Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Toys for the imagination: Painter's tape

I'm always on the lookout for great toys or games that travel well, have multiple ways of playing/use of them and most importantly sparks my child's imagination and creativity. One of our must "toys" is currently good old fashion blue painter's tape. I love the Scotch Blue Painter's Tape, unfortunately they never seem to have coupons and since I'm not a regular to Home Depot or Lowes I never can find a good sale on it. If you happen to know of any please share with me so I can stock up.  I signed up for their facebook special of a free sample but haven't received it and its not looking good at this point.

What I love about this tape is that it can be put on about any surface and not leave marks/residue. And as a bonus I use this stuff to help baby proof our locations....maybe someday when I live somewhere for more than a few weeks/months I can try the stuff out with its "real" uses like painting!

Below is a list of games I have thought of that children can play using painter's tape, some are for older children than my son, but I wanted to have a running list for when we do get there. Right now his favorite "game" with this tape is to stick it to something/anything and then pull it off....he can do this forever. Painter's tape is a must when flying because of its endless uses and portability not to mention its quiet! Must have in the air plane carry-on if you ask me. Many of the games can be made and torn down quickly so for layovers it can get a group of kids together to burn off some energy. We have had a few successful spontaneous playgroups thanks to it!

Painter's tape game/ideas:
-Homemade stickers. I just cut off pieces and draw on the tape with a marker.
-Match game. Since my son loves to match things and play with stickers I combined these two activities and used some tape to make pairs of things (stars, flowers, etc) and put them on the wall or table top. Then I rip off one and have him find the other.
-Tic Tac Toe (I use rolled up tape balls for O's and small torn pieces for X's). How to play.
-Hopscotch. How to play.
-Place the tape in side by side lines on the carpet to use as a road for their cars/trucks or even large enough for a "lap" circle they can run in.
-Place just a single strip of tap with "center line" marks on it and its the perfect size for Hotwheel cars.
-Use the tape to make big squares on the floor. Challenge your child to jump, hop, crawl into the squares. Make small squares and you can teach the child to toss rice bags/beanbags into them.
-Use the tape to make wall sayings, build a scene on the wall with tape (house), ABC's or 123's.
-Bottle cap Shuffleboard. (will need bottle caps also). How to play.



    Some other Blogs with additional ideas for painters tape:

    https://play101.wordpress.com/tag/painters-tape/

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/462227/creative_ideas_for_parents_and_educators.html?cat=25

    http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2009/09/kids-art-fun-with-tape.html

    Did I miss some ideas? If so please share!!!