The Horse Wrangler
My daughter LOVES horses. Since miniature horse figurines are her favorite toys right now, I decided to incorporate them into an activity. I call this activity the horse wrangler because the end goal is to, you guessed it, wrangle the horses. Any small toys can be used for this activity, I just like having a theme! Sometimes we use zoo animals and sometimes we use Little People. Setup only takes a minute, and it can be done with items that you most likely already have in your home. My favorite place to do this activity is on a small activity table but this fun can be had many other places. You can set it up on the wall, a high-chair table, the floor, wherever! Your toddler will love it wherever it ends up.
Items needed for this activity:
Miniature Horses (or other small figurines) – I normally use around 10-20
We have used several different kinds of tape for the horse wrangler and my favorite is duct tape, and not just because of the fun designs. Scotch tape and masking tape are a little too easy for my little one to take off. The duct tape is a little stronger and therefore requires more fine motor coordination to remove it. Masking tape may be more appropriate for a first-timer or a toddler under two years old. That being said, if scotch tape is all you have available, go for it! Your little one will still enjoy the activity immensely.
Steps:
Design the workspace. Break off a piece of duct tape at about 4” long and tear four strips from that piece. Place a strip of tape over each miniature horse. On some horses, place an extra strip of tape to make it a little more challenging for your little horse wrangler. Leave the ends of the tape slightly upturned so your toddler can grasp them.
Explain to your little one that they have to wrangle the horses. After all, they are the horse wrangler! Explain that they have to remove the tape from each horse and place it on a separate surface or give it to you. A demonstration is not needed unless they are really struggling. If your toddler is anything like mine, they will most likely start trying to get to their toys right away!
Talk about the colors of the horses they wrangle and what their names might be. Create a story about the horses. Make horse sounds and get really silly. Every time my daughter gets a horse loose, I neigh really loudly, and she laughs at me as though I am the funniest person in the entire world. That laugh completely melts me.
Once all of the horses have been wrangled and your toddler loses interest, have them help with clean-up. My daughter absolutely loves rolling up the duct tape and disposing of it. I think she likes duct tape as much as her mama!