The Babe is starting to like to build things. She was not the one year old who played with Duplos, even then it was all about the paint brush. So it’s fun to see her brain getting engaged in 3-D play. What better than marshmallows to encourage building (and tearing down)?

Building the castle was pretty self-explanatory. Spatial awareness and geometry got better as The Babe worked on it and she started to figure out how to build cubes all by herself. I love watching her concentrate on stuff like this.
The catapult building was a little advanced for The Babe at three but shooting it by herself brought out some fabulous giggles. All you need to build it are 8-10 popsicle sticks, rubber bands (rainbow loom bands work great) and a plastic spoon.

1. Stack 6-8 sticks together and rubber band at each end.
2. Stack 2 sticks together and rubber band at one end.
3. Place 6-8 stick stack inside 2 stick stack and rubber band in an X format.
4. Rubber band the spoon onto the top stick in a few places for stability.
5.Ā Annnnnddd FIRE!!!Ā Take over the castle!

