NurtureStore is packed full of creative ideas. You can search the full archive or take your pick from some of our favourites below.
gardening play ideas
Get your children gardening with these ideas.
Autumn tree collage
This autumn tree collage is a fun autumn craft for children that build fine motor strength.
I’m looking after a child at the moment who adores ripping up paper. To put this passion to good use we made an autumn tree collage.
Tear :: Glue :: Stick
Autumn beauty!
Make your own street map
To help children get to know their local comunity you can make your own street map. I’ve used this with children who were new to the area to help them feel settled in their new home, and with children starting school, to help them feel confident about the school run.
Start by taking a walk around your local community. You might want to pick a particular route that the children take regularly – to school, to the childminders, to the shops. Help your child to spot local ‘landmarks’ which they recognise on the way – a post box, a zebra crossing, a park, the house where the barking dog lives. Use a digital camera to take pictures of each landmark.
When you get home, print off the photos. Use a roll of paper (or the back of a wallpaper roll) to draw out a basic road map of your journey. It’s doesn’t have to be exactly to scale of course, and you’ll probably need to do this bit for them. Then, together tell the story of your journey – talking about all the things you pass on the way and sticking them in the right places on your map.
When you’ve finished you can use the map to play with toy cars or dolls’ house people to bring it to life. You could roleplay situations with the child – for example you could walk a doll to school along the route and have them say goodbye to mummy and line up to go into class. This lets your child try out situations before they occur – giving them chance to prepare themselves and become more confident in the real situation.
Next time you go on the journey keep a look out for all your landmarks and notice if any have changed.
Ladybird number line
To create a lady bird number line you need:
red card
black card
scissors
glue
black crayon
Simply cut out the ladybird shapes from the red card. Cut out heads from the black card and stick on to the bodies. Draw a line down the centre of each ladybird body. Then cut out lots of black circles.
Work with the children to count and stick one circle on the first ladybird, two on the second, and so on. Help the children to write the correct number on each labybird and see if they can arrange them into ascending order. Stick them up somewhere prominent – you can use tack or string and pegs.
You can refer to the ladybirds to help you count – perhaps to work out how many cups you need to get everyone a drink. Or you can use them for number games. Pick a ladybird to start with and see if your child can count on two more. Pick another ladybird and ask your child to work out what one less would be. Ask each child if they can find the laybird which has their age number on. Simply having the numbers written down where your child can view them regularly will help them to become familiar with them – and soon they will be spotting them in other places too.
How to make a number line – autumn leaf rubbing craft
Turn the classic autumn craft of leaf rubbings into a useful math display by making a leaf number line.
