Sensory Play Ideas

Jan 22, 2013

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Welcome to TUESDAY TOTS 

This Week:
Learn with Play at home is featuring

Sensory Play Ideas

(if you missed it, we featured 5 ideas for Learning with Play)




FEATURED

We love sensory play. It's a fabulous way for children to learn more about the environment around them while connecting with their senses. 
We found a whole bunch of super fun Sensory Play Ideas on last weeks Tuesday Tots and just had to share them with you.




The ABCs of Sensory Play by Creative Playhouse






3 Ocean Themed Sensory Bins by Learning and Growing the Piwi Way

Alphabet Sensory Activity by Creative Learning Fun


Exploring Marshmallows with the 5 Senses by Fantastic Fun and Learning

Rainbow Noodles by Miss Courtney meets Bobo


Congratulations if you were featured!  Feel free to grab a featured button.



Here are a few sensory play ideas for you to browse from us.
(Click on the picture to take you to the post)
cloud dough recipe. how to make cloud dough   

crushed water beads, letter activity    

If you enjoyed this post, please spare a second to give me a vote in the "TOP 25 Creative Moms". 
Just click the badge below and click "vote" on Learn with Play at home. Thanks!


-----------------------------------

Here is your chance to link up your posts for children 5 and under. 

Remember to check back on all the great ideas that are linked up weekly by Kid Bloggers worldwide.

Who knows, perhaps next week you will be featured.

(please read the guidelines before linking up)



Happy playing,
Debs :)

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DIY Personalised Initial Shadowbox

Jan 21, 2013

This post is sponsored by Digital Parents
 kids activities, DIY kids room decor, kids craft


I bought some little resin embellishments/buttons off ebay a while ago and have been trying to think of a cool way to use them. After our recent Alphabet Party I've had letters on the brain, so making a Personalised Initial Shadowbox for my daughter's room seemed like a good idea.

The great thing with involving your child in a project like this is that you're encouraging letter recognition, letter formation, fine motor skills, spacial skills, creativity, discussion, problem solving and more!

All whilst making some cool kids room decor or even as a great gift idea.


Ages: 3+

Materials: Embellishments (buttons, broken/small toys, old jewellery, little odds and ends, resin shapes, scrap-booking supplies etc), cardboard lid (painted black or colour of your choice), craft glue, lead pencil, Scotch Restickable Strips (for mounting)



Use your pencil to draw in your letter. 
Apologies for all the rubbing out marks on mine.

Tip: Use a ruler for straight lines or cut out a template of paper first. You could make the outline on the computer and print it out for a perfect shape or just go freehand.. just make sure you have an eraser.



Glue inside your letter. It's a good idea to try and trace the outline so that it's clear for children where they will be sticking.



Time for sticking! Talk about putting the larger embellishments on first and how to fill the gaps.



Practicing the pincer grip to pick up small items.



Problem Solving. Here is a small gap. What could fit here? Finding something appropriate.



When we filled in all the gaps with the resin embellishments we decided to use some sequins to try and fill in the little gaps. 
(I also tossed up with the idea about using glitter for the gaps instead... perhaps on our next one)



When it was all dry, I stuck on some Scotch Restickable Strips...



And just pressed it against the wall. 
I love how it sits flat up against the wall unlike if I used hooks or sticky-tac etc. and can come away with no damage unlike pins.



We love creating unique decor for our rooms. It gives them that nice home-made, different touch from all the store bought items and gives my daughter something to feel proud about.

You can see the simple spotty lanterns that me made.



I love how the box lid provides such a simple frame for the piece. You could, of course, always make the same thing on a piece of paper and frame it for an even more professional look.





Did you enjoy this project? Feel free to share it with others.



Scotch Restickable Giveaway for Australian Readers*
*this giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified.

3M have generously sent me one of their full range of the Scotch Restickable products (as pictured below) to send to an Aussie reader. 
To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling us what you'd be sticking up with Scotch Restickables.


I also have 20 samples to send out to the first 20 Australian Readers to leave a comment on this post.



Product Info:

• The Scotch Restickable Mounting range is a unique and innovative 
light weight mounting product (This is the heaviest thing I've hung with them. I'm using them mainly for photos, drawings... all that sort of stuff.)

• Scotch Restickables can be washed with soapy water, rinsed and air 
dried to restore stickiness to be used time and time again  (I really love this about them!)

• Unlike other light weight mounting products, Scotch Restickables sit 
flush - allowing you to display your artwork proudly  (no more blu-tac bumps!)

• When removed Scotch Restickables remove cleanly and will not 
leave oil residue on the surface area, making it a risk free product to 
use when it comes to decorating 

• The Scotch Restickable Mounting range is available in a variety of 
sizes, tabs, strips and sheets 

• The Recommended Retail Price is $4.95. (not much considering you can use them over and over again)

• Can be purchased at any Officeworks or Bunnings store nationwide 




Terms and Conditions
- Apologies but this giveaway is open for Australian Residents Only
- The competition ends Tuesday 29th January, 2013 at 9pm (EST)
- The winner of the full range of Scotch Restickables is chosen based on originality and creativity
- Entrants will need to provide a valid email address
- Winners will be contacted via email. If you have not left a valid email address for us to contact you with, someone else will be drawn instead. Winners will need to get in contact and provide their postal address within 48 hours or the prize/samples will be reallocated.




Happy Crafting,
Debs :)


{Disclosure: this is a paid post for 3M sponsored via Digital Parents Collective. We received a Scotch Restickable range to review for this post. Opinions expressed in this post, as always are purely my own}





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Ice Cream Number Learning Activity

Jan 18, 2013

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We love getting hands on and sticking and pasting. It's also a great way for us to include some number learning as it takes many experiences with numbers to consolidate the learning.


Here I provided a fun Invitation to Play and Learn, (see end note on this if you want to replicate our exact poster)  intended to practice number recognition, counting, ordering, colours, subitizing, shapes and language using a few simple materials. My daughter who's just turned 4 also managed to include some sorting as well.


Ages: 3+
(See Handy Tips at the bottom of the post for ideas to Simplify or Extend to meet your childs' needs)


Materials: Large piece of paper for sticking your ice creams on, Triangle Cardboard "ice cream cones" with numbers written on each, Different coloured/textured/patterned paper circles (I cut mine with a 2" circle cutter but you could fold and cut simple semi circles by hand), glue stick. 



I presented the tubs and sat back to watch what she would do. 
She was quick to dive into the cones.



Straight into sorting them from smallest number to largest number without prompting



Pasting the cones down in order. I assisted her to leave adequate gaps between the cones as she decided she wanted to use the whole paper and fit all of them on. Spacing was too difficult for her at this stage



She couldn't wait to get to the "ice cream" The first thing she did was sort them into colours/patterns and then assign them all different flavours. There was lots of great language practice and creativity



Pasting the corresponding amount of ice cream scoops on each cone. Plenty of counting and one-to-one correspondence took place. 



For the numbers 6-10 I used "double cones" because I wanted two rows side by side for the larger numbers to help my daughter recognise some of the number doubles/combinations that make up those larger numbers. (eg 8 = 4 + 4)
(It was also handy because the paper I got out wasn't tall enough to fit 10 ice cream circles in one line without me cutting and sticking on extra paper anyway)



Our finished poster. Great for a bright, fun playroom or classroom display



Handy Tips:

- Simplify this activity by starting with the numbers 1-3. This amount will be more managable for those with a more limited understanding of numbers. You could also pre-stick down the cones and just have children add the corresponding number of circles.

- Extend this activity by having children cut and label the cones themselves. You can also work on a larger scale with bigger numbers etc. Pick a larger number and have children make up different combinations of amounts of ice cream scoops on each side to equal that number. What if you had a triple cone? etc

- Focus more on number combinations and addition by only including 2 or 3 colours of "ice cream" and having children make different combinations to make a given number. 

- Makes a fun group project

- I included the dots on the cones for subitizing practice (where just looking at the 3 dots you can know it's 3 without counting them one by one). It's also good for children still working on number recognition as they can count the dots to find the number written on the cone.

- How you present an activity can be what makes it a successful activity or not. Sometimes just bright, colourful or interesting invitations can be enough to draw a child into the learning. Sometimes, if you are looking for desired outcomes, say, in an activity like this, you might want to encourage young children by inviting them to "come and make ice creams" with you. 
The number learning will come from that but first you can get excited together about the wonderful colours and dreaming of all the delicious flavours. 
Make it appealing, make it fun and children will be excited to learn.

Note - I was able to provide this activity as an Invitation to Play and Learn and as my daughter is quite used to this sort of play and I didn't have a set end result requirement. She responded in an expected manner and ended up, (with very limited assistance or prompting) with my "hoped-for" end result. However, she could have done something completely different and we would not have ended up with the same poster at the end. If you're after a set result (eg. making that Ice Cream Numbers poster, you may want to explain your expectations rather than simply provide the materials)




Looking for more fun NUMBER activities for kids?




If you enjoyed this post, please spare a second to give me a vote in the "TOP 25 Creative Moms". 
Just click the badge below and click "vote" on Learn with Play at home. Thanks!


Happy playing,
Debs :)



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5 Activities for Learning with Play on Tuesday Tots

Jan 15, 2013

Are you following us on Pinterest?
learning games. math game, alphabet game

Welcome to TUESDAY TOTS 

This Week:
Learn with Play at home is featuring

5 Activities for Learning with Play

(if you missed it, it's full of great DIY activities for and with kids)




FEATURED

Click on the pictures below to take you to the post


Math Salad by The Handley Home (I thought this was so smart! Loved this idea)



Alphabet Toss-Up by In Lieu of Preschool



Learning Coins through Play by Creative Learning Fun



M is for Magnet by Learning and Growing the Piwi Way



3 Name Recognition Activities by Toddling in the Fast Lane

Congratulations if you were featured!  Feel free to grab a featured button.



Our whole blog is full of fun ways to Learn with Play
but here are a few ideas for you to browse from us.
(Click on the picture to take you to the post)

       


      



If you enjoyed this post, please spare a second to give me a vote in the "TOP 25 Creative Moms". 
Just click the badge below and click "vote" on Learn with Play at home. Thanks!


-----------------------------------

Here is your chance to link up your posts for children 5 and under. 

Remember to check back on all the great ideas that are linked up weekly by Kid Bloggers worldwide.

Who knows, perhaps next week you will be featured.

(please read the guidelines before linking up)



Happy playing,
Debs :)

Look where else we are :)
New Here? Subscribe to get all activities sent directly to you
Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Check out our Newest PLAY collaborative!
The P.L.A.Y Group
(click the pic to go follow our pinterest board)

Continue reading...