While enjoying some family time at the cabin (the memorable scene I wrote about here) my sister-in-law pulled out a brilliant activity that I thought I would share with you all here! There were three very simple ingredients, and you don’t have to live near a specialty store to find them:
- Gum Drops
- Toothpicks
- Imagination
One long table scattered with paper plates full of candies and toothpicks instantly brought 24 kids running to the table to stack, stick, and snack their way through a fun, creative activity!
The activity is wonderfully open-ended so it was enticing and engaging for everyone at the table, ranging in age from 3 to 16!
The kids had a blast creating everything from simple barbells and human figures to complex castles and cathedral-like structures.
They were all on summer vacation so I didn’t ruin the fun by pointing out that they were building fine motor skills, math skills like spatial awareness and geometry, and getting plenty of problem solving and science practice as they questioned and tested their many different attempts at structural integrity.
Simple supplies. Open-ended exploration. Tons of learning objectives. And smiles like this! Why not give it a try?
Top photo by Silvio Gabriel Spannenberg.
All other photos by the amazing Joan Taylor!
I love it
awesome!!!
Nice idea – I believe this would also work with styrofoam packing peanuts, avoiding the sugar high from the gumdrops!
I actually tried that! also wanting to avoiding all that candy 🙂 However, the new-biodegradable kind of packing peanuts are not very dense/sturdy! 🙁 Things didn’t stay very strong/stable. I’m guessing the non PC peanuts will work better… but I wonder what other alternatives are. Gummy fruit probably. But that’s pretty costly.
love it