Create your own classroom toys.

Materials:

• Town-making materials:
• Empty oatmeal boxes, food boxes, or milk cartons
• Masking tape
• Construction paper
• Safety scissors
• Glue
• Other craft supplies (optional)
• Sandbox, grassy area or floor
• Toy cars, people, and animals

Directions:

Ask the children to tell you about places they might find in a town, such as a

• Grocery store
• Clothing store
• Police station
• Bus stop
• School
• Post office
• Home or apartment building

Place town-making materials on the table, and ask the children for ideas about using the materials to make a town. If the children need ideas, you might suggest that they

• Cut the top and bottom off an oatmeal box or milk carton and use it as a tunnel for toy cars.
• Cover empty food containers with construction paper and draw pictures of houses and other buildings on the paper.
• Tape a strip of masking tape on the floor to use as a road or use two or three strips side by side for wider roads.

Have the children set up the town in a sandbox, in a grassy area, or on the floor. Set out some toy cars, people, and animals for the children to add to the town. Give the children plenty of opportunities to pretend with the town. When the children seem ready for a different kind of activity, place the materials in a safe place for another time.

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