Big Ball of String Activity

Big Ball of String Activity

What more do you need for a fun afternoon than a big ball of string! Perhaps many of you remember the book "A Big Ball of String" written and illustrated by Marion Holland, first published in 1958. It recounts the adventures of a young boy who collected string and used it to build and control all sorts of things. Eventually tying string to almost everything in his room when he had to stay in bed sick.

Well what could be more fun than to tie string to as many things in your house as possible! Our 5 year old loved snaking and wrapping and tying string to everything she could. It was wonderful play. You can make rules if you like, such as no door knobs, or only one connection per piece of furniture or however you want to limit the activity and make it more challenging. Or have no rules at all!

This is an inexpensive activity - 320 feet (97m) of cotton twine for $1 at the Dollar Tree store.

Note: Adult supervision is required to insure there is no trip, strangulation hazard or other use of string that might be unsafe.

A Big Ball of String!

See how many places string can be attached to furniture.

See if you can wrap it around chairs and make rocking chairs rock!

Are you a spider building a web? What else can you pretend to be?

Can you twist the string around string as it crisscrosses a room?

How far can you go into other areas of the house and tie things up with string?!

Are there hidden parts of the house that can be tied up? How long of a span of string can you make?

Can you make string baskets? Beds?

After all the play is done use scissors to cut the string off of everything.

Then another fun activity begins -- See who can pick up the most pieces of string!

The longest piece of string! The shortest piece of string!

Have fun, be safe and ENJOY!