Fun with Painters’ Tape – Make a Toddler Town

Anneliese has a basket of little wooden vehicles from her Christmas stocking (from Target last winter), and while she would play with them, there wasn't a lot of pretending going on. Just pushing cars.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But she would look at me and my husband like we were crazy if we tried to play with the cars with her in any more in-depth fashion.

So I made a little town. Out of blue painter's tape. All over the place.

My husband watched me, at first confused. Then his eyes got wide when he realized I was making roads. “THIS is why people have kids!” he exclaimed excitedly.

He waited with the cars at the ready, and as I continued the town's roads around the corner and into the hallway, he asked, uncertain, “Just how big are you making this, Emily?”

I assured him that I was almost done, and that he could play soon. The finishing touch was this airport. With a husband who's a pilot, I couldn't leave it out. It's about as important to him that a town have an airport as it is to me that a Target is nearby.

Then we played. And Anneliese joined in, pretending. (See her airplane taking off up there?) It was great.

And after a couple of weeks, when the cars started being ignored a bit, and the town wasn't getting played with as much, I pulled up all of the tape and we had our living room back to normal; no damage at all.

I have some more ideas for painters' tape fun… I just need to get some more of the blue stuff first!

Have you ever made an “installation” toy or game? What did you do? Who had the most fun with it? You, your kids, or your spouse?