Dolly Clothesline
Pretty polka-dot dolly jammies by ONE LOVE!
Waiting for our clothes to dry!{ONE LOVE doll sets & clothes}
In all my years babysitting, nannying and teaching the wee, I learned one thing for sure; kids love to do what the big peeps are doing and take great joy in activities we see as mundane.
When I worked as a Montessori teacher, the Practical Life centers designed for children to develop motor skills necessary for everyday 'chores', made complete sense on several levels. Both boys and girls were interested in any activity that mirrored something they had seen adults accomplish and at the preschool/kindergarten level, they are developing the motor skills necessary to complete these types of tasks. Put the two together and voila! you have some very intrigued wee folks!
The clothesline pictured above is inspired by the Montessori method as well as Olivia's new-found love of UN-dressing her dollies and trying their clothes on herself. At nearly 14 months, she is still too young to master the pinch required by the clothespegs, but she loves tearing the clothes off the line and ripping apart the neatly stacked laundry~! At a later date, she will be able to put the clothes on the line, take them off again and can even learn to fold and stack them. We can further these building blocks using sorting tools; colour, type of garment or size. Providing clothing with velcro, snaps, buttons and clasps continues to enrich the playtime. All tools taught in Montessori-style education.
Originally, I had my husband help me brainstorm ways we could create a collapsible clothesline, until Olivia and I chanced upon a simple magazine tote at the dollar store. I removed the cloth holder and was left with the wooden, collapsible frame. From here, we removed the top dowel bars and threaded a thin rope through in a loop. The project in total cost 15RMb for the magazine tote and the thin rope (in Western terms, around $2.00) It can rest on a tabletop at child-height.
Now onto making dolly clothes!