A Sticky Path

This is an idea I wish I could take credit for, because it is easy, fun, and bonkers.  After Jo came home from school today, I knew we'd need a quick, easy afternoon activity the girls could do together but that didn't involve too much from them (or me).  So, the sticky path!  Now I have done this before, but the first time you do it your kid will probably be a little weirded out.  At least mine were.  But they will like it, I promise!

All you need is a roll of contact paper, some scissors, and some masking tape.  My pictures are hard to see, because our front room has lots of shadows and no direct natural light, but all you do is tape a large piece of contact paper onto the floor sticky side up.  Then, let your kids walk on it!  It helps if you tape around all sides, because when their feet stick to it, it'll want to pull up.

I promise you, as weird as it sounds, it's pretty fun for them.  I have a few pictures of them playing on the sticky path, but not too many, because they wanted to pretend the sticky path was a "sticky sea." To do this they disrobed and created a whole scene with a sheet for sand, a blanket on the sand, and pretend food for a picnic.  They would take breaks in the sticky sea.

The sticky path, or tacky walk as MaryAnn Kohl calls it in her book First Art, doesn't last past one afternoon of use, for a variety of reasons, some of them being cat hair sticks to it and it gets gross, and I don't like walking on it.  Also, I did put this out once when Jo had a friend over and I think his reaction is best described as quizzical when I introduced the idea, moving along to disbelief and possibly even alarm when he realized I was actually leaving a big glue mouse trap down on the floor for the children to stick to as they walked through the room.  I don't remember if he came around, but the girls love it!  It can be an easy, fun way to mix up pretend play and let your kids have an interesting sensory experience.