Super easy DIY Toddler Dominos

With the daylight hours getting shorter, sometimes Chuck and I find
ourselves twiddling our thumbs, wondering what to do to pass the time. 
Lately I’ve been making him new playthings out of random stuff that’s
lying around the apartment.  Here’s one super easy toy that was made
using mini craft sticks and Sharpie markers.

Materials:

• Mini Craft Sticks (I used 21)
• Distinctly Different Colored Sharpie Markers (I used 6 colors)
• Plastic Sandwich bag
• Scrap paper

1.  Cover your work area with a piece of scrap paper so the Sharpie markers won’t stain it.

2.  Color the ends of your craft sticks different colors.  (I used 6
different markers to color 21 craft sticks.  I tried to make sure that
each color was used the same number of times.  So, each marker colored
one end of 5 mini craft sticks and both ends of 1 craft stick.  Does
that make sense?  Erm… there must be a mathematical equation to
explain that….)

3.  Place your sticks in a plastic bag until you’re ready to play!

Yurp.  Suuuuuper easie peasie.

To make it easier for my 2 year old, I first placed the sticks in rows,
colored sides up.  I wanted him to be able to see all of his choices as
we played.  Once I explained the game, I had to do quite a bit of
prompting to get him to find matching colors.

At first he didn’t seem to understand that we had to place our sticks a
certain way.  But once I told him that the two matching colors had to
“kiss” each other, he got it.  (Not sure why, but he got a big kick out
of making his two sticks “kiss.”)

Overall, our game lasted a couple of minutes… and then he ended up
using the sticks to make a house for… you guessed it, one of his
beloved cars.     

Happy toddler toy crafting!