Paper bags can have endless uses! You can use them to carry groceries, pack lunches and picnics or even make a pretend city!
What you will need:
- Paper bags, grocery or lunch size
- Newspaper
- Paint and/or markers
- Stapler
Want the know-how? Start by making roofs for all of your buildings at the opening of the bag; add doors, window, flowers and any decorations that you want! Let your child decorate and decide what buildings they want in their city. Create a school, hospital, library, your own house or friends’ homes!
Once your bags are all decorated, stand them up and add crumpled newspaper or double the bags for added stability. Fold the top of the bag and staple shut (you can also leave them open and cut out windows and doors for extra fun!)
You are ready to play pretend! Add cars and your favorite characters for expanded play!
This activity great for building your toddler’s vocabulary! Talk about the buildings, what colors they are, who might go to a building and why, what decorations you are making, or how big or small to make a decoration. Adding stickers is a great opportunity to practice requesting (i.e. “I want the flower.”). In addition, stickers often offer opportunity to request “help” opening or unpeeling the back of the sticker. Once your project is finished, be sure to talk about where a character or a vehicle is going, who they are going to see, or what they are doing, the opportunities for play are endless!
Send us pictures of your pretend house or city and be featured on our blog!
**This activity requires adult-supervision, especially for children under the age of three.**
Picture and activity are adapted from kidsactivityblog.com
Jessie Delos Reyes, MA, CF-SLP