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Monday, February 22, 2010

Try and Tell:Tape Dispenser

My son has an obsession.  You see, he has an obsession with tape.  His preschool class has one of these.

tape Stock photo from Discount School Supplies

He has single handedly annihilated their tape supply.  He has started a trend in his class, too.  All of the boys make these crazy creations of tape, and then wrap them.  I have bought replacement tape for the classroom, but his need to create has now spilled over to our house.

The above tape dispenser is really neat, but did you know that the dispenser alone is $25-35?  Really?!?  He doesn’t even use the toothed little strip to easily cut the tape.  He prefers to cut it with scissors. 

I bought some rolls of masking tape at Walmart for $1 each, but he was having trouble getting it to unroll easily while he held it.  So I started looking around the house trying to figure out a solution.  Ah-ha!  A wire hanger.  Stay with me.

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First I made sure it was a hanger with the looped hook, so there are not sharp points.  Then I turned the hook to be straight forward (90 degrees) instead of sideways.

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I took off one side of the cardboard tube.  I slid the roll of tape onto it and reattached the cardboard tube.  Now my son can hold the hook with one hand and pull the tape with the other.  The hanger even keeps the open end of the tape in one spot so he can get more without Mommy finding the end on the roll.

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He makes these lovely creations.  I have no idea what they are, but he loves them.  His creativity and excitement make me very happy. 

So now I encourage you to give your preschooler some masking tape (not clear tape or duct tape) and let their imagination run wild!  Try it.

Now I would love to see what you have to share.  Please link up your post below.  Please be sure to link back to Try and Tell so your readers can find other neat ideas and their readers can find you.

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12 comments:

  1. Haha! Just priceless! I will definitely be posting this on facebook tomorrow! Now all you need is all my left over colored tape. I already posted my links to my name writing activities but I am going to add a link to my tape discussion too! They go together so well!
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  2. My son is obsessed with tape too! I only have scotch tape at home, but we will have to go get some masking tape. :)
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  3. I had to enter my name writing link twice because it didn't work the first time - you can delete the first one:)
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  4. My son loves tape too. He finds such interesting ways to use it. We have one of those Elf on the Shelf guys that visits us every Christmas. My son named him Chimney. This past Christmas, he had gotten into my desk and found the regular clear Scotch tape. He strung it from one side of his room to the other. I asked him what in the world he was thinking when he did this with my tape. His reply? "I made a zip line for Chimney to ride on!"
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  7. Very cool. Painter's tape is also fun--lots of colors and easily removable for making adjustments to all of those fine creations. :-)
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  9. Very cool. Must buy masking tape soon.

    I wonder if you might like this idea for a tape machine from preschool daze http://preschool-daze.com/2009/11/29/t-is-for-tape-machine/
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  10. You are so inventive, my friend! I wish I had half your creativity!
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  11. Great idea! I am usually a sucker for cool office supplies like that tape dispenser, but making your own was way more clever than buying one.

    We sure would love to see some of your son's tape creations on RefrigeratorArtist.com!
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  12. I like this idea even for my teens
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