Some homemade play dough and a few loose parts, together with a child’s imagination, soon make a fabulous jungle small world.
Here’s one way we use play dough for imaginary play and story telling.
Some homemade play dough and a few loose parts, together with a child’s imagination, soon make a fabulous jungle small world.
Here’s one way we use play dough for imaginary play and story telling.
Wondering how to get started with loose parts play? Maybe you want to explain the benefits of loose parts play to parents? Use this guide and printable poster to share the magic of loose parts!
Welcome to our special week on NurtureStore where we’re focusing on all things toddlers! The ‘terrible twos’ has such a bad reputation but really toddlers are at a wonderful stage of childhood. It’s a time when they are on their feet and ready to explore the world. They’re beginning to chat and to enjoy imaginary play and it’s such a lovely time to see your child’s personality developing. The ideas in our Just Right For Toddlers series are all based on learning through play and cover maths games, early reading and writing, arts and crafts and more. Today, to start our series, here are our favourite ideas for sensory play.
Exciting news to start the month :: you can now download one of the NurtureStore free kids apps, which means you can use all our ideas, straight from your phone, any time you need them!
If you’re wondering what to do with the kids tomorrow, you’re planning a playdate, you need some ideas to help your kids with their spellings or you’re stuck in on a rainy day in need of a rescue idea – NurtureStore is here!
Follow these easy-peasy instructions and you can have a nice little NurtureStore app on your iPhone or iPod Touch, which with one click brings you straight here, to see our latest ideas and to dive into our huge archive of kids activities.
One of the ideas we had for our Screen-Free Week was to have a rummage around on our craft shelves to see if there were any long-lost art materials that we might like to try. We struck gold with two packs of air drying clay that Father Christmas had brought in the girls’ stockings and which had been put away in a post-Christmas tidy up and forgotten about.
Have you used air drying clay before? It’s not too messy and quite easy for young children to use – my 5-year-old had no problem manipulating the clay into the shapes she wanted. The girls had wooden skewers and scissors to use to cut and make marks with but mostly just used their hands. The clay warms to the touch and is a great work out for fine motor skills. [Read more…]
This month the Kids Art Explorers have been enjoying a No Paint Brushes Allowed project. Creativity is encouraged when you set aside your everyday materials and try something different.
The Kids Art Explorers celebrate the process of art: trying new things, having a go, being daring, making mistakes. We’re interested in how things turn out but much more focused on the fun we have along the way. Here’s a whole year’s worth of ideas for the fun you could have if you tried painting with something other than a paint brush. [Read more…]