DIY Travel Games with Washi Tape and Zip Lock Bags!

17/8/2017

Ever struggled to entertain your kids on a long haul flight or doctor's waiting room? or maybe you are a mobile therapist looking for new ideas that are light and easy to carry?!

Here are some quick easy DIY travel games that you can make with your favourite washi tape and some zip lock bags to keep your kids entertained and learning at the same time!

The surface of the zip lock bag is the playing surface and all the small parts can be stored in the bag after playing! So neat and convenient, ready for travel!

1. Tic Tac Toe (or noughts and crosses).
You will need a zip lock bag, 4 strips of washi tape and 8 small counters (four of each type).

Simply lay your washi tape strips to form the tic tac toe board and you are ready to play! Can't get any easier than that! My cute counters came from an old game we weren't using anymore, however you could use small pebbles, buttons, pom poms or any other "loose parts".

Tic tac toe is such a great game for kids to work on motor planning and turn taking. You can encourage a pincer grip with the counters too!

2. Maze Fun
You will need a zip lock bag, washi tape cut into strips and some counters.

Design a maze on your zip lock bag using washi tape. You could make one like the one I have made or you could make a shape or a road too. The best thing about washi tape is that is repositional. Change the maze after you play! If you have an older child, they may be able to come up with their own design. You could use counters to go through the maze or you could make the washi tape the path to follow. Draw some black lines down the middle of your tape and you have a road for a little car to drive down. Draw some line across the washi tape and you can easily create train tracks!

Mazes are such a great way for kids to work on visual motor planning and tracking. They can work on problem solving too if the maze is too hard for them. And you guessed it, encourage a pincer grasp with the counters or loose parts that you use!

3. Triangle Peg Solitaire
You will need a zip lock bag, 15 small squares of washi tape and 14 counters.

Start this game by assembling the counters like the photo above with the bottom right hand square empty. To play the game, you may move a counter to "jump over" one other counter onto an empty square. Pick any counter next to continuing "jumping over". Play ends when you can't move (ie. you don't have a counter to jump over). The aim of the game is to have the least counters left over.

This game is perfect for older kids who may be challenged to one counter left after making all moves. This game will be addictive, as your child will want to try again to beat the number of counters they have remaining. It is a good problem solving and visual planning game (whilst working on that pincer grasp).

4. Alphabet Learning.
You will need a zip lock bag, alphabet washi tape (or write on plain washi tape with permanent marker), alphabet beads, whiteboard marker and eraser. Alphabet beads are easy to find in hobby or craft stores or you may even find them in your local discount (dollar) store.

Have your child match the beads to the washi tape for alphabet recognition and learning alphabetical order. You could also put in a small tub of playdough so that the beads could be pushed into the playdough. Use a whiteboard marker to write the letters on the zip lock bag and have an eraser (or a tissue will work) to rub out the letter. Change it up and use lower case letters, numbers or spell out sight words or spelling words!

The benefits of this activity are self explanatory! Educational with a touch of fine motor manipulation! Yes you guessed it, this also works on pincer grasp but you can also work on pencil grasp and letter formation too!

Do you want to see these games in action? Watch this video I put together (be kind as I'm still learning about video editing!). If you are reading this in your email, please click on the title of this blog so that you watch this video via your internet browser!

Looking for more amazing travel games? Today. I'm linking up with some of OT blogging friends to bring you more! Make sure you check out their ideas and follow them too!

Let me know if you try out my DIY travel games made with washi tape and zip lock bags! No crafting experience required! Happy playing!

Cindy Chuan is a registered Occupational Therapist practising in Sydney Australia. She has two young children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning. Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun.

Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT