101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces

Book excerpt: You can never have enough space. And if you can't, just think of your kids--all the time they have to spend in tight spaces--like cars, planes, trains, the doctor's office, the grocery store, being sick or housebound, waiting in line. Kids need room to move around, but there are many times when they just plain can't have it. While raising two exuberant boys, teaching preschool, leading Cub Scouts, and running a birthday party business, Carol Stock Kranowitz came up with savvy, creative ways to keep kids content in tight spaces. In 101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces, her activity ideas combine old standbys with new ones born of desperation and cramped quarters. They follow a philosophy that helps kids develop their different skills and abilities while entertaining themselves and interacting. You'll find great projects for every imaginable small space parents and children encounter: Fun Food for Tiny Kitchens: Ants on a Log, Footprints in the Snow, and Aiken Drum Faces In the Urban Community: Windowsill Garden, Bug Jar, and Corn-on-the-Sponge When the Walls Seem to Be Closing In: Pillow Crashing, People Sandwich, and Teeter-Totter When what you've got is a small space and a restless child, what you need are 101 ingenious solutions--right away. Here they are--easy to implement, creative fun for the three to seven-year-old--activities that can turn tough moments into teachable, terrific ones.