Make your own simple backyard Mud Kitchen

Mar 29, 2014

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Last year, we finally got around to making the mud kitchen that I'd been wanting to do for ages. I think I'd been putting it off because it seemed like it would be an involved project that would take me time I didn't have. Then one day, I decided that realistically, it didn't need to be anything flash at all. In fact, I could sit an empty pot next to a mud puddle and the kids would think I was the best mum ever. So, with that knowledge in mind, I set about making the quickest and easiest mud kitchen I could. I first wrote about our mud kitchen here on Kidspot.

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Invitation to Play and Learn with Coloured Water and Recycled Packaging

Mar 27, 2014

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Here is a fun sensory Invitation to Play with coloured water and recycled packaging that encourages skills such as fine-motorpouring, transferring and scooping whilst investigating size, colours, colour mixing, depth, capacity, speed and more.

We had so much fun with our inside water play that I wanted to create a similar invitation to play but this time with a focus on identifying colours. Using a range of colours allowed us to investigate what would happen when different colours were combined with one another. This style of open-ended investigation (play!) is perfect for toddlers through to school age children.
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Toddler gross motor colour learning game.

Mar 18, 2014



Here is a great game for toddlers to help them learn and identify colours (colors) whilst getting them moving and working those gross motor skills at the same time. You can play this game virtually anywhere and it will take minimal time to set up/ pack away. This is a favourite game of my son's that we play in his kinder gym class and you can vary it to suit your child and the stage that they are up to.


Age6 months- 2 years +
(N was approx 2 years old here. See bottom for tips to simplify or extend to meet your child's needs)

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9 Rainbow themed activities and ideas for kids

Mar 12, 2014

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Welcome back to TUESDAY TOTS

Brought to you weekly by Learn with Play at home (that's us), Rainy Day Mum,
and One Perfect Day



This week we are showcasing

"9 Rainbow themed activities and ideas"

With St Patrick's Day approaching, it's no surprise that last weeks Tuesday Tots linkup was full of great Rainbow themed ideas. Here are 9 different ideas to give your day that splash of colour it needs!
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10 cool things to make with your kids

Mar 4, 2014

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Welcome back to TUESDAY TOTS

Brought to you weekly by Learn with Play at home (that's us), Rainy Day Mum,
and One Perfect Day



This week we are showcasing

"10 cool things to make with kids"

Making things with kids isn't always about the end result. There is so much to be gained from a bit of DIY with children. From learning concepts of recycling to language, maths, creativity and so much more. The process is almost always enjoyed more than the end result, but you'll find with many of these 10 ideas, (which came from last weeks Tuesday Tots linkup) you finish up with something really cool at the end. Bonus!

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Using Loose Parts for Play. Learning Naturally

Mar 2, 2014


“Have you ever noticed that if you leave old junk lying around, kids will almost inevitably play with it?
Whether it be old cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, pieces of wood, old tires [sic], bits of rope or string, kids will use their imagination and ingenuity to make something. This may make your garden look like a junkyard sometimes, but the experience for the kids is invaluable and it will keep them occupied for hours. Don't try and direct the kids in their play, just let them get on with it.” 
Nicholson, S, "How Not To Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts", Landscape Architecture 1971.


My children love using loose parts. We use very few actual "toys" in our play, as the majority of them have quite limited uses and once they've exhausted those uses, my children generally lose interest. Instead, I prefer to buy and collect open-ended materials that can have a variety of uses, only limited by my children's creativity. Children's desires to use loose parts are often demonstrated through the classic example of them being more interested in the cardboard box that a toy came in, than the toy itself. It allows us to see a child's need to be creative, to think "outside the box," to experiment and to control their play and learning while adapting it to their own interests.

Little fingers also love little things. Bits and bobs and trinkets and treasures. Usually with younger children, people assume that anything they can fit in their mouth is too small, a choking hazard and should not be played with. However, I think that so long as there is adequate supervision,  this is not always the case. Aside from the development of physical skills, such as fine-motor, hand-eye coordination, etc., children can learn so much from these real life objects that they are able to manipulate and use in a large variety of ways. 

Of course loose parts don't need to be small items. They include any item that can be used in many different ways. From items in nature such as sticks, sand, rocks, shells, leaves, to junk items, sports equipment, recycled goods and so much more. The way that my children play and interact with loose parts outside and inside differs due to the different materials and space available. Below are some examples of the loose parts that we are currently using for our inside play. 
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