Spider Week, Day 1: The Spider Web Game

I'm the sort of person who loves a project. Whether that project is colouring in, knitting, a degree or doing something with my son (yes, I realise that these things are on totally different levels from one another, roll with me here).

Ever since Laurie has been able to properly do things and express an interest in his toys, I've tried to find ways to make doing things interesting for him. I'll admit, this is a pretty selfish endeavour. There's only so many times I can sit on the floor making the various noises his cuddly toys make (what sound does a cauliflower make anyway?!) before I start to lose interest. He does too.

It's getting a little easier now that he can sit up by himself and sort of belly crawl around. I spread out his play mat on the floor, surround him with some of his favourites (BeatBo, stacking rings, jingle ball, teething keys) and let him get on with things. I can actually get things done while he entertains himself for 10-15 minute intervals. Sometimes a whole 20 minutes if something really grabs his attention (or is especially good for gnawing on).

Sort of linked to my ongoing quest to occupy my son is my determination to start some Christmas traditions. I've not really thought about Christmas shopping for anyone yet, but I've been planning an activity advent calendar. The idea being that each day in the run up to Christmas we do a different Christmassy activity.

You know how it goes, you start planning for Christmas, realise that the next month ends with Halloween and get distracted by planning out 31 days of Halloween/Autumn/October themed activities instead.

Yup. That's what happened.

So I've now got just over four week's worth of fun things to play, eat, listen to and do. So many in fact, that I've been able to divide them into individual themes within the general month theme.

Without further ado, allow me to welcome you to Day One of Spider Week! How ironic is that? I'm petrified of the things, and yet I've spent the day singing songs featuring the eight-legged monsters.

I'd never heard 'There's a Spider on the Floor' before but it's quite catchy.

Today I had planned an elaborate art activity, then realised that Laurie was itching for something to do and I didn't have the energy to strip him down and get the paint pots out, so we played the Spider Web Game.

What you need:

• Laundry basket
• Ball of string/yarn/scarves/ties
• Selection of toys in varying sizes

Preparation:

Ideally you'll do this before you get the baby out to play, otherwise they may be inclined to 'help'. This is an educational experience for both of you.

Thread the string/yarn/etc. through the holes in the laundry basket. Wind it back and forth at different heights and in different directions to create a 'web' with varying gaps.

Toss in a selection of favourite toys of different shapes, textures and sizes. If you can get these through the string then your small person will be able to get them back out again too (if you put them in first you run the risk of creating a puzzle which is impossible to solve).

What to do:

Tilt your laundry basket on its side and just add baby. If you've got a stander or a walker you could leave it upright, but Laurie was at risk of tipping it over.

I did tell him that a big spider had come along and pinched all his toys and he would have to resuce them (so much for not encouraging fear of spiders in my son) but I figure he's young enough that this little lie shouldn't scar him too deeply.

Laurie figured out what he needed to do right away. It was great to see him working out that he needed to hold the string back out of the way in order to get the toys out. Within minutes he'd rescued about three of his toys and he continued working away at it for about ten minutes. I kept the game going by occasionally putting them back in the basket for him to get out again.

I didn't put it away right away as I wasn't using the laundry basket this morning, so after lunch when I put him on the floor to clean him up, he headed straight for the basket, so we had another play with it this afternoon. I guess that's the marker of a successful game. I've still left it set up now in case he wants another go at it tomorrow.

 

Obviously, this is a game you need to supervise closely. I worried about him getting entangled in the string. In the future I'll maybe experiment with different materials for the 'web'. Perhaps a mix of string and fabric, just to mix things up a little for him and give it an extra element of sensory play.

I got the idea from a 'laser escape' game idea where you basically thread string all over a room which kids have to climb through. I don't think I'd have the patience to essentially tangle up an entire room in my house, but it might be fun to try something similar (perhaps with a really big box or a stretch of hallway) for an older child who's walking to get them to stretch/bend/crawl, etc.

Laurie was such a huge fan of this one that I imagine I'll be recycling it in various different guises during future themes.