I lured my son out to the dog park which is a wooded path around a reservoir with the promise of finding sticks for making bows and arrows. Left to his own devices, he will stay in front of screens for hours upon hours.
We made several trips in search of sticks, which are excellent, we found, for bows, arrows, wind chime paths, ninja weapons, balance beams, and climbing (when attached to a tree). A stick is, indeed, an excellent thing!
Stick Toys Because A Stick is an Excellent Thing
A Stick is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer
Poetry about outdoor play may entice kids to both play outside and read poetry. What a wonderful combination! [poetry picture book, ages 4 and up]
Ruby’s Sword by Jacqueline Veissid, illustrated by Paola Zakimi
Ruby demonstrates that a stick is an excellent thing. When she chases after her brothers, she finds sticks that make worthy dragon-fighting swords. It has other uses too! Apple harvester, art tool, and tent. With her inviting stick invention, her brothers finally include her. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis
Explore more possibilities of what a stick can be: a baton for conducting an orchestra, a paintbrush to create a masterpiece, or a sword to slay a dragon. It’s not a stick; it can be anything! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Stick by Irene Dickson
With the same concept as Not a Stick, a stick can be many things in this simply told picture book. Pair it with Not a Stick. [picture book, ages 2 and up]
Alphonse, There’s Mud on the Ceiling by Daisy Hirst
Natalie and Alphonse live in an apartment on the 7th floor. There are some games just not suited for apartment living. Their dad insists that they take their jungle games outside and they go on an expedition and collect sticks. It turns out that they can play their jungle games on the balcony thanks to the stick that they use to make a tent! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Need more ideas? …
A Stick is a Bow and Arrow
My son has been taking archery at his YMCA camp for a few summers. This summer, he was exultant because he was able to hit the target. Not the bullseye, mind you. Just the target.
He found the perfect curved stick at the entrance to the trail, and we had packed rubber bands and a paring knife. In no time at all, he made his bow despite the constant annoyance of the mosquitoes that were out, full force, mid-morning.
You need to notch the arrows. my son tells me. Luckily, the bow sticks he found had natural grooves to place the rubber bands. He used three or four regular sized rubber bands looped into each other to make a long one. A bow turned sideways makes a cross-bow too.
Posthaste after the dog run, we had to run to Staples in search of duct tape in order to make handles for his stick toys. My son also used aluminum foil to shape it. 
PickyKidPix, his older sister, was impressed. That’s saying a lot!
A Stick is a Balance Beam
A stick is a challenge when it’s a log lying across a dry creek bed!
A Stick is a Tug of War Game
My dog will challenge dogs or boys to a game of tug of war. A stick is a wonderful thing for dogs too!
A Stick is a Wind Chime Path
My son discovered a path of sticks that kids most likely gathered a few weeks ago when it was muddy. Now that the mud is gone, he noticed that it makes a wind chime noise from the jostling of the sticks.
A Stick is a Magic Wand
We used sticks to make Harry Potter-like magic wands for a Kane Chronicles book club project. That’s like mixing your metaphors!
A Stick is a Climbing Tree
To climb or dangle, that is the question. A stick is a wonderful thing even when it’s still attached to the tree!
We hope you have fun with sticks too and enjoyed the poem, A Stick is an Excellent Thing.
Watch the seasons change in this 15-month time-lapse made from 40,000 still images: A Forest Year by videographer Samuel Orr.
My books:
BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a book that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.
My son is currently using a stick as magic wand. I complained when he turned me into a frog, so he said I could be a superhero instead (I think I got a bargain, there!). Then, apparently, superheros make the sound “Meow” (aeroplane-like). So I said, “Oh, am I Cat-Woman?” After several more “Abba to Debras” I ended up as WonderCatWoman. I think I need to brush up on my superheros 🙂
Hi Elle,
What a wonderful magical stick! I would love to be a WonderCatWoman too! Your son sounds like he has a wonderful imagination and is kind as well! I think my son would have left me as a frog LOL!
So Hunger Games! Fen has been wanting to take archery, and her camp has it, but she hasn’t been able to try it yet. This looks fun!
Hi Jeanette,
My kids are secret archerery freaks! I have been told to find them a range for them to pratice at and thanks to the The Hunger Games and Brave, they are popping up everywhere. A new one opened two towns over so I will keep you posted. I dare not put one in our backyard. I’m afraid of serious injuries!
How cool that your Son takes archery. He must be from Apollo cabin in Rick Riordan’s world, but it sounds that you are doing The Kane Chronicles in the book club. His bow looks very cool!
Hi Natalie,
He does love archery at camp and tells me he can now hit the target but not the bulleye LOL! His homemade bows don’t go as far but he loves them. He keeps them in his room. I’ve asked him who his Greek God father would be and he thinks it’s Poseidon though. I like Apollo myself too! He is also a huge fan of the Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson. How fun that books take kids places including activities like archery!
“Speak softly and carry a big stick”. I guess your kids take it really literally
Hi Faigie,
My kids do love sticks but the bow and arrow homemade stick kind seem to be the most popular. The next most popular is a stick that can be used as a karate type of weapon. I guess Roosevelt’s advice is still sound after all these years!
This post is so informative….I never knew that there was so much to learn about sticks. Archery always kind of intrigued me, but I knew nothing about it. Your children make learning it look like a lot of fun!
Hi Barbara,
I think I will be learning more about archery. My kids want to take more of it this year so I’ll keep you posted. I’m just glad that sticks help to keep my son off screens. Believe me, it’s tough to compete with screens for his attention!
Sticks are definately great fun! My kids have made pretend bows with string and sticks, and they’ve made working sling-shots with sticks and rubber bands, but I never thought to make a bow with rubber-bands. We’re going to have to try that.
One of the things I missed when living in Montreal was an availability of sticks. The parks seemed so clean and bare with no sticks littering about. I much prefer the place I am in now where there are an abundance of wilderness.
Hi Christy,
I agree that you gotta to have park with an abundance of sticks of all shapes and sizes. Pinecones too! My son just got a slingshot so he is on your wavelength LOL!
And surprisingly, the homemade bow and arrows work reasonably well with just rubber bands.
Glad to know that your children are into outdoor activities.
Thanks Mike! It’s tough to get them outside but once you get them there, they have fun!
It is really surprising how many things can be done with a usual stick! My son usually imagines that it is a sword and he is a famous warrior. It is so funny to observe his games. But I`m constantly worried about the safety of this game because he can easily get hurt, what do you think about it?
Hi Maria G,
We haven’t had any injuries from sticks yet but sometimes I will make sure the stick is not to pointy and I tell the kids that they can not go near the face, especially the eyes. My kids do less hand to hand combat also. When my son uses the stick as a sword, he usually just attacks the bushes.
We need to check out that book. My kids LOVES sticks. No other play thing will keep his attention in the same way.
Hi Bethany,
The poetry book is fun and I’m glad your kids love sticks too.
This is a perfect post for us today because there was a stick-y situation in the park this afternoon when a girl “borrowed” a stick my son had found. His reaction was quite dramatic. And who could blame him? The perfect stick is hard to find. 🙂
Hi Erica,
YES! The perfect stick is hard to find! I totally agree with him! I hope it worked out. Did he get his stick back?
He never got the stick back, but was distracted by some freshly cut logs to climb over, so all was well. 🙂
Hi Erica,
Glad he was not upset. Once a dog stole the perfect stick from my son and he was really mad. It was not a nice thing to do!
This made me laugh out loud! As I read your post my 2-year old was running around with a stick, pretending it was a fishing rod. No idea where she got the idea from – you have to love kids’ imaginations.
Hi Sally,
Ah, a fishing rod! So wonderful! And a stick does make a perfect fishing rod! I hope the fish are biting for your two-year-old! 🙂 A stick is truly a wonderful thing!
Where did you get the big rubber bands?
So inspired to go look for sticks now!
Reminds me too of Not a Stick from the Not a Box author.
Hi Ann,
It’s just regular rubber bands looped into the next one. I think each bow used 3 or 4 rubber bands. I’ll add Not a Stick to the list! Thanks!
Sticks are really great to play with, aren’t they? They are everywhere and free. Why buy all the expensive toys? Sticks, boxes and kids imaginations. What a great idea for older kids!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Lisa,
Isn’t it funny how sticks and cardboard make the best toys? I always need ideas to keep my son off screens. Sticks seem to work every time but only if they get turned into some kind of a weapon.
Thanks for a great post on a timeless toy! So appreciate you linking up at After School!
Thanks Anna! Glad you liked it!
This is amazing, Mia! I’m featuring this tomorrow on my blog at this week’s After School Linky Party. I hope you’ll stop by and share more of your great ideas tomorrow!
Thanks so much Deceptive Educational!
I will come by for sure! Thanks for the heads up about your After School Linky at deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com
That is awesome! My kids love sticks and always ask to bring a bunch home after our walks. We recently made one into a bow, but used string. I think I’ll try the rubber band next time. Thanks so much for sharing at Mom’s Library!
Thanks so much Tulip! We used 3 or 4 rubber bands, hooked into each other by looping one around the other. It stays in place when you hook each end onto the stick. You might want to notch the end of the sticks of there isn’t one there already. Thanks so much for stopping by. I love Mom’s Library Linky! Thank you for hosting!
What wonderful projects with sticks! I love the book too. Thank you for sharing this post on the Read.Explore.Learn. Facebook page.
Thanks so much Deirdre. We use sticks to get my son off screens and it works beautifully everytime I can drag him on the dog hike! He ends up having so much fun!