10 Things That Say ‘Play With Me’

Kids love to find objects that just shout Play with Me!   Here is a list of 10 things that can be invitations to play for your child.   We love simple fun at Kids Activities Blog.

10 Things

I like to create “Invitations to Play” and leave them out for my sons, either in the morning or after a nap, to discover on their own. Below are a few of my favorite “Invitations to Play”.

1) Coloring Pages

I love to leave out coloring pages for the boys to discover when they reach the breakfast table. There are great ones available obviously in coloring books but also online. My favorite is to convert personal images into coloring pages from your using one of several Free Online services, or print out these amazing coloring pages created from Kids Activities Blog

2) Homemade Playdough

One of my all time favorites. I love making homemade play dough for many reasons. It is easy to make from ingredients right in your kitchen and you can get really creative by using different smells, colors and textures.

3) Fabric Collage

Recently I left out a piece of cardboard, a small squeeze bottle of glue and a basket of fabrics. I have lots of fabric scraps in our supplies. If you don’t have fabric around your home, go to a fabric shop, ask for the scraps or buy inexpensive pieces to bring home. All you need is a basket, fabric scraps, glue and a piece of card stock or card board (which is what we used). I set it out for my boys to discover. The result was amazing to observe as both my boys (2 and 3.5 years old) took to creating the piece of artwork, together.

4) Basket of Scarves

This one I learned from reading about Waldorf. Grab a basket, scarves (I used some I had collected over the years stored in my closet but you can also buy “play” scarves from a variety of places), and clothespins. I left this basket out for my sons to discover one morning. It was son after they finished breakfast that they not only discovered the basket of scarves but also had built a fort using only the scarves and clothespins (attaching to various items in the house). Observing the act was pretty amazing.

5) Contact Paper Collage

Cover a table or portion of a wall or window with contact paper and leave out a few items for your child to use his imagination to decorate the paper. My all time favorite is using objects from nature. When finished, cover the collage with another piece of contact paper and you have a gorgeous piece of work and a great sensory experience. I love the textures created from pine needles, flowers, leaves and pine cones.

Play with Me

6) Cardboard Box

You got it. That is it. A cardboard box. Sometimes I leave out markers and crayons, stickers, or a basket of cars. On more daring days when we can be outside I have left out a box with squirts of paint smeared inside it ready for some good old messy play.

7) Create your own Scene

Line a table with paper and leave out stickers, markers and crayons. Often I will start the “Scene” to inspire my boys. You’ll be amazed at their imaginations.

8) Bubble Wrap Path

We order from Amazon a lot. So we have lots of packing materials to recycle. Bubble wrap is great for many activities. Our favorite is to create a path, or road with it. The boys love to feel the wrap on their feet and work hard to pop the bubbles.

9) Sensory Gloves

So simple. All you need are latex gloves and items to fill the gloves such as kidney beans, lentils, corn starch, sugar, flour, baking soda, corn kernels and rice. Tie at the wrist and you're on your way to a fun sensory experience for you and your children! My advice is to keep it simple. Don't decorate the gloves, don't even add smell. Isolate the quality of experience so your child can reach his sensory potential. Introduce new language such as crunchy, smooth, grainy, granular, bumpy, rough, wrinkle, hard, soft and tough.

10) Sensory Bins

On particularly daring days I set out a bin full of rice, beans, pasta and bury all sorts of goodies in it for the boys to sift out. Sometimes I create a theme for the bin, like Earth Day when we used real soil for the base, or Winter Wonderland with Insta-Snow as the base.

I hope you found some inspiration in this list of favorites! Please leave a comment, we love hearing from you!

Marnie

More Kids Activities  

Are your kids still saying “Play with me”?   If these 10 things don’t keep them entertained, we have more ideas for you.    Check out these kids activities for some more great ideas:

• 10 things to do with bubbles
• Play with food {while learning}
• Learn with blocks (10 things to do)