We've reached the part of summer in Texas when simply walking outside for five minutes produces a sweat and results in at least one mosquito bite. Our family's spring included daily hours of outdoor time, but this oppressive heat has kept us all indoors lately.
Yesterday afternoon, the kids had maxed out screen time and were running out of indoor activities and low on patience. A slew of blocks were scattered all over the living room floor from a morning game of "Jumbling Tower" turned home-building. I suddenly had an idea to both keep the peace and occupy their minds.
Quickly, I grabbed a marker and a stack of copy paper and began to write out the numbers 1-10 in a large, LCD font (you know, the one displayed on digital clocks). The little ones had lots of questions, but I love holding them in suspense. I'm convinced it makes the whole experience more exciting. I started lining some of the blocks up to form one of the numbers, and immediately, they knew what to do and followed suit.
The kids started with bristle blocks. It was neat to watch their minds work after we used all of the rectangular blocks. They had to get creative to form their lines and re-work some finished numbers to complete others.
Later, we added some wooden blocks to finish up our number sequence. The kids felt so accomplished and wanted to show their work to Big Sister and Dad right away.
This quick, easy task built teamwork, motor skills, problem solving, and reinforced number formation. You can use this activity outdoors with sticks and leaves if your weather is cooler. You could also choose to form geometric shapes or letters instead of numbers.
I hope your family has fun building! As always, let me know if you have comments or suggestions!
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