world's top toys #3: STRING!

For those of you anxiously awaiting the next "world's top toy" post, here it is! 

Number 1 was STICKS.
Number 2 was BOXES.

Global toy #3 is STRING! Or string's bigger sibling: ROPE!

There are many amazing things you can do with a pile of rope or string... 

• hammocks
• string games
• crafts: macramé, jewelry, baskets
• outdoor play: jump ropes, rope swings, tire swings, and rope ladders, low ropes courses, slacklines

Whenever we pull out some rope in our forest school settings, it's fun to see what develops. Here are some examples:

And how could I talk about rope without mentioning the art of knot-tying? Sounds kind of boy-scout-ish, but it can be a lot of fun once you give it a try. There are lots of resources that can help you perfect your knots. Animated Knots is one of my favourites.

And this Ylvis video makes the trucker's hitch knot look seriously cool:

For more inspiration, see:

• Brit + Co's 40 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With Rope
• The book Cat's Cradle: A Book of String Figures by Anne Akers Johnson 
• String game videos to learn Cat's Whiskers, Jacob's Ladder, Butterfly, Cup and Saucer, and Witch's Broom
• Indoor rope play ideas. Seriously, they're amazing.