Outer Space Box Fort – It Glows in the Dark!
Time for another week of playful fine motor skills activities from the Fine Motor Fridays crew! This week we have an out-of-this-world Outer Space Box Fort! Come check it out!
So I'll just say it and get it over with. My daughter does the dreaded “W sit,” which is sure to make some of you angry at me for letting her sit that way and some angry at me for saying it is dreaded.
However you feel about that term, and whether or not that is the root of our problems, my daughter does have weaker core muscles. I can see it in the way she does certain activities.
To help combat this, we try to do things on a vertical plane a lot to help her to strengthen her shoulders and core.
Some of the vertical surface activities that we have done include our DIY LEGO Wall, DIY Outdoor Writing Center, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree and various Contact Paper Window activities like this Frozen Fractals Collage and Halloween Contact Paper Activity.
Our latest activity was awesome for this because it gave her the ability to use three vertical surfaces (one in front of her and one twisting to each side) as well as horizontal surfaces above and below her. We had LOTS of core movement in this activity!
And while she was twisting and reaching she got to draw and stick stickers which is great for trying out all sorts of hand and wrist positions that she does not encounter every day. Sticking the tiny stickers where she wanted them and holding the chunky chalk in her hand were great for her too!
Additionally….it was just COOL. And GLOWING! And a special little fort to play in! WIN-WIN!
Oh! You could also totally try something like this Connecting Constellations Activity on the black contact paper too!
It's pretty basic but I've got a quick tutorial type thing with affiliate links for you- check it out below.
Outer Space Box Fort
Materials
One large cardboard box
Chalk (we used regular colored chalk but these chalk markers look AWESOME and I bet they'd work better! I'm ordering them and will have to try them out!)
Glow in the dark outer space stickers (ours were provided for free from our friends at www.CraftProjectIdeas.com) These would be another option.
Black chalkboard contact paper
A black light (ours is a 6 inch hand held tube style black light)
Two pipe cleaners
Directions
The basic directions are to line all sides of the inside of the box with the chalk board contact paper. It sounds like a no brainer but here are some tips.
-Use the outside of the box to measure your pieces rather then trying to line the whole roll up inside the box.
-When you are ready to stick a piece of contact paper in, only peel off the top couple inches of the paper backing. Stick that edge all the way into the inside corner edge of the side you are working on (rather than starting by the opening of the box), press it down to adhere the sticky back and then slowly pull the rest of the paper off.
-When smoothing the contact paper, I found it best to run my fingers down the center of the piece and then smooth outward from the center. (I like to call it the “Middle out” method, from the show Silicon Valley, to give myself a chuckle. But that is just for us adults.) With regular contact paper the adhesive is not too strong so if you mess up you can slowly pull it back off and re-smooth it.
To attach the black, I poked two holes in the top of the box, fed both ends of one pipe cleaner up through each hole and twisted them together, with the resulting loops inside the box holding the black light in place.
Play
Lay out the glowing outer space stickers and the chalk, turn out the lights and turn on the black light! Stick the stickers all around and draw outer space scenes with the chalk.
Done and done! Super cool outer space box fort!
If you like this activity please do Pin it on Pinterest or share it on Facebook and be sure to check out the related posts below as well as all the Fine Motor Fridays ideas at the bottom!
Fine Motor Fridays
Every week the FMF group shares playful activities that target fine motor skills. Click through the links below to see what everyone has been up to lately! Be sure to follow our Pinterest board and to check out our book too!
Personalized Photo Finger Puppets from Still Playing School
Playdough Geometry: Exploring Shapes from School Time Snippets
Outer Space Box Fort from Lalymom
Environmental Print Puzzles from Little Bins for Little Hands
Very interesting stuff I have to say. I will share this.