Getting Creative with Contact Paper

I have taken many ideas from the book "More Things to Do with Toddlers and Twos" by Karen Miller and these are two of them! I used this book when I worked in a traditional Day Care years ago, but had never tried these activities. They were, and are, a big hit with Ty! These activities are wonderful for working within the categories of sensory, science and small motor control.

The first day, I taped a large piece of clear contact paper (available at any Walmart, Target or Dollar Store with the shelf liners) sticky side up, to the floor in our hallway. I lay in wait like a tiger at the end of the hall, waiting for him to find me. He was very surprised when his feet hit the paper! He enjoyed walking over it again and again, and often reached down to touch the sticky spot with his hands. I then talked to him about "sticky" and we touched areas of the floor nearby without the paper, and talked about how they were "smooth". Ty got a big kick out of it!

A couple days later, while Ty was eating a cereal bar for snack, the fruit in the middle became stuck to his fingers. It happened over and over, and I decided that we needed to start the second part of our "sticky" experiment. 

This time I taped the contact paper, again, sticky side out, to the wall. I then went through paper scraps from my scrapbooking days and filled a small container with them. I showed Tyler how to choose a piece of paper and stick it to the paper. It was a challenge for him to realize that he had to let go of the paper once it was stuck, but he picked up on it quickly and really enjoyed making his own sticky art on the wall. He created his own little experiments, attempting to stick the paper to parts of the wall without the contact paper, though he seemed to know before he tried that it wouldn't work. 

I have left this on the wall, with the paper scraps available for him underneath, and he has returned to it often to remove and replace paper, or to add a new piece to his work of art! He also enjoys dumping the scraps from the container whenever he sees that I've cleaned them up; I think he enjoys that just as much!

The next time I do this activity, and as he grows older, I plan to cut out specific shapes, numbers and letters. I've even wondered if it could be used as a sort of felt board for creating and acting out stories.

Have fun!