Many Styles of Building Blocks

Fall is the perfect time to take down that dead tree or collect firewood.

This gives you the opportunity to create a wonderful children's activity.

 

Children, young and old, love to stack blocks. 

Towers, fort boundaries, balancing acts, tunnels, bridges, etc. 

The possibilities are limited only by the imagination.

 

Cut small manageable pieces of a tree trunk or large limb. 

You can also use scraps of wood and lumber from a building project. 

Make sure the ends are smooth with no sharp edges.

Then let the creativity begin!

 

 

 

Building blocks do not have to be wood! 

Children can build and stack with small cardboard boxes,

empty food boxes/containers, food tin cans, etc.

 

One summer we traveled to a cabin on a lake.  Our youngest was about a year old so we carefully packed a toy bag for the week.  Much to our surprise, he spent the entire week playing with a large box of canned and boxed foods we had packed for the trip.  Not once was the toy bag used! 

 

Older children can be challenged to stack golf balls (yes, it can be done) or other unusual items.

 

So, look around your home for play opportunities.  The perfect toy/activity is often NOT in a package from the store. (In fact the box, bow and ribbons a toy is wrapped in often gets played with

more than the toy.) It is often NOT the toy with a screen or one that requires batteries. 

Often the most amazing toy/activity is an ordinary household item.

 

 

 

This Blog Post is inspired from the book:

Miraculous, Magical Moments in Minutes:

Over 500 Quick, Easy Activities for Adults and Children to Share

by Becky B. Baxa

If you would like more fun ideas to share with your children

(that do not require batteries or electronics )

you can purchase this 180 page book,

full of color photos,

for $21.95

from Amazon.com

Or

from the gift shop at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO,

Silver Dollar City General Store in Branson, MO.

This book can also be checked out of the following libraries:

Scenic Regional Library - Pacific, MO

First Christian Church - Washington, MO

Hawaii State Library - Honolulu, HI

Story City Public Library - Story City, IA

Ellsworth Public Library - Ellsworth, ME

Ludington Public Library - Ludington, MI
Denver Public Library - Denver, CO
Pikes Peak Library District - Colorado Springs, CO

 

 

Fun With Masking Tape

Bored? 

Don't know what to do? 

 If you have a roll of masking tape you can have hours of fun!

Try a few of these ideas:

1.  Create a giant boat, tree, rocket ship etc. on the floor and play inside your pretend item! 
     This is a very simple, but powerful was to engage children in dramatic play.

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2.  Create roads, train tracks, parking spots

 

 

   http://www.pintrest.com

 

3.  Create mazes

 

see http://www.handsonaswegrow.com for more maze fun ideas. 

 

This idea was also featured May 29, 2012 in this blog's post entitled Life Size Maze/City  

 

 

 

4.  Create Games:  Hopscotch

                         *Tic-tac-toe

                         * Long jump starting line

                                 (Measure how far everyone can jump.  Then try to beat your record.)

                         * Four Square - add a soft medium size ball and you are ready to go

                                 When my son was in fourth grade he made a four square on our basement

                                 floor that he and his friends had great fun with.  The masking tape four square

                                 provided hours of fun for many years, even through junior high.

 

  whattoexpect.com

 

 

5.  Obstacle course- this can be good for role play as well as large motor skill development.

 

      Tape back and forth across a small room or hallway.  Kids take turns crawling and stepping over

      without touching the tape.  This could also be done in a large refrigerator box.

      As much fun as this is for little ones, don't forget the older kids. 

      Tweens would LOVE to create complex designs and then test their skills! 

 

 

   chickenbabies.blogspot.com

 

                       

 

 

6.  Put random pieces on a table top, counter or the front of the refrigerator and let toddlers pick the

     pieces off.  This is an excellent activity to help develop fine motor skills.

 

 

   thestay-at-home-momsurvivalguide.blogspot.com 

 

 

 

7.  Using masking tape make lines or a design on a table top.  Then using a straw blow a pom pom

     along the lines.  Can you create the streets in your neighborhood and then "blow" your way

      home?  Make sure to create a little masking tape house that represents where you live.

 

     http://www.handsonaswegrow.com

 

 

 

8.  Spider Web Food Catch Game:  Create a giant spider web in a doorway using masking tape

     (painter's tape will be easier to remove and not leave a sticky residue on the wood).  Have each

     child create a bowl or plastic baggie full of tiny balls of paper wads.  This would be a good use for

     recycled paper.  Or, you could supply each child with cotton balls.  Then let kids pretend to be

    flies or insects that get "caught" in the spider web.  How many flies can the spider catch?

 

   handsonaswegrow.com

 

 

9.  Create shapes on the floor with your tape.  Then practice throwing bean bags into the square, then

     the triangle, then the rectangle, etc. 

 

Create a draw and throw game.  Using 3x5 note cards draw whatever shapes you have made on the floor.  Make 4 or 5 of the same shape.  Then have child draw a shape and toss a bean bag into the corresponding shape.

 

Directions for making simple bean bags can be found on October 22, 2012 post on this blog entitled Jiffy, Nifty Bean Bag.

 

No time to make a bean bag?  Try throwing cotton balls, small balls of foil, rolled up socks or paper wad.

 

   engagingtoddleractivities.wordpress.com

 

 

10.  Make a balance beam and walk the "line"

 

11.  Create images for amazing story telling!

 

 

 



This is Goliath from the Bible Story

He is really nine feet tall.

Kids have fun laying down with their heels at the bottom of his feet to see how tall he really was!

 

 

12.  And when the roll of masking tape is empty, don't forget to decorate the cardboard circle that is

       left making an awesome bracelet!  

     

13.  Use the empty masking tape ring as a stencil!

 

14.  Don't forget the easiest activity of all... play with the sticky.  Pull off a piece of tape and stick it

       together to form a circle.  Put your hand inside so the tape wraps around the palm of your hand.

       What can you pick up?  How does it  feel when you press it on and remove it from your fingers

        on the other hand?  How much lint can you remove from the couch, a pillow or your shirt/pants?

 

 

What else can you think of to do with masking tape?  I suppose the possibilities are endless!

 

Have fun!