Playing with straws

Our neighbours are currently working on their roof.  All you can hear is banging and crashing going on, meaning Adam is very reluctant to go out into the garden.  As we spend a lot of time in our garden, I was suddenly faced with finding a way of entertaining Adam whilst indoors.  I spotted the straws in the cupboard so put a variety of every day objects into the living room and watched Adam experiment with the equipment.

First, Adam emptied out the straws – all 200 of them.  Although he took the straws out in handfuls, he dropped them onto the carpet one at a time whilst counting them.  Each time he got to ten he started back at one.

Once the box was empty he experimented with the flat Ikea cheese grater.  He managed to slot the straws into the holes – not an easy task.  Adam told me what colour each straw was as he added them to the cheese grater.

It didn’t take him long to notice the lampshade.  I was drawn to it because it had a circle at the top which I thought would be ideal for slotting the straws through.  Adam obviously felt the same as he posted the straws individually through the hole straightaway.

I had used electrical tape to secure 4 toilet rolls together.  This made 4 pots for the straws to stand in.  I separated the coloured straws and put a colour in each of the pots to see if Adam would copy.  Sure enough he started to sort the straws himself. During the play Adam also posted the straws through the peg basket and the dishwasher basket.

The straws were a huge hit with Adam and kept him occupied for a long time.  He kept adding to the lampshade throughout the play which resulted in a huge jenga-style pile.  I feel straws are going to appear frequently in a Busy Box.

As there was no preparation involved, no food or smells and the activity promoted  independent play then the activity is an HG friendly play activity.

Equipment:

* Straws – we used a box of 200 from PoundLand

* Objects found around the house.  We used two cheese graters, a peg basket, dishwasher basket, lamp shade and toilet rolls.

Adam was 2 years and 1 month old.

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Emma Edwards

During a difficult pregnancy suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Emma vowed to make every day an adventure once she had recovered. Adventures of Adam is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. Emma has a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill.

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