When Lindsey Boardman noticed that her daughters, Ffion, age 6, and Carys, 4, were no longer so enthralled by their building set, she gave the blocks a new lease on life as a word-play toy. The übercreative mom (who blogs about her kid-pleasing projects at filthwizardry.com) simply wrote basic vocabulary on blank adhesive labels (the file-folder size fits nicely) and adhered them to Lego Duplo blocks. The project inspires lots of open-ended play, especially if you let the kids suggest their own words.
"They will let you know what they want to write about," says Lindsey, who advises keeping labels and markers on hand for when inspiration strikes.
Try This: Print Lindsey's starter list of vocabulary words here.
