Today’s subject is: Engineering!
Becca LOVES to build, and create. We do little Engineering challenges all the time with her. But rather than put them all on individual posts that would take me years to end up sharing, I decided that once a month, I’ll do a post of our Mini Engineering Challenges, and load you up with several engineering ideas all at once. Most of them, the pictures speak for themselves, but I’ll give you some little descriptions below each picture just in case you need some hints on how to make this work.
A fabulous way to get your child with sensory issues or irrational fears to overcome their fear of small places and/or the dark, is to help them create an animal cave! Lay down a soft blanket, use some pieces of furniture, and create a covered space they can crawl through (don’t enclose if they have sensory issues/irrational fears!!), and have them think about various animals that live in a cave, and pretend they are one of those animals. (Suggestions: bears, bats, possums, armadillos, etc)
This activity is super fun and simple. If your child isn’t able to write large enough yet, you can do the glue for them. Then have them use marshmallows to build their name! Works great with the regular white ones, or you can use the seasonal ones like we did. You could use jumbo marshmallows for a younger child, or for better fine motor practice, use mini marshmallows!
Becca loves building towers with cups! These cute seasonal ones came as a set from Dollar Tree. Or you can use styrofoam or solo cups as well! there are just so many options for how to build with cups – and again, it’s great fine motor practice – stacking without knocking them over is HARD!
We love marshmallows around here! We originally did this with smaller, mini marshmallows and rounded toothpicks. NOT a good plan. I highly suggest using seasonal or jumbo marshmallows, and definitely use the pointed toothpicks. Remember – this isn’t about the final outcome product, it’s about the process, and not only does this encourage their little engineering minds, it also is great fine motor practice as well as fabulous for hand-eye coordination.
Duplos and Legos are all over our house. So it’s only right that I include some Duplos in our Mini Engineering Challenge post. This time, (as is typical with Becca) she was attempting to build a “Tall, Tall Tower.” We love her LEGO DUPLO My First Construction Site Building Set
If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen this post a while back. Sometimes as a work-at-home mom, it’s so easy to get bogged down in work and housework and just making sure everyone is fed and clean, that it’s not easy to come up with activity ideas on your own. So… that’s where my friend, Colleen, has a great solution for you (and me!). Please do check out her book, Raising Creative Kids – it’s probably the best $5.99 you’ll spend for your own sanity. She has some fabulous activity starter ideas that will really help ALL ages of kids fill those minutes/hours/days when your Mommy brain is just DONE. You can purchase her book here, from my affiliate link, which is to the right.
For more great ideas like these, be sure to click “like” on my Facebook page, where I share not only my own ideas, but also ideas from other bloggers that will help you fill the empty hours of your day with fun activities that will get your kiddos thinking and moving! I also run a special series each day at noon where I share favorite books to help build your home or classroom library. Please note that the way Facebook selects pages to view on your timeline is based on your interaction with that page. Be sure to click on over to my page frequently to see what Facebook might not be showing you, and click “like”, “comment”, and “share” on my posts to ensure that Facebook will show you what’s going on on the page! The more you interact, the more that should show up on your news feed! www.facebook.com/butterbeesandbumbleflies
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