Den for Two
Personal, Social and Emotional DevelopmentCommunication and LanguagePhysical DevelopmentExpressive Arts and Design
What you need
- a blanket or an old sheet
- cushions
- two chairs
- a few soft toys and a picture book to take inside
How to do it
- When a friend or cousin comes to play, give the two of them one blanket, two chairs and a job: a den big enough for both.
- Put the chairs back to back a little apart and help drape the blanket over. Leave the rest to them: where the door goes and what goes in.
- If they both want the same cushion or the same spot, ask them what else would work, and let them sort it out together.
- Once it's built, ask what the den is today, a cave, a boat or a shop, and let them play it out inside.
Why it matters
A den is too big a job for one pair of hands, so two children have to share out the dragging, draping and deciding, and what they end up with belongs to both of them.
What they're learning
- Building together
- Two builders, one den, and both sets of ideas in it.
- Finding another way
- When both want the same cushion, a second idea keeps the game going.
- Building big
- Dragging cushions and pulling the blanket straight uses the whole body.
What to look for
Notice one of them suggesting a new idea and the other one taking it up.
A tip
Weigh the blanket ends down with books on the chair seats rather than tying anything, and stand the chairs on a rug so they don't slide.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: build it with them, and let the two of them choose what goes inside
Harder: ask them to plan a den with two rooms, one each, and a door in between
