It's hot. My kids are hot. My dogs are hot. Must be summer. It's difficult to find motivation to play when it's so warm. Why not combine play with a yummy, summer treat promoting both imagination and health?
Learn Play Imagine put together a simple Make Believe Snow Cone Stand using whole food purees, offering both creative play and a healthy treat.
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With TV's, video games, and computers, getting our kids outdoors sometimes takes a little persuasion. It's not enough to kick them out of the house and tell them not to come back until it's dark. Often, kids need an activity to get their creative outdoor juices started. This week on It's Playtime I'm featuring some fun and creative ways to inspire imaginative play outdoors.
A little yarn can go a long way! Sense of Wonder shared their Yarn Day and how providing a bit of string opened the door for hours of creative outdoor fun.
Love, Play, Learn got their school age kids outside with a simple Water Balloon Towel Toss. Perfect for a hot summer day; sometimes the most difficult days to get kids outside!
If you're like me, your kids have several miscellaneous socks with no partner laying around. Inspire Imagination Through Creation shared how to, not only turn those Odd Socks into simple bean bags, but some of the creative ways their kids played with them outdoors.
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Now, on to this weeks play date!
It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:
This past week, I've noticed a lot of other bloggers posting their top 10 posts of 2011. Just to be different (and because I've only been around for a little less then a year), I'm going to share the Messy Kids Top 5 Posts of 2011.
I've often expressed my love of sensory bins. I'd hoped to create my own winter "snow" bin at my house but bags of plastic snow disappear early in the season (us southern Californians find snow where we can). I guess I'll have to be as creative as these wonderful posts shared on It's Playtime!
I love all the different elements this Christmas Sensory Tub from Pre-school Play has to offer! The mirror "pond" is my favorite. I remember one of my grandmothers having something similar when I was a child and I loved imagining the characters ice skating over it.
H is for Homeschooling also put together a Christmas Sensory Bin. I love how completely different it is from the one created by Pre-school Play!
We Can Do All Things shared their Homemade Iceland created from colored salt. The little penguins look so happy!
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Day 11 of the 30 Days to Hands on Play challenge took us outside. We'd had an incredibly busy day but we did manage to squeeze in some outdoor play time right at dusk.
We have loads of stuff in our garage but I thought it would be fun to do something different, something other then chalk or bikes, so I pulled out some giant bubble wrap and set it down....
I figured my daughter would ride her scooter over the poppy paper but instead, she began dancing. So, I joined her...
Michael wanted nothing to do with us. He chose to stay inside the garage and whine about how he wanted to go inside because it was cold and dark (he was a bit tired). I guess you can't please everybody all of the time.
Once the bubble wrap was finished, my little artist pulled out the chalk to draw her family. My husband works out of town during the week and returns home for the weekends. He arrived about the time she finished. Play time was finished, but family time was just beginning!
Here in San Diego, the leaves are finally beginning to change color. I'm lucky to have some beautiful trees along the street outside my home. The reds are amazing this year! So inspired by the changing leaves that I dedicate this week It's Playtime to leaf activities. Enjoy the colors!
Fall is a fantastic time to play with seeds and seed pods. They can be found everywhere: on the ground, in the food we eat, and at the store. They are great for sensory play, painting, counting, graphing, eating, etc. This week on It's Playtime, I've featured some fun, messy, and creative ideas for exploring seeds (or seed pods). Enjoy, and remember, sometimes it is OK to play with your food!
How about some outside exploration, messy fun, and fall decorations all wrapped up in one blog post? Then check out Paint & Pine Cones from Sun Hat & Wellie Boots. They had a grand time gathering pine cones, painting them, and creating wonderful displays.
It's OK if you've lost your marbles, there are acorns laying on the ground! Marla's Motherhood Musings created Acorn Art. It didn't quite go as planned...
Indian corn isn't just for decorating the Thanksgiving table, it's a great material for artistic expression. Just ask Child Central Station who made a wonderful mess while they did some Indian Corn Printing/Painting.
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Day 7 of the Hands on Play challenge was Mega Floor Doodles. I am blessed with a tiled entry way which is perfect for sliding in socks or drawing on the floor (on paper of course). Forgetting I had some old bulletin board butcher paper floating around from my preschool teaching days, I improvised. I pulled out my tin foil, cut two large pieces, taped it to the tile, and placed permanent markers around for us doodle.
My daughter loves to draw so she dove right into the project, drawing each member of our family, including the dogs and cats.
Michael is the opposite. He made a small scribble, had me help write his name (I held his hand, writing it "with" him), and said he was done.
Since Michael was done doodling, it was time to torture his sister...
and spin on an office chair...
Finally he became interested again when I traced my hand. But just to be different, Michael asked to have his foot traced.
Michael's foot
Then he wanted to trace his hand on top of my hand. He said, "it looks like we're clapping."
Ariel traced her hand and foot, coloring both in using pink.
Michael decided doodling wasn't so boring after all, so he drew a "cash register." I think he said something about it being for our hands.
It was nice, pulling ourselves away from the T.V. to do something creative together. It was simple and I know, we spent much longer then 15 minutes playing together.
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