With Valentine’s Day right around the corner I thought it might be fun to share some free downloads and ideas for you all with conversation heart candy. Izzy had a blast working on math skills & problem solving. If you enjoy playful learning these are …
It’s been pretty rainy the past few weeks. Izzy said, “Do you know what we need to do? We need to brighten up the house with some beautiful flowers!” I told her that was a great idea and thus our little craft was born. I …
This post contains some links that bring a small profit & help keep this blog running.
Having a play carpets, creates a designated space for your child to play. For parents, it’s also super helpful! If you teach your child to keep the toys in that area, your chances of stepping on a toy are reduced. I know we have all stepped on one too many toys. Play carpets can also inspire new play, depending what is on the play carpet. For example, Izzy’s play carpet has a little town and roads. Izzy’s carpet is a Children’s Factory carpet called, Fun at the Fair. I linked it here and below with some other options as well.
Play carpets establish a clear boundary and designated area for play.
Now that you have a space for play, bring out some simple toys for the child to play with. I wanted to share some child led play that we do on our play carpet.
Playing Cars
Playing with toy cars is developmentally beneficial to your child. I know it seems simple and silly, but sometimes it’s important to just play. Izzy and I have a little collection of so many types and sizes of cars. I linked some options below for you guys.
Cognitive Development: The child is working on problem solving & thinking about different ways to move the cars around on the carpet, they are determining new routes & studying which cars are easier to push, and/or move quickly/slower etc. Social and Emotional Development: The child is taking on roles and occupations through play such as a builder, a bus driver, a race car driver etc. The child is working on independence, turn taking skills, self expression, creativity, becoming self reliant and their imagination. The child is also building their self esteem & feelings of success when constructing their creations. Gross & Fine Motor Development: The child is engaging & exploring their mobile abilities. The child is building hand strength and control. Language Development: The child is learning new vocabulary words needed for different play & life scenarios.
Building with Blocks
I think as parents, we often forget how important play is and how simple activities such as building with blocks can benefit the development of our child. Take it a step further and add in little figures/animals/people, you can further build on the play.
Cognitive Development: The child is problem solving & building spacial sense. The child is also building early mathematical skills (I.e. counting, sorting, patterns). For example, you may model making an all blue block house.You may build a tower that follows a pattern such as yellow, blue, yellow, blue, yellow, blue. Fine & Gross Motor Development: The child is engaging their mobile abilities. The child is building hand strength and control. Social & Emotional Development: The child is working on independence, becoming self reliant, increasing their attention span, turn taking skills, self expression, creativity and their imagination. The child is also building their self esteem & feelings of success when constructing their creations. The child is discovering that he/she can have ideas, that they can bring to life. The child is taking on roles and occupations through play such as a builder, a bus driver, a race car driver etc. Language Development: The child is learning new vocabulary words needed for different play & life scenarios.
Have a blast and remember, sometimes the simplest play is also needed for the development of your child. You don’t always have to set up an activity. Just set up a play space, bring out some toys and play.
The shops below sent product for review, as always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. This post also contains some affiliate thinks which can bring a small profit. That profit helps keep this blog running. I love teaching Izzy, but in order to teach her …
As a parent and educator I am constantly thinking about Isabella’s needs and what toys would be beneficial to her development. Play is so important to children and how they learn. I pulled 5 shops that have educational, adorable and unique toys that are good …
Teaching children language doesn’t have to be boring. Actually the best way to work on language is through play. Engaging your child and getting their whole body involved will help their brain stay turned on and focused.
Izzy, like most kids, loves to explore clay. Z Dough is a safe “play dough” alternative that we have been loving. It’s safe to taste (because that happens) and each one has a unique color and scent. Safe to taste doesn’t mean it’s edible nor does it mean you should encourage eating the dough. It just means if there is an accidental taste you don’t need to be in a huge panic.
Start off by letting your child explore and play (free play) with the Z Dough. This will allow them to focus better when you are trying to introduce educational play.
It’s fun to squish, mold and play with Z Dough. I rolled out the Z Dough flat and helped Izzy with pushing the plastic cookie cutters into the Z Dough. As we created a shape I could tell her the name, such as, “star”. I would ask Izzy, “can you say star?” We pushed the cookie cutter again making another star. I repeated again, “star.” This time Izzy said, “star” and started poking the star with a plastic fork.
You can also work on skills of asking for things such as, “more star”, “want star” or “I want star.”
Use positional words while playing. Tell your child, put the star inside here. Put the cookie cutter on top. This will build their receptive language skills so they better understand positional language. Some other examples are over, under, and next to.
Chatting about the Z Dough, “this, that!”
Check out our pumpkin, Izzy learned a new word.
Z Dough is a wonderful gift idea! If you are looking for halloween gifts for your children, students or grandkids this is a wonderful alternative. Ready to snag some? Shop Z Dough here.
XO Eryka
I received the mentioned item in this post in exchange for an honest review. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Izzy loves art! She wants to colors, draw and paint all the time. If I let her do art all day, I think she would. With that being said, art can be very messy, especially paint. I’m sharing how I made some chalk paint easy …