A few months ago I came across this post from Little Hands, Big Work about making your own toddler balance beam. I fell in love immediately. For two reasons- one, I am a sucker for DIY projects, especially when you can save a lot of money. And my daughter LOVES any large motor skill activity I can rummage up. So making a toddler balance beam just seemed to make sense!
If you want a professional looking homemade balance beam, click on the link at the beginning of this post. Our beam is more of a “creation”- or “what can I find lying around our house that would work”. Luckily we had a piece of vinyl fencing and a bookshelf full of bulky computer programming books. It took all of 30 seconds to put together. (Laid the fence board over three piles of books)
The first thing my daughter did when she saw the beam was to jump over it. So we played the jumping game for awhile- jumping back and forth. Then taking turns with Mommy jumping (it was great exercise!) We finished up our jumping game by holding hands while we both jumped at the same time. It was a great, spur of the moment, beam activity.
When we tired of jumping, I modeled the skill by showing my daughter how to walk across the beam (very carefully mind you- I thought that with Mommy weight the board was going to break at any moment) She instantly understood what to do and walked across beautifully. Several times. There were a few falls, but she is a trooper and would tell her self out loud, “let’s try again!” I just love her diligent little spirit!
What do you have lying around your house that would make a great toddler toy? Have fun with your little one today!
Happy Teaching!
PS. Thanks for the blog award Shafer Family! I love your blog TONS! Your recognition of my little blog means so much to me!
Thank You so much for sharing this!!! My hubby and I have been wanting to do something like this for our 3 year old for a while now. She is in gymnastics but we thought this would be a great thing to have at home! Now all I need is a giant foam pit and a bouncy house and we will be all set!
Love your blog!!! I am just starting some real preschool lessons with our daughter and always love ideas and inspiration!
This is just such a cute project and so easy to do! I have to see what we have in our garage 🙂
Really and truly kids love it when you let them play with something that isn’t actually a “toy”! Great project..I think for those parents that have a crazy kid like mine that always seems to fall face first..haha…you could just put a piece of masking tape down on the carpet and the kids could just practice balance on that 😉
Cute idea! The simple things are the best lessons!
Nice Idea!! I let you a sweet award on my blog!!
Great ideas to use things around the house! Little Hands Big Work is such a great site! I love her ideas!! Can you believe she’s expecting again?! Exciting times for her family.
What an interesting and funny activitie… thanks for your blog (I love it)and your sharing…
Best regards by the other side of the atlantic ocean 🙂
Pretty sure that we have a 2×4 in the garage. Great idea!
My hubby made a balance beam for our daughter for Christmas, using a piece of 4×4 with 2×4 underneath, wrapped for stability, and a carpet remnant wrapped around it and stapled. A photo is here:
http://paintingpinkpajamas.blogspot.com/2010/01/holiday-rewind.html