Tape 'n Build

 Invite some open-ended STEM play with this fun tape and building block tinker tray.

We were kindly gifted this Blocks Rock! game. You can use code FINDMORE for 15% off on Amazon (cannot be combined with other Amazon offers). All opinions and images are our own and completely genuine. Purchase through the Blocks Rock! website and save $20 before December 8th.

Anyone else got a tape-obsessed little one? My 3 yr old will happily sit with a roll of tape and scissors for ages and I think it's great because her little fingers are working hard the whole time. I took inspiration from her passion and put together this fun tape 'n build tinker tray. I wanted this to be pretty open-ended so didn't give her specific instructions. Instead I just put colored tape, scissors and our Blocks Rock! building blocks in a tray.

I set up an example prompt just to get her creativity flowing. I simply cut the colored tape to the approximate size of the blocks to make a type of matching puzzle. She thought this was pretty cool and enjoyed matching the blocks to the tape pieces.

Then she had an idea of her own and she was away for the next half hour engineering and creating. She decided that she wanted to use the tape to create a maze for the building blocks.

She came up with such a cute way to measure and cut the tape to size. Instead of just guesstimating it, she rolled the piece of tape out on top the block to get an exact size. Then she got her scissors and carefully cut it to size. What a clever idea!

She enjoyed choosing which color tape and block would come next in her maze. She demonstrated some great problem solving and engineering skills throughout to ensure that her maze was a good size for the blocks.

This activity was a good reminder to me that sometimes it's the simpler set ups which spark the most creativity. And most importantly, all the doing was coming from my preschooler. The fact that she was the one leading the play meant that she stayed 100% engaged for so much longer as well.