DIY Tiny Town ... For the Kids

As someone who does their fair share of babysitting, I often have to channel my creativity into kid friendly activities on the fly. This past weekend I enjoyed a 12 hour straight babysitting stint with two little boys. The following project was inspired by their impressive collection of toy cars, and my need to supply them with hours of entertainment.

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." 

We do, however, need a big flat surface. A dining room table, for example (though, if you have a really nice brand new dining room table, I would not recommend that surface). You'll also need duck tape, construction paper, scissors, and crayons. 

Using the construction paper, crayons, and tape, draw and cut out things that you see around town (ie. street signs, trees, houses, etc...) While you're cutting the pieces out, the kids can start coloring them. 

Next, create roadways all around the table using the duck tape! The grey tape already looks like pavement, so then all you have to do is create the center yellow line using a crayon. 

Add some personal touches!

This fun activity also provides a great opportunity to teach some simple lessons. (sigh, I have a bit of a teaching background, I can't help it!) While "driving" around our tiny town, we learned that you need to stop at the stop signs and count to 3 before you can go again. We also learned (the hard way) to look both ways before taking turns in order to avoid accidents. And finally, we learned what happens when you drive your car into the town pond.

What a busy little town this turned out to be!

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