Things to Do, Part II

One week at playgroup at the church, they decorated enormous cardboard boxes and then played in them. I needed to go to the store that morning, so we got there for the second hour and missed that part. But when I saw what they had done, I commented on what a good idea it was. The lady who had been in charge of the activity started telling me about what a good activity it is for a child's development, as well. She said putting stickers on and coloring on it with crayons develops their fine motor skills, and if you use a smaller box and pull them around in it it develops their balance and larger motor skills as they use the necessary muscles to stay upright in the box. Cool! So on an evening soon afterward, Caitlyn and I busted out another cardboard box, her Disney Princess Collection book that was filled with sticker pages in the back, crayons, and a piece of large ribbon. We colored all over the box and then I let her peel the stickers off the page and put them on the box, as many as she wanted, wherever she wanted to put them.

This kept her fascinated for a good 30 minutes (anyone who's ever had an 18 month old knows that's a pretty big deal). Finally, I poked a couple of holes in the front, strung the ribbon through, and tied it together. She loved sitting in it, riding in it, and putting her toys in it and pulling them around.


And I loved having a fun, easy, and developmentally stimulating activity that took up most of the evening while Quinn was at class. (Note, there isn't any sound on these videos because I took them with our camera instead of Quinn's phone.)