Shower Curtain City Play Mat

I got this fabulous idea from Pinterest, my new time-wasting obsession!  You take a plastic shower curtain (I got mine for $2 at Walmart, but I've even seen them at the dollar store) and draw in roads, houses, etc. with a permanent marker.  The kids can color  the map when you are done (we used wet-erase markers to do the coloring, but colored Sharpies work too...I just don't trust my son with anything permanent).  

I wasn't even half-way done with the road before my little guy was lining his cars up along the road.  We also used his blocks to build trees and bridges, and other fun things.  He helped me decide what to draw on our map and we ended up with a park, a school, a construction zone (for all his work trucks), a zoo, a library, a church, a farm, and a shopping center.  It turned into an all day activity that my son LOVED!!  I have to admit I liked it too!  He asks almost every day if we can pull it out again.  My only word of advice is to not use a super shiny shower curtain like we did, the permanent marker tends to rub off a little and we had a few dark marks on our pants.  Other than that, it was a blast.  Another tip, to make your roads evenly spaced, tape two markers around a bottle so they stay evenly apart as you draw (see a picture here).  I didn't have two markers, so my roads are a little wobbly, but that didn't seem to bother my son.  You can get even more ideas on what to draw or add to your town HERE or HERE.  The second website shows a map with printed off signs like Target and In & Out.  So cute!  

And you don't have to only do a road.  My brilliant mom came up with the idea of drawing a big "doll" house with all the floors and then drawing in all the rooms and furniture.  It would be a perfect place for Barbies or Polly Pockets to play.  Or you could do a Castle the same way and play with the Disney princesses.  Or you could draw a castle landscape and play Dungeons and Dragons.  Or you could draw the Endor Moon and play Star Wars or any other action figure landscape.  Or you could trace the outline of your child's body and let them color in their hair and clothes.  You could even use dry erase markers so they could do this over and over...but that may be a little tricky with younger kids.  My mom and I came up with all these ideas in just a couple of minutes, but truly the possibilities are endless!  And to think so much fun can cost $2 or less!!