Hammering Board

A lot of early childhood education books advise teachers to allow children the opportunity to work their motor skills by hammering nails into wooden boards. While I agree with this in theory, giving my son access to a weapon and free reign to beat the tar out of a bunch of nails in a board is a little beyond my comfort zone. And I certainly don't want to be responsible for the damage one of my students might inflict on themselves or my home using one of these boards. So when I came across this idea, I thought it was a winner. I would still advise that children are supervised when using the hammering board, and I wouldn't give it to children under the age of three, but that's your call. As you can see from the picture below, this was a real "hit" with my son. (He-he).

What you'll need:

• Three fabric bolts (You can get these for free at any fabric store, but make sure they are the kind that are completely enclosed)
• Duct tape
• 2 inch golf tees (natural wood)
  
• Hammering tool (plastic hammer, or a wooden/rubber mallet)
• Container for holding the tees (Dollar store)

Directions: This is too simple!

1. Duct tape the three bolts together, by wrapping the tape around each end.
2. Use the container to hold the excess tees.
3. Show the child how to position the tea and hit it, and let them go at it.

We used a plastic hammer, but I would think a small rubber mallet would be ideal. For the life of me I could not find a single wooden or rubber mallet ANYWHERE! If I find one, I'll let you know. Also, we used white tees, but the paint chipped off everywhere so plain wooden ones would probably be a better bet. Happy Hammering :).