We had one of these in the preschool I ran, and all ages loved it, including the teachers. Older children make up games with it. Younger ones just attach rubberbands in pretty patterns and twang them.
Materials:
- Board, at least 3/4 inches thick, 10 – 12 inches square. (Often a lumber yard will give you scraps for free)
- Rubberbands of various sizes and colors.
- Sandpaper, if the board has splinters.
- Finishing nails
Procedure:
- Mark a design on the board using dots. Any design will do: a checker board, a star.
- Hammer the finishing nails through the dots leaving some of each nail sticking up.
- Show children how to loop rubberbands of different colors around the nails to make squares, triangles and other shapes and designs. Name the shapes.
- Two people can play a game in which they try to cover the board with triangles that don’t overlap, using every nail.
- Encourage them to make up their own new games or designs.