Making & creating
Toilet-roll ball run
- Builds: Planning and fixing
- 15 min
- Ages 4–6
- Calm
- A little tidy-up
From the house
- 4–6 toilet-paper or paper-towel tubes
- A big cardboard box
- Tape
- A ping-pong ball
- Scissors, for you
How to play
- Cut some tubes in half the long way to make open chutes, and leave some whole.
- Stand the box against a wall; they hold each tube on a slant while you tape it on, zigzagging down.
- Drop the ball in at the top. Does it make it all the way down?
- Where it gets stuck or flies off, move a tube a little and test again.
Fit it to your child
- Easier: Tape just two or three tubes in a zigzag and let them do the dropping and catching.
- Harder: They place and tape every tube themselves, and add a cup at the bottom to catch the ball.
Words to use
- slope
- down
- zigzag
- stuck
- test
- again
Why it helps
Placing each tube so the ball drops into the next one is planning and fixing, which is how real builders work.
Grown-up eyes: Use a ping-pong ball, not marbles, and keep the ball away from babies and toddlers. Small balls are a choking hazard.