A month of inspiration & ideas for play based learning!

I'm introducing a new series to the blog this week. I have faced the fact that I'm not getting the time I used to to share our play activities here since I started my home day care business. But I still want to find ways to share with all the fabulous parents, carers, grandparents and educators who read this little blog and also have a passion for play based learning.

So each week I have decided to share some snippets of the activities, invitations to play and outside fun we have over the course of our week and then later in the week I will share one feature activity that I think was a particular hit and of course it will also be budget friendly,easy to set up and extend upon and fun for toddlers and preschoolers!

The ideas I am sharing with you this week are from the past month of our play based curriculum, from next week there will be fewer activities…but still packed with fun ideas to try at home or care! You can also check out my albums on facebook as I share photos each week of our play ideas.

I hope the following photos and ideas give you a little inspiration and you enjoy setting up and playing with the kids just as much as I did! Please ask in the comments below or email me if you have any questions about the activities, my planning or Jode's Family Day Care.

Now let's go explore….

Ideas & Inspiration for Play based learning from Mummy Musings and Mayhem

Outside Fun

I am a huge advocate of outside play and we spend a great deal of our time outside no matter what the weather. I usually choose a few things to add to the sandpit and around the yard as play prompts for the children. Often they use them in a totally different way to that i envisaged but that's the true beauty of play based learning isn't it?

Our Jacaranda tree has been flowering so we have enjoyed collecting the beautiful purple buds and using them in play…..

A basket to explore and flowers to plant in the sand….

There were sand cakes to make with jewels and artificial plants and flowers…..

The concept of big and small to explore with trucks and the comparison of tyre tracks in the wet sand…..

Some loose parts and little bits and pieces to extend upon interests and allow imaginations to flow…

An old bathroom stand made the perfect outdoor shop and cafe. We collected eggs from the chickens to sell at the shop and also practised counting out our money to each other.

The ‘cafe' became a regular little chat fest…amazing what the inclusion of chairs does to an outdoor space.

There was a construction and animal area to explore and change…..the hay was carted all around the yard for different yet very important purposes.

Games were played together and alone as they disappeared into imaginary worlds….

Clay creations with dried lavender, pebbles and other natural materials was an activity that went on for most of the day and allowed for sensory fun, exploration and individual creativity and design.

The wonders of wet and dry clay were examined, twigs were found on the ground and leaves taken from the trees to add to the beauty of these masterpieces.

and then treasured creations were dried and taken home on their individual plates.

There was much gross motor play with our new mats from Ecoviva and our DIY trestles and planks….

These were a special find at our local rubbish recycle centre and have been fantastic play props all around the yard in different ways…..here they are keeping the ‘bears out of the sand' apparently.

Also lots of fun to use in obstacle courses and for jumping over…..not mention as a parking bay for the trucks and cars!

Our teepee always gets lots of play…whether it has walls or not!

There are picnics with the old picnic basket and food from our home corner play, fires to set up and food to fry and beds to make for the babies…..

There is always lots of paint and mess of course…and colourful hands to take home and show to loved ones!

Yellow hand prints, yellow slime with the animals swimming, a yellow tea party and glorious watercolours and make up sponges to soak up the paint and stick to colourful creations……just a few of the many messy activities I could share!

Imaginations work their magic…sometimes with an invitation to play and sometimes totally child led like the huge picnic below. There was shredded paper spaghetti, a picnic basket brimming with goodies, money to share out and blankets to arrange. I was in awe and so enjoyed sitting back to watch the magic occur.

There was a challenging of the senses and fine motor skills with spaghetti and tong play……

Before it changed to an exploration of colour and texture as dye and a little water was added to mix through, cook with and squish!

Prints were made and sensory aversions challenged step by step….

After all that messy play though there are always dishes to be washed!

Envelopes were turned into mail with addresses drawn and stickers for stamps…there was also a little cutting with scissors to fit important mail into the envelopes.

A box was made together to use as our mailbox and then another was added to the outdoor space…very popular and extended the interest in mail wonderfully. The mailbox was a few dollars from the recycle centre, a little clean, some paint and a bit of wood as a stand and it was ready to go!

Bark was collected from the trees in the yard for our fireplace outside the teepee and then special pieces were chosen to paint and keep….

Small rocks were added from the quarry and bright colours adorned everything collected…including little hands!

Edicol dye and water continued to be a favourite and was recycled into many activities…the round make up pads were very popular and used in ways I hadn't even considered. Sometimes it's best not to think about an activity too much, just place some materials on the table and let the children do their work!

The foam blocks found their way outside so they were turned into a fine motor fishing activity….the children found the shapes I called out and also matched colours as they placed them into baskets.

There was more fine motor fun inside with our favourite pebbles and gems….

And some gluing with beads to make colourful names…..

Little loose parts in the home corner made very special cups of tea….

And the simple activity of mixing playdough and then adding colour to make marble playdough had the children feeling involved and useful.

These are just a few of the ways we had fun in the last month…..it's enough to make you jump for joy isn't it?

Have you joined my Empowered Educator Community? You will find ideas, inspiration and support for your role in early childhood!

Comments

karen says

05/11/2013 at 7:04 am

it all looks like so much fun! I’m stealing the spaghetti idea for our sensory table tomorrow:)

JDaniel4's Mom says

05/11/2013 at 11:32 am

What fun! This post is filled with creative ideas!

Twins Squared says

05/11/2013 at 7:25 pm

So much fun – I want to be a kid and come play at your house and in your backyard!

Emma @ P is for Preschooler says

09/11/2013 at 6:04 am

I love your methods, allowing them to learn through play! There’s so much fun and learning and creativity going on in these pics. And by the way, your backyard is like a child’s dream – *I* want to come and play! LOL!

Now let's go explore….

Outside Fun

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