Ribbons are one of those great toys you can return to again and again with your child as he or she grows; at each age, children will engage with the same item differently.

Today, I made a new set of ribbon wands for Veronika. This time, I let her be very involved in the set-up! She loved sitting in a big pile of ribbons that I had cut, pulling them through her fingers and lifting up big handfuls. (Obviously supervise any ribbon play closely).

She also loved the spools that the ribbons came on, pulling them down to unwind in big long strands.

I began tying lengths of ribbon onto the ends of dowels, alternating patterns and colors. Although I only had two kinds of ribbon to work with, you could make these with as many as desired!

I also cut some pieces of ribbon that were short and some long, to talk to her about opposites, and we also talked about the colors and patterns on the ribbon.

Once all the knots were tied, we had ribbon dowels to play with! She loved when I waved these above her and she could grab at the ribbons.

Then we put on slow soft music and I made big circles over her head and beside her, for some magical music play.

Alternate songs with fast and slow tempos, since the ribbons will help your little one visualize the speed. These are also great for taking along on car trips, as long as you cut the ribbon lengths on the shorter side.