Material shelf · a line on the floor · 6 activities
Tape, String and Rope
Six activities where a line on the floor is the whole apparatus: a strip of low-tack tape, a soft rope, or chalk if you are outside.
Low-tack tape, 25 mm wide, is the thing to have. Masking tape and painter's tape both lift off wood, laminate and short carpet cleanly after several days; test a 10 cm piece somewhere out of sight for ten minutes first and you will know. Parcel tape and duct tape leave adhesive on wood and on painted skirting, and parcel tape is slippery underfoot as well, which is the one mistake on this shelf that costs money.
Twenty-five millimetres is the width worth holding to. It is wide enough for a two year old to aim a whole foot at and narrow enough to still read as a line. Washi tape works, a length of ribbon or wool taped down at both ends only works, and chalk on a patio works better than any of them. Outside there is also the ready-made version: a kerb, or a line of paving slabs.
For the rope path, soft rope 8 to 12 mm thick is what a foot can feel through a sock. A skipping rope, a washing line, or two dressing gown cords knotted together all land in that band. Thin string vanishes underfoot and gets stepped over without the child knowing, which turns the walk into guesswork. Tape the rope at every bend and at both ends, or it travels with the foot and the path quietly unmakes itself by the third walk.
A line wants something at each end. A line with markers is a journey and a line with open ends is a strip of tape, and the marker is the whole reason a two year old turns round and comes back. Two cushions, a pair of shoes, or a teddy at each end all do it.
The six
Ordered by the age they suit best. Each line gives the setup time, the play time and how much room it needs.
- Walking the Balance Line Your child walks the length of a strip of tape stuck to the floor, slowly, and then turns round and walks back. 2 min · under 5 min · household only
- Blindfold Rope Path Walk Your child follows a rope laid along the floor with her eyes closed, finding the turns with her feet while your voice tells her what is coming. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Painters Tape Floor Balance Track Your child walks a line of tape stuck to the floor without stepping off it, then does it again carrying something. 4 min · 10 to 20 min · one substitute needed
- Balance Beam Coin Carry Your child walks a taped line heel to toe carrying a small stack of coins on a saucer, and discovers that the only way across is slowly. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Bucket Stilts Balance Track Your child stands on two upturned tins, holds a rope in each hand to keep them under her feet, and walks a taped line across the garden. 15 min, once · 10 to 20 min · household only
- Maze Blueprint Mapping Your child tapes a maze onto the floor and then draws it on paper as a plan, or draws the plan first and builds to it. 2 min · 20 min or more · household only
These are the quietest way to use a hallway. Most of them also live on the balance and whole body shelf, where they are sorted by what the feet are doing.