Learning Fun - DIY Geo Board

Anyone who has been to our house knows that we have LOTS of toys....sometimes so many it takes forever to organize/put them all in the right place. With that being said, we have three kids that LOVE to play with toys.  The kids spend 99% of their at home time playing with toys and reading so the amount of books and toys does not bother me.  This summer when all three boys were home with me I started looking for activities that could incorporate all the children....not an easy task with two 6 year olds and a 1 year old.  The older boys are learning how to do things more on their own and you can give them a project and they enjoy working on it and learning new skills.  I have a few projects that I will show in blogs in the upcoming months on things that we have worked on and have turned out really well and educational. 

One thing that I thought the boys would enjoy was learning more about Geo Boards.  Instead of just buying one I decided to turn that into our first 'make our own official toy' project to start out the fall season.  We all went to Lowe's and purchased the supplies (Peg board, nuts and bolts) and then purchased some elastics in the discount section at Target. 

The peg board was large so the boys worked with Jason to learn how to decide on a size, measure and then cut it with a saw (they watched, Jason cut).  The boys then put the bolts through the peg board and tightened the bolts on the other side.  This leaves the bolt sticking up and available to attach the elastics too.  The good thing about them putting the bolts/nuts through is it works on hand eye coordination and also allows them to work on the planning and foresight to place them in the right spots if they have specific designs in mind. 

The activity turned out even better then I hoped.  Josh could then just work on placing the elastics. I think him and I will work on being able to turn the bolts soon as well.