Click here to read Toddlers Love Hammering Tees into a Box! on Hands On As We Grow®
Put golf tees to good use by hammering tees into a box - it's a classic toddler busy play activity!
We love our classic hammering golf tees activity. It uses playdough – and any reason to bust out that toy is a-okay with me!
My husband doesn’t like the fact that Louis kept pounding the tees so hard that it hits the table. This doesn’t seem to bother me for some reason.
Toddlers Love Hammering Tees into a Box!
So he came up with a smart alternative that’s just as simple as the original, but with a fun twist!
He suggested pounding those tees into the cardboard box we had sitting in the corner.
To set up your own hammering activity, you’ll need (affiliate links):
- cardboard box, any size
- golf tees
- toy hammer (or a real one if you’re feeling adventurous)
I didn’t think this was going to be possible when he first suggested it. After all, it’s just a toy hammer and a wooden golf tee.
But I decided to try it anyway.
Louis tried pounding the tees in on his own, but couldn’t break the cardboard completely to hammer through.
Hammer Tees for Fine Motor Skill Building
Instead, I took one of the golf tees and just punched a hole bunch of holes right off the bat. Sometimes even the toughest of toddlers needs a little help getting started!
Once the holes were in place, Louis could line up the tees and hammer them in on his own.
Try more great fine motor tasks for little hands!
He had to line up the golf tees and use hand-eye coordination to hit the hammer on the tee to pound it into the box.
It was kind of funny when Louis got a whole line of the tees pounded in, when he pounded in one, one of the other tees popped back up.
I realized that this only happened because the flaps on the inside of the box were just getting pushed down. They didn’t get a hole punched through that layer, so it popped back up into place, pushing the tee back up.
It kind of mimicked the groundhog game where you pop his head! It made for some giggles.
Not what I intended, but a happy accident!
Then, he even ditched the hammer for a while and just poked the tees into the holes. That switch put more concentration on those fine motor skills.
Flip It Around for More Hammering Fun!
But then, it got even more fun.
We did something super simple.
We flipped the box on its side.
That’s it!
It was instantly a whole new activity hammering the tees in from the side rather than from up top.
Who knew?
This might just get bumped to one of the 15 of the Simplest Activities Yet! We’ll see.