Rainy day ideas for little hands...

The rainy weather has had the little man climbing the walls, literally. Toy cars have undertaken some spectacular aerobatic displays and hide and seek has taken on epic proportions in the onslaught of the deluge. We now have an attractive moat around the backdoor and my vegetables are staring forlornly at me from the other side of the river bank.  The moat has been compounded by a glamorous blocked drain. And so the little one and I are sitting in state like our feudal ancestors, in our castle, and we too are going back to basics with our rainy day activities.

Bodiam Castle

So the toys are no longer acceptable, plug sockets are now far more appealing and the new found joy of assailing the dizzy heights of our furniture now all need distracting from. And so in the spirit of Duck Egg and upcycling, I have utilised the rare empty packing boxes for a series of play items. Cutting a curve lengthways along the box we create the sleek lines of a 1920s car, combined this with a Porsche inspired side door, the robust square shape of an old Land Rover and the large cartoon-like wheels of a Monster Truck (these however were prone to falling off and the breakdown unit were called out frequently as we left wheels dotted around the house.) Try it out and push along on smooth floors for very excited exclamations of 'Weeeeee'! You could use a split pin for the steering wheel, ours was fixed and I gather a little bit of a disappointment! the cardboard was perfect as a place to snuggle in and scribble on the sides, the crayons did tend to meet up with our newly painted walls at times but it was an excellent place to try out some colouring! Older toddlers could try paint for a less Lascaux-esque effect!

For inspiration check out Artist Chris Gilmour's work (Pic: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2748115/Artist-Chris-Gilmour-makes-life-size-models-out-of-cardboard.html?print=yes )

Cardboard boxes from larger items such as washing machines etc are perfect for the next stage, the cardboard house. Use the lid to create sloping eaves and tissue paper for roses around the door. All this creativity has compounded what I am beginning to understand about toddlers, it's the simplest toys that are the most fun!