Balloon Tennis

This past week, I felt that Cash had been watching a little too much Mickey. I needed something new for us to do. Christmas toys had already lost their "newness." It was too cold to go outside and play. But what?

I got to thinking about an idea that I had read on another blog. It was a simple, get-up-and-play game that I knew Cash would get a kick out of. I mentioned it to my dad, and in no time, he had these made for us:

Yes, that is a cardboard tennis racquet covered in duct tape. Easy enough to make (we had lots of boxes left over from Christmas), and who doesn't have duct tape. (Dad actually used 2/3 of a roll, though. He also stuck some dowel rods on them for extra sturdiness.)

After Cash got up from his nap Thursday afternoon, he helped dad tie a balloon to the end of a string (we used curling ribbon, also left over from Christmas). Then we tied the end of the string from the ceiling (we tied it around the wooden trim of a light in the kitchen).

And the game was on: Balloon Tennis! He LOVED it! At first, I just let him hit it and have some fun. Then we started hitting it back and forth to each other. He was pretty good, too. Note: My 2 1/2 year old has better eye-hand coordination than I do, but I guess that's not saying much. :)

Having it in the kitchen proved to be both helpful and dangerous. Pouring a glass of milk took some good timing, but it was perfect while I was fixing tacos that night. In between preparing the food, I was able to pick up my racquet and play with him.

Baylen, as you could tell from my last post, enjoyed watching it, too. He also had fun trying to hit the balloon with a wooden spoon this morning.

Here's a video I took with my phone of dad and Cash playing balloon tennis. (Sorry for the fuzziness.)

See? Easy, inexpensive fun! So what do you do with your little ones?