60 min
One Box, Anything
A big box, some tape, and no instructions whatsoever.
🖍
Giant Floor Drawing
Tape a huge sheet of paper to the floor and let them draw on their hands and knees.
Working big and low uses the whole body, and children draw far more freely on the floor than at a table.
What you need
- a large roll of paper or taped-together sheets
- crayons or chunky pens
- masking tape
How to do it
- Tape a large sheet of paper flat to the floor at the corners.
- Put crayons in the middle rather than handing them out.
- Suggest one starting point only: draw a road, or draw around your own hand.
- Let it become whatever it becomes over the next half hour.
- Leave it down and let them come back to it later.
Why this is good for them
Drawing on the floor engages the shoulder and trunk rather than just the fingers, which builds the postural strength that neat handwriting later depends on. The large scale also removes the perfectionism that a small sheet of paper invites.
Adapting by age
2 to 3 yearsChunky crayons and expect scribbling. That is the developmental stage.
7 to 10 yearsDraw a map of an imaginary place, with a key.
Keep it safe
Washable crayons if the floor is carpeted, and tape down every edge so nobody slips.
Cleanup tip
Roll it up and keep the best section.
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