Bath Time Tetris

Bath time is one of those times of day that my child just loves. It's even better when she can share it with one of her cousins, splashing about, making a watery swamp out of the bathroom floor. To tame bath time we have recently tried shaving cream paint. It's been a big hit but again the mess that it creates makes me question it's worth. The other thing with this popular bath time activity is that the whole bathroom reeks of shaving cream. The chemical fragrance seems to be amplified by the steamy hot bath and I wonder if we are risking asphyxiation.

So unhappy with the swamp in my bathroom or the toxic stench of shaving cream, I put on my thinking cap and started thinking of some good clean bath time activities.  Something that keeps the kids occupied in a manner that keeps them from emptying the bath content onto the tiled floor. Something that doesn't require cleaning, staining, or a load of equipment that we spend more time having to pack up. And so people here is the fruit of my mental labour... Bath time Tetris! 

It's everything I wanted in a bath time activity and more! It's easy to make and cost me less than $3.00 AUD. It is open ended, can be shared between two or more children and you don't even have to have a bath to enjoy it! 

Here's how you make it. (So simple and Sew free) 

What you will need

• 3 or more sheets of craft foam. You can buy it from craft stores.
• Scissors
• A marker that will wash off the foam
• Tetris shape stencil  (click on photo below and print to make your own stencils) 

First thing is to print the stencils and cut out the shapes. At this point you can stick them to card to create thicker stencils or just use them as is. Once you have done that, using the washable marker, trace the shapes onto the foam sheets. Be careful to make them as accurate as possible so they fit together later. Last thing to do now is to cut them out!

 

Once I finished I gave ours a wash to get rid of price tag sticker and marker. 

While the pieces can be played with randomly you can also play a more traditional game of Tetris. Find a straight edge to use as the bottom of your game. Randomly pick a Tetris pieces from the tub and arrange them from the bottom up. In order for it to be  like the Tetris computer game you need to slide the pieces into place rather than sticking them into spaces. Once all the pieces are used count how many solid lines you have  formed. If you were playing with multiple players you would decide the winner by seeing who has made the most lines.

One of the perks of this game is that kids can enjoy it without having a bath. As you can see they stick really well to glass surfaces. All you have to do to make them stick is keep them wet so leave a shallow dish of water near by for the kids to dip them in.  Sticking so well to glass surfaces means it's also a great game for the lounge room, or anywhere with a large window.

Furthermore if you are not strictly playing a game of Tetris,as described earlier,  these foam pieces are great for younger kids. My 20 month old niece also enjoys using the pieces  randomly matching some together and sticking others just here and there.

Note: Please let the kids know that scrunching up the pieces can damage them a little and prevents them from sticking flat. Also while the foam is pretty durable it will rip if pulled with force.We found this out the hard way when two of the kids were fighting over the same piece.

Till next time, happy playing!