DIY cardboard maze for playing with a ball.
I'm a grandpa who loves making "things" and I'm also an engineer! My grandson is coming for Christmas! He's 3 1/2 years old! Last time we talked, he wasn't like he saw him on video... We have a Labrador at home and my dear wife told me to make a maze, but that there would be no chance of losing the marbles at home, as we could would slide on them, or even worse, the dog might swallow one since he was never near the balls. So I started thinking about design and checking out some projects on YouTube.
Products for inventors Link to the store.
I realized that I needed one level to collect/store the marbles with a lifting mechanism that lifts the marbles up to the second level where there is a maze and that was the start of this wonderful adventure of building an "interactive" toy for my grandson.
Option #2 – natural constructor
Small stumps, round cuts and branches left after pruning the orchard can also be used on the playground. They will serve as an excellent basis for creating a natural building set.
It will be pleasant for a child to pick up carefully cleaned blocks, using them for the construction of multi-tiered towers and high castles
From stumps, young designers will be happy to build forest houses for dolls and reliable fortresses for the soldiers guarding them, and from round saw cuts, children will build pyramids and multi-level structures.
Thinner branches and fir cones can be used as material for laying out puzzles on the grass or for creating geometric patterns
To protect children from scratches and splinters when playing with natural materials, each workpiece must be thoroughly cleaned with sandpaper to remove nicks and sharp edges.
Material about crafts for the playground will also be useful:
Tunnel out of the box
It's very easy to make a hamster tunnel out of cardboard. To do this, we use boxes made of thick cardboard and paper for partitions. When choosing a box, its size is important so that the rodents have room to roam; it must be huge. Also for work we will need: non-toxic glue or paper clips, cardboard made of thick paper.
A cardboard structure in the form of a labyrinth should be attached to the bottom of our box. Create swirls in advance and fasten them together in any way convenient for you. You can place water bowls and feeders in the corners of the box to feed hungry hamsters.
Why does a hamster need a labyrinth?
In the wild, rodents move a lot. They get food for themselves, look for a mate, dig holes, escape from predators, and feed their offspring. Living in a cage, animals are deprived of all this. Comfort can threaten your pet with obesity or, on the contrary, loss of appetite and apathy.
They need movement. A running wheel is convenient, it takes up little space and makes the animal run inside it, burning extra calories. Climbing cages inside the cage are also good. But these devices cannot satisfy the animal’s natural curiosity and desire to explore space.
You can stay in good physical shape and improve your mood by making a maze for your hamster with your own hands.
How to play with a hamster in a maze
It’s not a fact that your pet will immediately become interested in a new toy. To activate the activity, it is worth attracting the rodent’s attention with pieces of treats, which need to be placed along the maze at a distance from each other.
Gradually, when the animal gets used to it, the number of baits can be reduced in order to later abandon them altogether. The pet will feel the pleasure of the game, the journey will give him pleasure even without treats.
It is forbidden:
- urge the animal on with loud sounds and tapping, so as not to scare it;
- turning the lights on and off, creating additional difficulties;
- move the device to another place when the animal is inside the structure.
By creating comfortable conditions for staying in the maze, the pet owner will teach the pet to play in the maze independently and spend a sufficient amount of time there.
"Tic-tac-toe" for children
Sometimes an idea for entertainment can be found almost under your feet. See how you can make the game of Tic Tac Toe even more interesting by taking stones.
Now apply a layer of white paint to this template attached to the board, let it dry, and paint it a second time.
While the playing surface is drying, let's work on the stones. First, wash them well with a brush and dry. Then draw crosses on some and zeroes on others.
You can diversify this entertainment if you paint the stones in two types to resemble insects. One player is given ladybugs, the other is given striped bugs. The winner is the one who can quickly line up his pieces in a straight or diagonal line.
If you want to quickly play Tic Tac Toe, but don’t have a suitable base, then you can use squares cut out of cardboard or tiles.
What should the design be?
When creating a gaming complex for your pet, you must adhere to several conditions.
Selection of materials
To make a labyrinth, durable materials are required that are resistant to the sharp teeth of a rodent. If in some places the animal managed to violate the integrity of the structure, the damaged part should be immediately replaced so that the animal does not get hurt, cannot escape, or fall out.
Use wood that does not have a paint coating. Not suitable for making PVP and chipboard structures. These materials contain binding additives, the entry of which into the digestive system of an animal can pose a risk of poisoning.
To make a labyrinth you need durable materials.
You can use glue, but you need to place such parts on the outside of the maze. Out of interest, the animal will try to taste what it sees, and the entry of inedible substances into the esophagus can be harmful to the hamster.
It is recommended to fasten the parts with a composition with a non-toxic base, odorless, and insoluble in water, because the labyrinth will need to be washed regularly.
Dimensions
The labyrinth is arranged in such a way that the animal does not feel cramped inside. You shouldn’t make holes into which he has to squeeze through with difficulty. The animal inside should move freely, even if it stands on its hind legs. It is better to make sure that the animal can turn around anywhere and run in the opposite direction.
Design complexity
When making a maze for a hamster, you need to take into account the physical condition of the pet.
Recommendations:
- Small animals and old people should not be offered too long corridors with difficult obstacles. If the animal fails to cope with the steep climb, it may fall and be injured.
- Mature animals can be offered more complex structures, with additional branches and passages, obstacles that he will need to climb over.
- It is necessary to make holes in the walls of the labyrinth to allow air to enter.
- The structure must be collapsible so that it can be cleaned regularly.
- There should be no protrusions inside the labyrinth so that the animal does not try to test the structure.
- It is important that there are no sharp points of nails or screws. Even small wounds on a pet’s body can lead to negative consequences.
- The entrance and exit of the device must be secured inside the cage so that the animal feels safe and does not have the opportunity to jump out. But the structure itself can be located outside so as not to clutter up the living space.
Hamsters should not be given an overly complex maze.
By following these rules, you can make a useful device to keep your pet in good physical shape.
Finished cage with labyrinths
Pet stores offer customers cages for hamsters with ready-made labyrinths. The cost varies between 1.5-5 thousand rubles.
How to choose
When purchasing sports equipment for your pet, you need to consider:
- Age and activity of the animal. For small and elderly animals, it is better to buy a cage with a short tunnel, with a minimum number of obstacles. For mature and healthy hamsters, the sports complex can be equipped more complexly.
- Pet sizes. The passages should not be too narrow. Large tunnels are also not suitable, since the animal will not understand that it needs to run forward and not just sit.
- Construction material. Plastic and wood are a good solution, but these materials will also be tested for strength by the sharp teeth of a rodent. Metal structures are the strongest and most durable. It is best to buy a sports complex made of this material.
