A toddler game

I love that ever since I started working with kids again (about 7 years ago) that it allows me to think outside the box and be creative. So many jobs and carrers don't allow for "real creativity."

As I was wrapping my daughter's birthday gifts, I noticed that the Sesame Street wrapping paper had a really interesting pattern. I wanted to stop wrapping and make a game with it right away. But instead after she tore open her gifts I tried to salvage what I could when cleaning up. I did have to tape the Count piece together because I didn't have one whole piece of that. Otherwise I was able to create this really fun game. Oh, and I bought this fun wrapping paper at the Dollar Store.

Directions

1. Laminate one whole piece to be the playing board.

2. Cut individual piece to correspond with the playing board and then laminate.

**Since this wrapping paper is so thin, I put a piece of cardstock behind each playing piece and behind the playing board. I actually taped each playing piece to a large piece of cardstock and cut the piece out before laminating. Save time trying to size each individual piece up with a piece of carstock.**

Game ideas

• Place cards upside down and have child turn over one at a time to figure out where to put them on the playing board.
• Put cards in a bag and have the child pull one out at a time and find where they go.
• Place cards upside down and challenge the child to find a certain character (might work with older children)
• Hand each card to the child and have them place it on the board.
• Tell what character you have and ask the child if she can find the character for you. Then you place it on the playing board.
• Make clean up fun by asking for each character to be put away -- give a hug (or a kiss as my daughter likes to do) and say bye to each character.
• You get the idea -- so many ways to promote independence, following directions, self control, recollection, etc.