Whittlesea Playgroup in Whittlesea, Victoria | Non-profit organisation

Whittlesea Playgroup

Locality: Whittlesea, Victoria

Address: 28 Forest Street 3757 Whittlesea, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.playgroup.org.au

Likes: 892

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Non-profit organisation
• Community organisation

25.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #141: Pipe Cleaner & Colander threading This is a great activity to give the kids when they are under your feet in the kitchen. Turn your colander upside down, give your kids a bunch of pipe cleaners and get them to post them into the little holes in the colander. It's simple enough that even young toddlers can manage it, but my 4 year old was also entertained for quite a while!... BENEFITS: Develops fine motor control Builds hand eye coordination An opportunity to develop vocabulary - discussing size, colour, length and shape

24.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #131: Paddling Pool Play How amazing is this spring weather!! Get the paddling pool out in the sun and fill it up with some warm water and bath toys and let them play! BENEFITS:... sensory play helps children to regulate their emotions develops problem solving and critical thinking develops language and vocabulary e.g. splash, pour, float, sink, drip, wet, dry See more

24.01.2022 Happy Father's Day To all our playgroup Dads, thank you for being the amazing dads you are! We hope you have a very special day

23.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #142 - Footprint Painting This is a messy activity so make sure you set up you clean up carefully before you begin! We chose to do the activity outside, we put some water in the paddling pool so the kids could wash their feet (and bodies) and we took some old towels and face washers outside ready for clean up. We also chose to do the activity nude to avoid paint on clothes. We spread out a large flattened cardboard box but this activity would also work with a l...arge piece of paper or bits of paper stuck together. If you do it outside you might need to weigh down the corners to stop it blowing away. Put some paint in a large, flat dish. We combined a few colours in 1 dish but you could do different dishes for different colours. Get the kids to step into the paint dish and then walk around on the piece of paper. They might like to experiment with jumping or tip toe walking to see if it changes their footprints. BENEFITS Sensory play helps children to regulate their emotions and be calm encourages creativity exploration of the properties of colour and paint

22.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #122: Hand print painting Get ready for some mess with this one. Pick your clothes and environment carefully, you might like to do this one outside. I put some large butchers paper on the ground and the paint in large open trays. Then encouraged the kids to dip their fingers and hands in the paint and experiment with the different shapes they could make on the paper.... The girls also experimented with mixing the blue and yellow together to make green. My kids also love to wash the paint trays in the sink at the end. BENEFITS: sensory play - great for emotional regulation explores colour mixing and colour recognition encourages creativity and imagination

22.01.2022 Whittlesea Playgroup Publicity Officer We are looking for someone who can: Manage our facebook page - including posting reminders for special events and promotional posts Respond to facebook messages... Go to Whittlesea IGA once a week to do a small shop for playgroup supplies (paid for by playgroup....obviously!) Does this sound like something you could do? Send us a message! Or if you could do some of this role, but not all of it - send us a message. We are happy to change the way the roles are divided so that it suits our committee members!

22.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #125: Rice Ispy Bag You could use your leftover sensory rice for this activity, or fresh rice. I placed some rice in a zip lock bag then I collected some small items from around the house e.g. a minature peg, a goggly eye, a bead, a tiny ladybird Before placing the items into the bag, spread them out and take a photo of them. Print the photo and attach it to the bag. I hole punched the corner and tied a ribbon through it. Tape the zip lock bag shut so it can't ...be opened by little fingers. Hopefully your child will be occupied for ages trying to find all the tiny objects hiding in the rice. BENEFITS: encourages observation skills builds hand strength develops attention span and focus

22.01.2022 Did you know Whittlesea Playgroup is completely run by a volunteer committee? We are looking for adults that are planning to attended playgroup next year to join our committee. Mums, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies are all welcome! What would it involve? We will post more information about the individual positions over the next few days but some general things are: Ability to regularly attend 1 playgroup day per week to open and close (we can work out exact days i...n the new year) Assist with the running of playgroup e.g. set up activities, greet new families, help coordinate pack up Attend a committee once a month after playgroup on a Friday (kids welcome!) Be able to commit around 1 hour a week to completing playgroup tasks e.g. checking the playgroup email, doing facebook posts, planning an excursion All of these things are negotiable so if you can commit to some but not all, get it touch! Many hands make light work and we would love to work out a way that you can be part of the committee in a role that works for you and your family! Want to know more? Have a look at the position descriptions over the next few days to get an idea of what roles we need to fill. Send us a message to ask more questions - we can also organise a phone call to talk to our current committee members

21.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #148: Corks and Egg Carton This is a great activity for you if iso has given you a bigger collection of corks than you might like to admit! Give your child a collection of corks and an egg carton. They will enjoy sorting the corks into the carton and back. ... You could make this activity harder by giving them a spoon, tongs or chop sticks to move the corks. BENEFITS: builds fine motor skills develops sorting and organising skills encourages concentration and focus

21.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #128 Gardening Spring is here! Why not get out in the garden and plant something? Perhaps some seeds, or some seedlings from your local nursery. We found some of those supermarket give away seeds sitting around in our garage so we are giving them a go too! BENEFITS:... develops an understanding of where our food comes from builds gross motor skills and muscles being in the garden reduces stress and helps children to calm themselves See more

21.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #146: Cork Stamping Put some paint in an open dish. Give your child a cork, you might like to offer more than 1 size. Get them to dip the end into the paint and stamp it onto the paper. BENEFITS:... develops hand eye coordination encourages creativity opportunity for exploration of shape and size See more

21.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #129: Pick flowers for your vase Draw a vase onto of a piece of cardboard or laminated paper. Carefully poke some holes through the card. Give your kids their vases and send them off to pick flowers to poke through the holes in the card so it looks like they have a vase full of flowers.... BENEFITS: develops hand eye coordination to poke the flowers through the holes being in the garden helps children calm themselves and reduces stress encourages decision making, children are 100% in control of what they pick and where it goes in their vase

21.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #139: Sticker Colour Sort For this activity you need some coloured stickers and matching coloured paper. Stick the coloured paper to a wall or table, I just used blue tac. Give you child a sheet of stickers and help them stick the stickers onto the matching coloured paper.... For younger children that find peeling the stickers tricky - try removing the outside parts of the stickers so that the stickers they are lifting are the only things stuck on the backing paper. BENEFITS: Opportunity to learn colours Develops fine motor skills - peeling stickers Practices hand eye development - sticking the stickers in a particular place

20.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #150: Spray Bottle Prints On a big piece of paper spread out some leaves and flowers from the garden. Fill a spray bottle up with paint - you might need to water it down slightly so that it sprays easily. Spray the paper and plants taking care not to move the plants as you go. Once you have covered the whole page with paint carefully lift the bits of plant of your paper. You should ... be left with white patches in the shape of your bits of plant. BENEFITS: Using a spray bottle builds hand strength Discussion of shape and size Develops understanding of position and order

20.01.2022 Sensory Rice with Kitchen Toys This was my kids favourite way to play with the sensory rice. We just added a selection of pots, cups, spoons and plates and they spent ages scooping and pouring the rice.

20.01.2022 Whittlesea Playgroup Fundraising Officer Did you know that we rely on fundraising to pay for some of our excursions, equipment, craft supplies and Christmas party? We are looking for someone who can: ... Coordinate our fundraising activities (approx 1 per term) Report fundraising outcomes to the committee Does this sound like something you could do? send us a message!

19.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #127: Pegs & Numbers Make some cards with numbers and a corresponding picture e.g. 2 and draw 2 fish. We printed and laminated these but it would work just as well on some cardboard with drawings or stickers. Then give your child some pegs and get them to attach the correct number of pegs to the cards.... BENEFITS: encourages number recognition develops hand strength develops 1 to 1 correspondence - understanding that each peg represents a single number being counted

19.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME # 130: Cornflake & Oat Sensory Play You might like to do this activity outside to minimise the mess! Place some oats, cornflakes or other cereal in a tub. Add some construction toys, farm toys or whatever else is capturing your child's attention at the moment and let them play.... BENEFITS: helps children regulate their emotions develops sensory processing skills builds fine motor skills

17.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #132: Celery Printing Draw some fish on a piece of paper, we used blue to make it more ocean like. Put out some paint and cut some celery sticks. Dip the ends of the celery sticks into the paint and use them to stamp onto the paper - the shape of the celery makes nice fish scales.... BENEFITS: develops fine motor skills encourages creativity exploration of colours and colour mixing

17.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #124 Pom Pom Bath This is a great way to make bath time exciting again. Put heaps of pom poms in the bath! You might like to add some nets for catching the pom poms, cooking equipment or boats to carry them. BENEFITS:... Encourages willing participation at bath time Sensory play is great for emotional regulation Develops fine motor skills See more

17.01.2022 Counting and Sensory Rice We put a heap of toy insects in with the sensory rice. The kids then collected the insects and matched them to the number cards e.g. 7 insects on the the number 7

17.01.2022 Jugs and Funnels with Sensory Rice We cut a side off a cardboard box and then stuck funnels through the top and attached a tube to the side. The kids then used jugs to pour the rice into the different funnels.

16.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #135: Toilet Roll Hair Cuts Take a toilet roll and cut slits down half way all around 1 end of the toilet roll. This is the hair. Draw a face on the toilet roll. Give you child some scissors and ask them to give the toilet roll a haircut. BENEFITS:... develops scissor skills builds fine motor strength and control doesn't require a great deal of accuracy to be a successful activity See more

16.01.2022 HALLOWEEN PLAY #2: Roll a dice monster For this activity you will need: A white sheet of paper Coloured paper... Scissors Glue Googly eyes A pen or marker Build a monster by rolling a dice to decide how many of each feature to add. We used the dice to decide: -How many sides the body had e.g. 1 = circle, 4 = square -How many eyes -How many legs -How many horns -How many mouths You could add whatever features you want!

16.01.2022 The Whittlesea Playgroup AGM is being held on Friday. All are welcome - current and prospective members (and their children) Please send us a message if you would like the address!

16.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #121: Rainbow Scavenger Hunt This is another variation of the scavenger hunts we have shared before. You could do this one inside or outside. You can either read out the list or draw them a coloured list. Then get them to find and show you or collect all the items of the list. ... BENEFITS: aids colour recognition develops skills of observation burns energy and develops gross motor skills as they go hunting for each item

16.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #137: Spring Blossom Tree Draw an outline of a tree trunk on a piece of paper. Give your child(ren) a selection of tissue paper or colourful paper e.g. pages ripped out of a magazine. Scrunch up the paper and glue it onto your tree to create leaves and/or blossoms. BENEFITS:... Develops awareness of the seasons and their environment Develops fine motor skills ripping, scrunching, gluing Encourages creativity See more

16.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #138: Invitation to Play - Vets An invitation to play is when you set up toys or an activity in a way that looks interesting to your kids. The goal is that they will discover the invitation to play and become immersed in play. I have been experimenting with setting up an invitation in the evening after the kids go to bed, with the hope that they find it in the morning and play while I get a cuppa!... For this invitation I set up their tent as a vet clinic. I bandaged some animals, lay them in the dolls beds and lay out the doctors kit so the kids could see all the instruments. A few tips for picking an invitation that will work for your kids: -Base it on their interests - dinosaurs, trains, dolls whatever is catching their attention at the moment -Keep it simple - don't spend ages setting it up, that way if it doesn't work out how you intended you aren't going to be too disappointed -Think about the things they love doing at the moment - do they love to wrap things up, throw things, climb, put things in and out of boxes? create play that does this thing in a different way BENEFITS extends existing interests encourages imaginative play

15.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #123: Cardboard Box Washing Machine Credit for this activity goes to E M M A Play At Home Mummy. If you don't follow her on facebook or instragram, I highly recommend you do. She shares really great play ideas! We made a washing machine out of a cardboard box. The kids helped trace around a plate for door, then I cut it out with a knife. The kids added suggestions for buttons and I drew them on. We also added a flap for the washing powder.... The kids spent DAYS loading washing in and out and putting bottle tops into the powder door. I also set them up a clothes horse so they could hang the washing up to dry. BENEFITS: Opportunity to imitate real life through play Develops language skills Develops gross and fine motor skills to load washing, powder and hang the washing on the horse

14.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #159: Bubble Wand Play Kids love bubble right? But every time we get the bubbles out half the mixture ends up on the floor! Here we taped the bubble mixture to a pole outside and then the kids could dip their own wands in and blow bubbles without any help!... BENEFITS: develops hand eye coordination builds control of the breath improves gross motor skills - chasing and popping balloons

14.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #157: Design your own T shirt We recently bought some clothes and they came folded around these shirt shaped pieces of card. You could create the same effect by cutting a shirt shape out of a piece of cardboard. The kids decorated the 'shirt' with textas, glue, glitter and stickers, but you could use whatever suits your family.... BENEFITS: encourages creativity practices independent decision making - what colour, where to put the sticker etc develops fine motor skills

14.01.2022 Sensory Rice Dinosaur Find We have been really interested in dinosaurs recently, but you could do this with any small toy your kids are interested in. I place the dinosaurs in the bottom of the tub with some rocks for extra interest. I then covered the toys with the rice so you couldn't see them. I gave the kids paint brushes and they gently brushed away the rice to discover the dinosaurs hiding in the tub.

13.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #120: Pom Pom Colour Sort We used a large egg tray for this activity, but you could use a regular egg carton or even just a piece of paper. Th kids coloured the bottom of each section of the egg carton with a colour to match the pom poms we own. We then put all the pom poms in a box. I gave the kids tongs and spoons to use to pick up the pom poms and drop them into the matching coloured segments of the egg carton. (Another great utensil is using a peg - squeezing... the end to pick up and drop the pom poms) BENEFITS: aids colour recognition develops find motor skills - drawing colours, using tongs/spoons/pegs builds hand eye coordination

13.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #155: Coloured Rice Art We are still finding more uses for the coloured rice! Here we drew a flower on a piece of paper, then we painted on some glue - but only in the areas we wanted the rice to stick.... We place the paper in a plastic container and carefully poured the rice onto the paper. We gave the paper a gentle shake over the container and then took it out to admire our rice flower! BENEFITS: Exploration of cause and effect - the rice only sticks where you put the glue encourages creativity develops fine motor skills

13.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #145: Pipe Cleaner Weaving This is another great activity to keep the kids busy when they want to be in the kitchen with you. Get out a cake rack and give the kids some pipe cleaners. Challenge them to try weaving the pipe cleaners over and under each wire in the cake rack.... If that's too tricky they will also have fun twisting and looping the pipe cleaners into it however they fancy! BENEFITS: strengthens fine motor skill develops spatial awareness - weaving over and under

12.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #133: Stickerscapes Draw a picture for your kids to stick their stickers in. They don't have to be fancy drawings! Here I collected African animal stickers and attempted to draw a savanna scene. BENEFITS:... peeling stickers develops fine motor skills opportunity to discuss habitats and environments builds understanding of position and placement e.g. which way up is correct in the scene See more

12.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #147: Ladybug Art We took some of our cork prints and turned them into ladybirds. Using a black marker we drew a line down the middle of each circle, added spots, legs, a head and antenna. We then made some patty pan flowers to create an environment for our ladybirds. We glued patty pans down, stuck stickers in the center and then used a green marker to add a stem and leaves.... BENEFITS: encourages creativity develops fine motor skills opportunity to explore and discuss ladybirds

12.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #153: Painters Tape Activity Course Get a roll of painters tape, as it comes off your surfaces really easily. Stick down a variety of shapes to prompt your kids to do different activities with their bodies. We did: crosses - jumping on each line - balance sideways along... circle - spin around boxes - frog jumps 2 lines - bear walk on hands and feet between lines BENEFITS: Uses up some energy! great for a rainy day Builds gross motor skills Develops spacial awareness - understanding where their body is in space

11.01.2022 Can't wait to see you at the park tomorrow morning!

10.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #154: Corks & empty bottle Cut the top off an empty soft drink bottle and tape over the edge to make sure there is no sharp edges. Give your kids a box of corks and invite them to post the corks into the bottle. Make the hole smaller to make it harder or larger to make it easier.... BENEFITS: develops hand eye coordination builds concentration skills encourages fine motor skills

09.01.2022 Happy Halloween! Is your family doing anything to celebrate Halloween today? HALLOWEEN PLAY #7: frozen hands... Put some Halloween themed items in a disposable glove. We used toy snakes, spiders and insects and some goggly eyes. Then add some drops of food dye, pour in some water and tie a knot in the end of the glove. Leave it in the freezer overnight. Take the hand out of the glove, put it in a dish, give your kids a spray bottle of water, paint brushes, some salt, a dish of water or any other tools you want and let them try to melt the hand to expose the frozen items. We did this one outside to minimise the mess!

09.01.2022 HALLOWEEN PLAY #4: Mashed Potato Monsters We decided to have a halloween themed dinner. We made mashed potato and steamed some veggies in different shapes e.g. circles for eyes, sticks for arms and legs. The kids assembled their monsters on their plates and then ate them!

09.01.2022 EXCITING NEWS! With the lifting of restrictions we can now meet face to face! To keep things simple we are going to run a play in the park once a week for the next 4 weeks. You don't need to be a member to attend, anyone is welcome and you don't need to let us know your coming - just show up! We can't wait to see you all

09.01.2022 Halloween Play #3 pin the spider on the web This game is pin the tail on the donkey with a Halloween twist. I used painters tape to stick a spider web onto the wall. Then we made a spider out of black card. We used a scarf as a blind fold and took turns trying to stick the spider onto the middle of the web.

09.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #144: Coloured Pegging Give you kids a collection of coloured pegs and some matching coloured paper. Get them to peg the pegs onto the matching paper. BENEFITS:... builds fine motor skills strengthens hand muscles essential for writing improves colour recognition See more

08.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #136: Popstick Shapes Collect some popsticks, 1 of each of a selection of colours is ideal but you can colour them in to make this activity work. Use matching coloured textas or pencils to draw some shapes on a piece of paper with each side of the shape representing a popstick.... Then give your child the popsticks and ask them to arrange the popsticks to copy your drawings. You can make the drawings as simple or complex as your child needs. BENEFITS: builds problem solving skills develops spatial awareness opportunity to discuss shapes and geometry concepts such as sides and corners

08.01.2022 Sensory play can be messy, so why do it? Sensory play helps children process the information they receive from their senses sounds, tastes, noises, textures. It gives them an opportunity to practice, understand and respond to sensory information and gives them an opportunity to practice picking out which information to focus on. E.g. focusing on the feeling of the rice between their fingers, whilst ignoring the conversation happening behind them. Sensory play also helps c...hildren to regulate their body so that they are in a calm and alert state which is the easiest state for them to interact with the world So how do you manage them mess? There is no right or wrong way to handle the mess of sensory play and each adult with have their own threshold for what level of mess they are happy to deal with. That’s ok! Firstly you need to decide what you are ok with: You could do it outside. You can do it in a big tub, that your child can get in too. You can spread a sheet out on the floor to contain the rice. You can not do it at all, or choose different sensory play that is less messy, or play you can do in the empty bath and then run the bath and wash them off straight after Once you have decided where you are going to do sensory play, think about your rules. Does the rice need to stay in the tub? Or are you ok with it coming out of the tub? Whatever your rules are, explain them before the activity and then calmly enforce them during play. Don’t be afraid to end the sensory play if rules are getting broken they might be trying to tell you they have had enough. Finally, if you want to contain the mess, you have to supervise. Don't do what I did and quickly duck into another room to put away the washing...I came back to find they had pulled the sheet out from under the rice and we had rice LITERALLY ACROSS THE WHOLE ROOM!!!! So make sure you have a cuppa and something to do ready to go before you start!

08.01.2022 Alphabet Find with Sensory Rice This one is more suitable for pre-school/school aged children but you could adapt it to a younger child by using a simpler puzzle. On a piece of paper I wrote out the alphabet in capital letters. We then placed all the lower case letters from our alphabet puzzle into the sensory rice. I gave the kids tongs and they had to catch the letters and match them to the piece of paper.

07.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #134 Free Trapped Animals Wrap some plastic animals in pieces of paper and tape the paper to stay still. give your kids scissors and ask them to cut the animals free. BENEFITS:... Develops scissor skills Achievable cutting activity that doesn't require accuracy Builds fine motor skills See more

07.01.2022 Did Father's Day sneak up on you too? We made some bubble art last week, which we turned into wrapping paper for our father's day present. This activity is only for children that you can trust not to drink the paint! If your not sure if it's safe, you could blow the bubbles and your child could operate the paper.... In an open topped container e.g. a cup, mix some paint with a small squirt of dish washing liquid. if your paint is very thick, you might need to water it down a bit. Place a straw in the cup. Get your kid to blow into the cup to make bubbles until they stick out over the top of the cup. Hold a piece of paper over the top of the bubbles to catch the paint on the paper. Repeat this process until the paper is covered. Hang it up to dry. BENEFITS: develops strength and control over their mouth and breath encourages creativity opportunity to explore the properties of bubbles

07.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #158: Straw paper pick up This activity is quite tricky my 4 year old found it challenging. I include a simpler version at the bottom that would be better suited to younger children. Cut up some pieces of coloured paper into about 3cm squares. Give your a child a straw and get them to suck on the straw to pick up the paper and place it in a bowl. We matched the pieces of paper into matching coloured bowls but you could add numbers or make it a race to see who can... pick up the most. SIMPLER VERSION: As we played with this activity the kids also discovered they could use the straw to blow the pieces of paper across the table. You could set up some goals to try and blow the pieces of paper into. Blowing seemed to be much easier than sucking and my 21 month old could do it easily. BENEFITS: develops awareness and control of the breath cognitive development - sorting builds hand eye coordination to move the paper to a desired location

06.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #149: One Grey Elephant Balancing We lined up some wooden blocks down our hallway, we then balanced a toy elephant on the blocks and sung one grey elephant, each time we added a new toy animal until we had filled up all our blocks. If you don't know the song here is a link:... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhBqS8Nbilk BENEFITS: develops understanding of counting builds fine motor skills uses music and song to facilitate learning

06.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #151: Flower Sensory Play We collected lots of flowers and petals from our garden and put them in a tray of water with some scoops and bowls. My kids had great fun, scooping, pouring, pulling off the petals and mixing them all with mud. ... BENEFITS: sensory play helps children to regulate their emotions exploration of volume and capacity through scooping and pouring discovery of the anatomy of flowers

06.01.2022 Whittlesea Playgroup Secretary We are looking for someone that can: check our emails once a week (we don't get many) take minutes at our meetings... help set agendas & follow up any tasks that need to be completed after meetings Create basic paper notices to give to families for special occasions e.g. excursions & Christmas party (1-2 per term) Does this look like something you could do? Send us a message! Or if you think some of it looks good but you couldn't do it all - send us a message. We are happy to split roles between multiple people or change the way the tasks are divided between committee members!

06.01.2022 Father's Day Questionaire: Ask your kids these questions and write down their answers. Or if they are old enough to write - get them to fill it in. This is a great activity to repeat year after year so you can see how their answers change over time!

06.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #126: Contribute to a spoonville or rock garden Decorate a spoon person or paint a rock and deliver it to your local spoonville or rock garden. If you don't have one nearby perhaps you could make one for your garden! Benefits:... encourages creativity sense of belonging to a group project develops fine motor skills See more

05.01.2022 Now that you are allowed outside your 5kms, have you been trying out lots of different parks? Share your favourite with us so other families can try it too!

05.01.2022 HALLOWEEN PLAY #1: Weaving spider webs For this activity you need: 3 icypole sticks wool or string... a spider - either plastic or make one from paper You can either glue the icypole sticks together to hold them still or get a grown up to wrap the string around them to hold them in position before the child starts weaving. Wrap the string around each icypole stick, continuing around in a circle to make a spider web pattern. Then attach your spider to the web. We are going to hang these over our dinner table for some spooky halloween decorations!

05.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #143: Adjective Hunt Write or type some descriptive words onto pieces of paper e.g. wooden, bumpy, tall, yellow Flip all the pieces of paper so they are face down on a table. Get your child to pick a piece of paper, help them read the adjective. Then they can look for an object around your house or garden that matches that description.... BENEFITS: Develops language skills & vocabulary Builds observational skills Encourages critical thinking and decision making

05.01.2022 This week we are going to share a recipe for dying rice and lots great ideas for sensory play with it. To Dye the rice you will need: 1 cup of rice you can use any variety, we used brown but the colour will be brighter on white 1 tsp of vinegar (approximately) you might need more to mix the colour... A few drops of food colouring How to make it: Place all the ingredients in a container or jar and shake it until the colour covers all the rice this is a great job for kids! Spread the rice out on a tray and leave it overnight to dry. Once its dry the colour won’t rub off. My kids loved washing the containers after we finished too.

04.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #140: Sticker Alphabet Tubes This is a great activity for a child that is already familiar with the alphabet. You could adjust it for a younger child by using numbers, only a few letters, colours, shapes or drawings. Collect a cardboard tube. Write the alphabet on it, it doesn't have to be in order, you can mix the letters up all over it. On Some plain stickers write the alphabet - 1 letter per sticker.... Give you child the tube and the stickers and get them to match the stickers to the letters on the tube. BENEFITS: Increases familiarity with the alphabet develops fine motor skills builds hand eye coordination - putting the stickers precisely on top of the letters

04.01.2022 HALLOWEEN PLAY #5: pumpkin bath bombs We mixed together: 2 tbsp epsom salt 1/4 cup corn flour... 1/8 cup bicarb soda 1/8 cup citric acid A few drops of essential oils (optional) Food colouring - we aimed for orange but the kids got a bit enthusiastic with the red! Mix it all together with a spoon Then use a spray bottle of water to lightly wet the mixture just enough to clump together. use your hands to shape it into balls. (We found this was too difficult for little hands and grown up hands were needed) Let them dry out overnight and use them in your next bath!

04.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #152: Cutting and Pasting Art I gave the kids a collection of off cuts of coloured paper, some scissors and glue. They had great fun cutting the paper into smaller pieces and gluing them onto a piece of paper. BENEFITS:... encourages creativity builds fine motor skills develops scissor skills without expecting accurate cutting See more

03.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #6: witch wind catcher We made this one out of a plastic plate, an icecream lid and some wool so that it can hang outside but it would work well with cardboard and crepe paper too. We drew a face on the back of the plate, stuck on her hat and attached some wool hair. Then we added some string to the top so she can hang in a tree outside.

01.01.2022 PLAY AT HOME #156: Mud Puddle Find a space in your garden where you don't mind making some mess - we chose a garden bed we were getting ready to plant in. I find getting set up for clean up before we start also helps me to feel more relaxed about messy play. I had a clean bucket of warm water and face washers ready to go.... I gave the kids a bucket of water and some scoops and they added the water to the dirt and gradually got more involved in making mud. They like exploring the mud with their hands and feet, but they also found some worms and collected other bits of garden to make muddy cooking. BENEFITS: sensory play is great for helping children to regulate their emotions cognitive development - exploring texture, temperature, consistency, colour etc develops motor skills - scooping, pouring, climbing in and out, jumping in the mud etc