My daughter has lots of flashing, blinking, singing, moving and talking toys designed and engineered especially for babies. And what does she prefer to play with? My car keys.
Upon making this observation, I started thinking about constructing an activity board that would hold a collection of household items for Hannah to work on and explore. I raided our junk drawer and then headed to our local hardware store for a few select items.
I gathered my stash. Hinges, latches, bells, whistles, wheels, and handles were just the beginning. As I began gluing and screwing them onto my wooden canvas, I started imagining all kinds of features that Hannah would be curious about. Mirrors, textiles, and spinning knobs joined the display. Magnets, beads, and chains came next. Then I add a shoelace activity.
Every night when Hannah was asleep in her crib, I would add an item or two. The next morning, she would awaken to find that there were new gizmos and gadgets to discover. She would quickly locate the latest addition and go right to work on it.
I initially worried that once the novelty of the 4' wore off, she would tire of it and seek other forms of entertainment. Not so!
Hannah uses her board at least once a day and still finds new ways to manipulate the features.
And, we can easily swap out old items for new ones to keep it fresh and exciting. I do believe I had as much fun making this board as she does playing with it.
Click here to see my entire collection of busy boards, coming soon for sale on etsy!
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