learning fun: masking tape

Nov 14

Posted by: Scott in: blog, caleb isaiah, clever toys, crafty, cute things kids say, games, just another day in paradise, memories, parenting

I will reveal a secret, I’m really not that original, a lot of my ideas come from other blogs, websites, and books like this one:

So anyway, I’ve been thinking about tape. Yes, I have a lot of time on my hands. Amazingly enough, I get very little accomplished. I was flipping through this book the other night and saw a activity called tape shapes. You can probably guess the basic concept. Use masking tape to make shapes on the floor, then play a game, hop to the square, dance to the circle, crawl to the triangle, etc. Caleb pretty much has his shapes down, so I added to the concept with a few numbers and letters just to add variety. I doubt the whole alphabet would do so well at this point, just because it is too much to look for at this age. So I stuck to about 10 different tape spots. For the numbers I tore off the corresponding number of little tape pieces to put beside the number. We started off playing the game as detailed in the book, let’s crawl like a caterpillar to the C, hop like a frog to the F, etc. When he started to lose interest, I brought in a beanbag that I made yesterday morning and we threw the beanbag to the circle or the number 3. I bought a stretchy walmart bookcover years ago, and I cut it in quarters and sewed up two sides to make a beanbag. Then of course I went to a teacher’s supply store this morning, and noticed they have beanbags for a buck fifty, which I would gladly pay since I suck at sewing. They were solid primary colors, so you could add colors to the game like that. Cut out some construction color shapes, tape them to the floor, throw the red beanbag to the red square…. Anyway, after the beanbag began repeatedly ‘accidentally’ sailing under the couch, I switched gears again to the most successful game. I got a firetruck out and said “Oh my goodness, there’s a fire on the letter F!” I suggested he get his police car and we would go put out the fire. That was a big hit. May I suggest knee pads?? lol But we crawled around on the floor putting out fires. He caught on really quick so I let him take the lead, and I just followed, adding to the sound effects. We got to the letter D and his boltswagen (yes I do know how to spell Volkswagen) happened to be sitting there. His police car drove up to the boltswagen and said “you see a fire?” “No” the boltswagen shook back and forth. “No fire here Mommy!” Caleb said. It is so cute when they start pretending like that, and making toys talk!

 

Another masking tape floor one that might be cute for those mini car enthusiasts: make a tape town with some roads and or parking lots, etc. It can be well worth the wasted tape on a rainy day. And just think, peeling it up creates a whole new game. You know kids love tape! PS As you can see, I used blue painters tape, as we’ve been known to paint a room or two (or two apartments and half a house). Use whatever provides the most contrast with your floor color while still peeling up easily without leaving sticky residue.

Comments

2 Responses to “learning fun: masking tape”

    Jen
    November 14th, 2007 3:02 pm

    That is a very clever idea… I usually make chalk roads/towns for the kids outside, which can entertain my son FOR HOURS, but have never thought of the tape thing… Thanks!

    Also, thanks for the Ferrari shirt info… I actually just saw it today hanging in the window of the Disney store!

    Lauren
    November 14th, 2007 8:43 pm

    Yup! Def stealing that idea! Your such a great mommy!!

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