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Indoor fun on a cold day

Yesterday my kids were generally out of sorts, and it was too cold for them to want to play outside. Inspired by various blog posts I’ve read over my past year mommy and daddy blog reading, I pulled out our painter tape.

First I laid it down on the kitchen floor and created a track for the kids to walk along:

balancing

Emma enjoyed this, but Johnny got bored pretty quickly (and didn’t really seem to “get” the concept anyhow). He pulled out his trucks and started using the track as a road. I added more tape for cross streets, and soon they were busy constructing a miniature town, mainly consisting of animals who preferred the suburbs over the giant-inhabited center of town:

improvised road

This was a HUGE hit with Johnny. He spent several hours playing with it yesterday, and is in the kitchen with his trucks as I type this morning.

improvised town

Emma joined him, and it looks as though they have finally decided to build their inhabitants some homes:

building homes

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

23 thoughts on “Indoor fun on a cold day”

  1. Elisa @ blissfulE

    Fantastic way to harness their imagination – a few lines of tape and suddenly it’s a town. Love the “giant-inhabited center”!

  2. I love the idea – I doubt it would work too well on our wooden floors though – my husband will have a fit if the tape sticks :)

  3. This is so fun! I tried this recently with my 2 year old son. I tried to get him to follow the path by walking, jumping, crawling, walking sideways, etc. He didn’t really get that part, but he really enjoyed driving his trucks down the “roads”. A great rainy or snowy day activity, for sure!

  4. What a great idea!

    Except, if I wrote a blog post using this idea, it would have to be titled, “Indoor Fun on a Meltingly Hot and Humid Day… in OCTOBER!”

  5. That looks like so much fun! I have never bought painter’s tape. Foolish. Clearly I am missing out on a whole realm of child-entertainment. Must tell the husband to bring home a roll when he is next at a suitable store – Home Depot? Thanks for the idea!

  6. Another reason I need to buy painter’s tape! My son loves to walk on curbs and low brick walls, so I think he’d love that. Thanks so much for the idea.

  7. Andrea @ The Train To Crazy

    Good idea. Did the tape leave any sticky marks on the floor? Can you believe it snowed today?

  8. Great idea. Yesterday we stayed in as well, and my two year old seemed to be getting bored. I brought out some big cardboard boxes, drew a wheel on it and he spend the morning on it, pretending to drive it and “drawing” all over it.

  9. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog

    Oh wow, this brought back such great memories for me! My brother and I used to do the same thing when we were little. How fun!!!

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