play

  • 50 Activities to do outside

    The weather has been beautiful and I am fully in the summer spirit. All I want to do is be outside, so I thought I’d put together a list of all the fun things that little ones could possibly do outside for those times when my “let’s go outside” is met with a chorus of “I don’t want to.” Look for bugs Follow some ants Put together wildflower bouquets Make daisy or clover necklaces Build a sandcastle Dig a deep deep hole Go to the park Pretend the playground is a pirate ship Make mud pies Start a sand bakery Find shapes in the clouds Draw your scientific observations Decorate…

  • Bubble Play

    When the weather finally gets nice the last thing that I want to do is be stuck inside, so we spend a ton of time outside.  Bubbles are the number one activity that I turn to when the children start to get bored. Here are some fun ideas for bubble play that I’ve rounded up: Shape bubble wands Water bottle bubbles Huge bubbles Bubble refill station

  • Teaching children how to play outdoors

    I hear it more and more often, either programs don’t take their children outside to play because they feel pressured to accomplish learning goals OR they do take the children outside but then the children don’t know what to do once they get out there.  It is becoming more and more common for our young children to not know how to engage in an unstructured outdoor environment, which means that it is our job to teach them! As a child I hated playing outside, I was that girl who didn’t like bugs or dirt or sweating. Even though I complained, my mom insisted that I go out and entertain myself.…

  • We all need to play

    This amazing quote has been on my radar since I found it on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago (have you noticed my obsession with Pinterest yet?!). I finally tracked down the original source, it is from U46 Early Learners Curriculum Blog. I teach preschool, so these words are not news to me, I experience them every day.  The understanding that young children need to move, try new things, be loud, explore new places, and use their entire bodies to learn things all play a role in my lesson plans. I would, however, love to print this out and send it home to parents at different times throughout the year.…