Give the group a set of alphabet letters in upper and lower case. Have the students work together to put the alphabet in order. Talk about the letters. If your manipulatives have pictures to correspond to the letters, have the children say the letters and name the pictures. Alternatively, have the children name words, such as their own names, that go along with the letters or make the sound of the letters. Spell out some simple words using the manipulatives and have them name the letters.
Work on shape recognition with this activity. Give each child a set of shape manipulatives. Have the students match the shapes to each other's shapes. Encourage them to name the shapes as they place them with the matching ones. Talk about the colors of the shapes and if they are all the same or different. Have them count how many of each shape there are, or how many of each color there are in the different shapes. Encourage the children to find things around the room that have the same shapes.
Children's dexterity can be improved using a building game. Give each child a set of shapes. Have the students build together using the shapes. Discuss what shapes can go on the bottom of the structure and what pieces might fit together well. Encourage them to try to build different structures, and tell them that it is all right if the structure falls or does not go together the way they thought it would. Let them work together within the group and discuss what will work and try each child's ideas.
This can be done with any kind of manipulative. Give each child a different number of manipulatives. Have them work together to discover how to even out the pieces between all the children. Let the children use the manipulatives to count and trade between each other until everyone has the same amount. Encourage them to talk about how many more each person needs, or how many more one person has that can be shared with others.