Donna Harris Photography

“Ok, I forgot avacado. Can you think of anything else we need from the store?”

“Yes, masking tape.” I said.

“You mean packaging tape? To mail stuff to your clients?” Christopher says.

“No, simple masking tape. I’m sure you can find it at the grocery store.”

And that morning, hours of fun were created from $2.00. 

I saw it on Facebook from someone whom I’m sure saw it on Pinterest. To me, it didn’t matter where it came from. It looked like fun.

Run the masking tape along your floor, your furniture, your entire living room. Make it into a racetrack to give your kids something to do with all those cars they already own.

On the fly, I came up with the idea of traffic lights along the track.

It’s not hip, super fashionable or ultra sleek …. Just a simple cup with a red, green, and yellow straws turned toward or away from the road, indicating if a car should stop, go, or slow down.

Again, it takes next to nothing to spark your kiddo’s imagination.

Each car slowly made it’s way down the maze and finally ended up in the parking garage.

Later we busted out the train tracks and tried our best to line it along our masking tape lines. The straws evolved into some sort of decoration and characters like The Hulk, GI Joe, and Optimus Prime joined the party atop the old “traffic light” cups.

When I was a kid, I remember my parents owning these plastic milk crates. I have no idea why they had them and they weren’t really used for anything. They just sat in the basement. But I remember one day stacking those crates to make a large wall. My brother and I threw an afghan over that wall and -boom- a puppet show stage was born. We played puppet show for days on end.

Memories like that are what encourage masking-tape race tracks. I hope one day the fond memories of play and imagination come flooding back for my boys when they are spending time with their kids. I’m sure they’ll become inspired to create magic out of ‘nothing’.