Sticks of Endless Possibilities

icLast week Ella played with sticks in gymnastics class for a few minutes. She loved it and my brain started spinning with possibilities. We were in Home Depot the next day (because, we’re building this for Ryan, but that’s a whole other post…) and I just had to pick up some giant dowels to make our own set of sticks. I bought 12 sticks and painted them with 2 coats of paint plus a layer of polyurethane for durability. It took less than an hour and cost about $8 (I already had the paint and polyurethane).

I just love how many different things you can do with the sticks! In the picture you see us trying to march and tap at the same time. You can tap them above your head, by your knees, on your left side, behind your back. You can stand on one foot while tapping, you can take turns creating beats to mimic. You can use them to write letters in the air, or lay them out on the ground to create shapes, or use them as giant tally sticks, or hide them outside. See why my head is spinning- endless possibilities!!
I’m going to try and keep these special by only bringing them out occasionally and doing new things with them each time. I can see using them a lot in our music and exercise activities.