Our Playful Moments at Home from the last month ...
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
Here's a look at some of the play, learning and creative ideas that we have done over the last month.
I thought I would try a new type of blog post this week - a look at a few of the different things we have been up to at home over the last month.
We have enjoyed some water play, colour matching, bookish play, wet felting and small world play.
I love to set up play invitations and get creative with my girls. I hope you find some inspiration today to help create some playful moments for the child/ren in your life!
*IMPORTANT: The following play/creative ideas are recommended for children ages 3+ as they contain small parts. Please actively supervise all water play and never leave children alone with water play.
It is your responsibility to determine the suitability of these ideas for your child. Please ensure active adult supervision for all of these suggested ideas.
Bookish Play - Bowerbird Bloom
I put out our copy of Bowerbird Bloom by Aura Parker onto the table this week to encourage some reading and play.
We have 2 of the Bowerbird books (I want to buy the third) and they both have rich vocabulary and beautiful illustrations. The also have a little list of things to find and count at the beginning and end of the book to encourage counting and the development of number sense.
It is sitting on the table on a mini easel stand from Kmart Australia.
The girls and I added in some nests and pretend eggs (bought at Easter time) and some little birds (from Tara's Treasures) for some bookish play.
These few simple props will invite play related to the themes of the book. For Miss 3 she acted out some of the actions of the bird in the book as I read it to her e.g. floating, singing, up, down and around, twirling. She then used the birds and the nests to play.
We also read Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker. My kids collected blue items from around the house to make a collection of blue like in the story. One of my girls then decided to create a book cover drawing of Bowerbird Bloom, drawing in detail a bird and adding in the title.
Books are wonderful inspiration for all kinds of play and art! I think I might change up the book sitting here each week to invite more reading and new play + ideas.
Water + Flowers Sensory Play Tray
Miss 3 asked for the tub of water play tools to play with so I set up a water tray for her. I had some flowers that I had gotten for Mother's Day that were looking nearly dead, so we made a flower themed sensory play tray.
Miss 3 requested blue water, so we added a couple of drops of blue food colouring into some warm water for her to play with.
I also added in some little saucepans (from IKEA), some wooden spoons and strainers (Papoose brand and Wild Mountain Child), squeezy droppers (from The Creative Toy Shop).
There was mixing of the water and scooping. The squeezy droppers are fantastic for developing some hand strength and hand-eye coordination. We also added in some mini bottles and some potion tubes to fill.
Colour Matching
Miss 3 enjoyed colouring matching with the lucite cubes and the colour matching printable. This activity is great for learning to recognise and match colours.
It also develops:
Hand eye coordination
Fine motor skills
Spatial awareness when placing the cubes
+ it's fun!
This printable is available in the Playful Moments Library printable tab for GOLD subscribers. You can download a similar colour matching printable in the VIP FREE library - the blog post is linked here.
If you don't have lucite cubes - don't worry, you can use coloured buttons, pom poms, or Grapat mandala pieces.
Wet Felting - Mini Play Mat
This was our first attempt at wet felting and we learnt some lessons as we went, but overall I'm happy with how our first little mat turned out. Once we learn how to do this a bit better, I might write a DIY tutorial on how to do this.
We made it too thin at the start and had to add extra wool onto the bottom to make it a bit thicker.
There is something really special about creating something yourself. My eldest daughter and I worked together on our first attempt.
The girls then had a go making one of their own little play mats each. They were proud of their creations. I now need to buy some more wool to make some more creations.
The older 2 girls have also been learning how to do some needle felting. I bought a starter kit from Oskars Wooden Ark, which they have loved so far. It needs to be supervised by an adult and is only for older children as the needles are sharp.
The toadstool on our little mat is just sitting on there as I need to learn how to needle felt it onto a play mat. We needle felted some extra wool on top too.
Mousey Small World
This has been a favourite for Miss 3 since I first created the Mousey character for her to play with.
I created this little small world for her to play with using a new printable that I have put together. She loves to make the characters talk to each other, change the clothes and deliver the little letters.
Playful Moments Library subscribers can download this printable at the bottom of this blog post or in the library now.
Sensory Play Tray
Here is another sensory play tray using kitchen scales, and a colourful sensory play base.
I keep this tub of rainbow rice and rainbow beans (coloured with crayola neon paint) in this tub ready to play with. These wooden eggs and bowls (from The Freckled Frog) are kept in the clear tub too, making this an easy to grab sensory play tub.
The kitchen scales are always fun to play with. Adding the sensory base + the heavier wooden eggs here is a fun way to make the scales move by adding in the items. This is a fun way to explore the concepts of mass - heavier, lighter, more, less, etc. in a fun way. Even older children enjoy this!
Thanks for reading this blog post. I hope you found some ideas today.
For more inspiration + resources you can join the Playful Moments Library here.
Printables for Playful Moments Library Subscribers:
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