Fun and games: City planning
When you’re young, you can create entire cities, even universes, using just a few objects around your living room. Baby might not be an expert-level builder just yet, but with a little help from you, they can build a little city in their own home.
Find a clear space on the floor or table to build Baby-ville. The best way to start could be to use your masking tape to outline a square or rectangle of the city limits, or you could start from the center and build out. Ask Baby what buildings they want to include, and ask where they think they should go. Should we put the police station next to the fire station, or should we spread them out so people living in different parts of the city can still get help? Oh, we should have 10 fire stations? Great idea!
If you have some blocks or Legos lying around, you can actually make your buildings come to life! If not, you can label them by writing on the pieces of tape. Make sure you line your buildings along city streets so that Baby‘s toy cars can navigate the city. If a car ends up at a dead end, maybe that means there’s more city to build. Should you grab some twigs from outside to make little trees for the sidewalks? And hey, where’s your home in this city?
If all of this reminds you of the road-patterned rug in Baby‘s room, then that’s great news! You and Baby can drive cars around that rug, build the buildings up off the ground, or get inspired by the layout of the rug to create a sister city.
The best cleaning tip for your city planning game is to try to connect all the pieces of masking tape where you can. That way, when you’re ready to clean up, you can lift up one section of the city, and the rest of the city will slowly come up with it. The next best tip is to leave the flat sections of the city up as a semi-permanent art installment – a little tape won’t hurt anyone!
