at a rapid pace. If we have been running around with a yo-yo for several years and feeding tamagotchi, then today's children are fond of some kind of toy for only 2-3 months. No sooner had the popularity of the rainbow "pop it" subsided when it was replaced by multicolored pipes. The new Pop tube is already called the hit of the season. For those who are not yet in trend, we reviewed the new children's "trick" and selected several entertaining games in which it can be used

What is Pop tube and why is it needed

Externally, the Pop tube looks like a regular corrugation for plumbing / open sources

Today the assortment of toys can satisfy any little "gourmet". Because of this, psychologists often emphasize that children have no incentive to develop fantasy. The toy industry offers children ready-made solutions that can be played "according to the instructions." Kids don't have to build Barbie furniture from matchboxes and cut a Minecraft sword out of colored paper. All the paraphernalia for the game is ready and waiting for the guys in the store.

The Pop tube takes us back to the world of simple and uncomplicated toys. Those toys that need to come up with ways to use. Apparently, that's why it is so popular now. After all, no matter how we simplify the life of our children, every child by nature is a creator who wants to “throw out” his imagination somewhere.

Pop tube looks pretty primitive. This is a piece of colored plastic that looks like a flexible corrugated pipe for plumbing, only of a reduced size. The folded Pop tube length is from 10 to 15 cm, the diameter does not exceed 3 cm. The toy is sold in transparent cellophane packaging with a minimum of accompanying information. You can buy it both individually (from 40 UAH) or in a set of five pieces (from 200 UAH). You can choose the color of the toy by the piece for every taste; the set includes options of different colors.

Pop tube functionality, at first glance, is not great. The tube can be stretched (up to 45-70 cm in length) and squeezed back. It bends easily and holds its shape well. So, if you wish, you can tie it into a knot or make it into any geometric shape. There is a thread at both ends of the tube so that it can be bent into a “closed” ring. Also, with the help of this thread, several Pop tubes are effortlessly connected into one long tube.

The toy is positioned as antistress, however, this is most likely just a tribute to fashion. One of the properties of the Pop tube, which can really somehow affect the stress state of the body, is the characteristic sound that the tube emits when stretched and pulled. True, judging by the reviews on the Internet, this sound annoys some parents. But the kids seem to like him.

The toy has no expiration date - the manufacturer position it as "eternal". But immediately after unpacking the handset, this "eternity" begins a rapid countdown for hours. The plastic for making the Pop tube is taken from the cheapest, so after two or three folds, creases remain on the toy. This does not particularly affect the functionality, however, during regular use, the creases quickly (in 7-10 days) turn into cracks, and the tube can be thrown away. In this regard, the price of the product cannot but rejoice: if the child likes to play with the Pop tube, you can always buy a replacement.

How to use Pop tube: 5 tube games

Children like to collect various designs from Pop tube / open sources

The main "feature" of the Pop tube is that this toy can be stretched in length and "returned" back, and besides, it can be given any geometric shape. Based on this, you can come up with a whole series of educational games for toddlers. It could be size study (long-short) and sequences (spread out several tubes along the length from the shortest to the longest). Maybe familiarity with geometric shapes.

After you have shown your child how to make a circle, square or triangle out of the tube, return it to its original (contracted) position and give the child the task of bending the Pop tube into the desired shape. It develops not only fine motor skillsbut also spatial thinking. Gradually complicate the task: from several tubes connected to each other, you can bend an eight, a star, a ladder and even some kind of animal. It is also very interesting to assemble Pop tubes into a chain of several rings.

With an older child, you can play the game "Guess the shape." You bend a shape or image from one or more tubes and ask the child to guess what it might look like. You can bend the tube randomly and think of what it reminds you - then the game will be like looking at the clouds. Thus, you develop imaginative thinking and imagination.

Another option for developing imagination is "Drawing with pipes". Due to the fact that they whimsically bend and keep their shape well, they can be used to lay out any object on the table. A tree, a bicycle, a man, a jellyfish - the flight of imagination here can be limited only by the number of Pop tubes in your "artistic" arsenal.

By connecting the tubes together and adjusting their length, you can achieve the effect constructor. The only drawback is that the Pop tubes kits lack "adapters" with which one tube can be fixed perpendicular to the other. If the toy becomes a hit and beats the popularity of Pop it, manufacturers are likely to provide that option as well.

Another use case for Pop tubes that begs directly to mind is water games. With the help of children's "plumbing" pipes, you can create a mini-plumbing system and experiment with your child. For example, will water flow out of the tube if one end is positioned higher than the other; or how much the water pressure depends on the length and "tortuosity" of the pipeline.

What can you do with the Pop tube:

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