Giraffes Can’t Dance DIY Light Box

Adam has recently fell in love with Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae. As soon as I introduced the book to Adam he started moving and he hasn’t stopped dancing since! So for Day 4 of our 30 Day Simple Play At Home challenge I decided to create a Giraffes Can’t Dance DIY Light Box in homage to the book.

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As the focus of our challenge is simple play, I created two DIY light boxes within a couple of minutes. To be fair, the longest part was trying to find lids that fitted our lunchboxes. I took two plastic boxes and placed a sheet of tracing paper on the bottom of each tub. I laid battery operated fairy lights on top of the tracing paper, closed the lid and turned the box upside down. In an instant I had made two DIY light boxes.

After the success of our Light Reflections Sensory Play I decided to reuse our plastic light cubes I had purchased from B&M. These mood light cubes change colour frequently and were only £2.99 for three cubes. Amazon also sell similar cubes.

I had the perfect accompaniment to our light box play. As soon as I saw the Giraffe cocktail stirrers on Amazon I knew they would be perfect for a light box activity. I purchased 50 giraffes which came in four colours so you can expect several giraffe activities coming up on the blog!

Day 4 of our 30 Day Simple Play At Home challenge is focused on bedroom play. This was the first time Adam has actually played in his bedroom. Due to his sleep difficulties we have purposely made Adam’s bedroom a place where he only goes at nightime to sleep. His bedroom is minimalist with no toys inside. He does however have a sensory play room and toys in every other room. So todays activity was an unusual experience.

We took all of our light boxes and light cubes upstairs. As the clocks have gone back it is dark earlier now so with the curtains drawn it was pitch black in Adams bedroom. We turned on the battery operated fairy lights and the light cubes and instantly the giraffes had a stage to dance on. Next we needed music. Luckily Adam’s Personalised Music Player from I Just Love It came in very handy, especially as the rabbits ears light up too. We certainly had a disco ready for the giraffes.

Adam adored his Giraffes Can’t Dance DIY Light Box. The light boxes provided enough light to play by and illuminated the neon giraffe stirrers. The activity was great for developing Adam’s fine motor skills whilst getting the plastic giraffes to stand up. The activity also required perseverance as the giraffes didn’t always stay upright.

Adam had a wonderful time getting the giraffes to dance along to his Personalised Music Player. He loved the independence of choosing his own song.

Daddy joined in the fun and the boys made the giraffes jump from light cube to light cube whilst they danced. They tried to keep the same rhythm together in between getting the giraffes to hug.

Our Giraffes Can’t Dance DIY Light Box was a huge hit and I can see it becoming a regular activity in our house. Adam certainly demonstrated that giraffes can certainly dance!

Equipment:

* Giraffes Can’t Dance

* Plastic boxes

* Tracing paper

* Battery operated fairy lights

* Giraffe cocktail stirrers

* Plastic light cubes from B&M. Amazon also sell similar cubes.

* Personalised Music Player (optional) from I Just Love It – you can read our review here.

 

Want to know more about our 30 Day Simple Play At Home challenge? Click here to find out what room we are focusing on which day.

For more bedroom play ideas click here:

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