Bi-Weekly Early Years Activity Reset

A large part of my teaching philosophy when working with children is to follow the child’s interests. A great deal of our days are spent on each other’s level engaging in play ideas from the child, while I carefully observe what they may be trying to learn from the experience. Some days this ideal just doesn’t work out perfectly. There are days, or parts of days, where children are hangry, or hot, or tired, or having a particularly hard time sharing, or just not feeling 100% themselves and playing is more challenging. In these moments having ideas on hand that are new, inviting and inspiring can be incredibly helpful!

Better yet having them already thought out and at the ready removes the mental load and the frustrating extra hassle. Follow along below and collect up some of these materials (I was able to do so in less than 15 mins) to have play ideas at the ready!

This week’s materials list is:

• Piece of paper (could be paper roll size, printer paper size, paper that comes wrapped around the flyers, whatever you have)

• Scraps of construction paper (preferably in square/rectangular shapes)

• Stickers 

• Balls

• Cars

• Plastic animals

• Sponge

• Painter’s tape

• Markers

With these 9 materials here are 12 activity ideas perfect for ages 0-6!

1. Using the scraps of construction paper and the balls challenge your child to make tunnels and bridges for the balls to roll over and under.

1. Using the painter’s tape, cars and optional markers turn any space into a roadway. Up walls, across floors, in a certain pattern (i.e. the letters of their name) use the painter’s tape to create the road (add dashed and solid lines with the marker if you please) and then let the cars and the child’s imagination bring it to life. Maybe you have created a town, a Cars racetrack with McQueen leading the way, or a land of their own imagining!

1. Using the paper, and a marker draw different types of lines on the paper (wavy, straight, dashed, looped, zig zag, boxed, horseshoe, etc). Once you have created lines on the page, have the child add stickers to the lines you have drawn.

1. With the plastic animals, sponges and some water try a toy wash, if the cars you are using can be used with water you could even make it a car wash! 

1. On the topic of water and sponges, make cleaning outdoor items like patio furniture, ride-on toys, sidewalks, etc. fun by encouraging your child to get their sponge as dirty as they can from wiping the items down. Then rinse their sponge and repeat! On a surface like a sidewalk, water and a sponge can also be used for “painting”. Dip your sponge in water and then use it to draw a design/picture.

1.  This activity is for your littler ones! Get out your painter’s tape and plastic animals. Find a free surface (floor, side of a shelf, wall, etc.) and tape the animal to that surface with one piece of tape. Have your child “free” the animal by pulling it off the wall and then removing the tape from its body. 

1. If some of the stickers you have chosen match, use the paper (either scrap or large piece) and stick multiple matching pairs to the paper. Then have your child match them by connecting them with a line using the marker!

1. Create an obstacle course with your painter’s tape! Make a long line of painter’s tape for children to walk the plank, have shorter lines one after another for the child to jump over, create a spiral for spinning, shapes from jumping to and from, or one great big painters tape maze!

1. If you happen to have two bowls, or sand pails, or buckets handy (I know not on the materials list) grab those sponges and water some water! Fill one bucket/bowl/pail/container with water and have your child use the sponge to transfer the water from one container to the next, and back again, as many times as they wish. This play may even naturally lead to other types of play ideas listed above!

1. Give your child free rein of the tape roll and construction paper scraps and see what kind of structures they are able to create. Bonus, add plastic animals or cars to their play to inspire new structures like stables, barns, fences, carwashes, mechanic shops, etc. 

1. Using the paper (scrap or otherwise) and painter’s tape create cylinders wide enough for the ball to fit through. Stand the cylinders up, maybe use the painters tape to stabilize them to the floor. Then make a few lines on the floor as places to throw from, grab the ball and try to get the ball in the cylinders! Set them up in a variety of ways and throw from different distances to vary the challenge.

1. On a sunny day, take your animals, marker and paper outside to experiment with shadows! Place your paper on a flat surface and then have your child experiment where to set the animal so that it casts a shadow onto the paper. Once it is set in a way that casts the shadow onto the paper, have your child trace the shadow. Now you can remove the animal and add any details to it that you please! Repeat with other animals or the same animal. Experiment with how to make the shadow larger or smaller to create a whole family of that particular animal!

So many of these play examples can be modified or have bonus parts, so there may be a part two to this post if people find it particularly helpful. The point of this post is that play doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. All of these play ideas are also perfect for interactive, collaborative play full of the parent-child connection that children crave, AND they can also double as the perfect activities to promote independence in play which is equally as important. Everything in moderation!