playtime ideas

Ten Easy Ideas for Outdoor Play

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Regular readers may remember that at the start of the year we put a lot of time and effort into Operation Garden renovation. Turning our junk heap of a garden into a nice place to be. We hoped it would be ready in time for the summer, so that a lot of time could be spent outside enjoying it. With me being pregnant we were particularly keen on this idea as it would mean that there would be days where I could easily occupy Monkey outdoors, without having to go anywhere! The good news is that we managed this and have already been spending a lot of time out there, doing various activities (I will list some of our favourites below).

For Monkey’s birthday in May we bought a second hand climbing frame on ebay complete with swing and slide, to have in the garden. Unfortunately with all of the illness that surrounded his birthday weekend we never actually put it up, and with one thing and another we just hadn’t ever got around to putting it up! This all changed last weekend though and we finally have a lovely climbing frame in use in our garden!

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Mega Bloks Junior Builders review

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I was recently contacted by the lovely people at Mega Bloks to review their Junior Builders Build a Story set. Monkey loves building so I jumped at the chance. When I think of Mega Bloks I think of them being the big, chunky blocks, and what I didn’t realise before was that they also do some smaller building blocks, which are perfect for Monkey. I am not sure how to describe them without mentioning the Duplo range from Lego, as that is exactly the size that they are. They are completely compatible and if you mixed them up together, without looking closely at the branding you would not be able to tell the difference between the two ranges!

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When Messy Play goes wrong…

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I love a bit of messy play with Monkey, it is usually great fun and also a great way for him to learn. It is one of my favourite things, as a SAHM to be able to do these things with him. Sometimes though…. it really doesn’t go as well as I would hope. Last week is a good example of this.

I read a great post a couple of weeks ago about playing with coloured foam. It wasn’t something I had seen before so we definitely hadn’t tried it. It looked great, the blogger’s little one loved it and all went well. So, one afternoon last week I decided we should give it a go. It did not go quite so well for us.

coloured foam

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Impromptu Nature Hunt

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One day, a week or so back, Daddy forgot his lunch. Monkey and I wandered over after we had eaten ours to take him something. Can’t have Daddy starving and luckily he only works a few minutes walk away. We stayed for a natter and a play and then headed home again. Monkey decided he wanted to walk rather than buggy it home, and I have no problem with that, although it took a little longer than normal, as he also decided it was time for a bit of a nature hunt!

It started off by looking at the flowers, then he decided he wanted to keep the pretty yellow flowers (aka weeds but who cares) so they got popped in his pocket. It was one of the wet cooler days so he had on his little raincoat and needed a bit of help opening the velcro pockets (especially when also clutching a stick in his other hand) but he very much liked patting them down again once they were safely inside.

Then he spotted some daisies, and well he has always loved daises, so a few of those got popped in his pocket too. As we wandered more and more got popped in his little pockets, including pine cones and twigs, and pretty soon we had quite a haul!

nature hunt

 

Just a cute little habit or the beginning of kleptomania? 😉 I’m only kidding.

We have done nature hints before but they very much led by me, so it was lovely to see him taking an interest himself. Plus it was a nice way to occupy him for a while!

Do your little ones like nature hunts?

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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#BabyBabble

Our Mini Helper – 26 months

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I’m not sure if it is toddlers in general or just him, but Monkey loves helping. He can be getting in the way and under my feet but if I give him a job to do, he is so excited. He doesn’t always actually help that much but it certainly keeps him busy while I am getting something done, and he does look cute while he is helping! Plus I figure it helps him learn life skills. For example he likes cleaning up after himself when he has spilt something on the floor or on the table.

So anyway we were doing some tidying in the front garden last weekend, which involved a bit of chopping but mainly weeding. Rather than Daddy doing it all and me trying to entertain Monkey elsewhere, we figured we could get Monkey involved. His Granny & Granddad bought him some gardening bits for his birthday, which have mainly been used in the sand pit so far, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to do some gardening with them!

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Ice Painting – 26 months

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Ice Painting is a fantastic summer activity for so many reasons. It is a great form of sensory play with all of the learning experiences that go with it – talking about how temperature, texture, colours etc. It is also another way for a little one to express their creativity. Plus, the really obvious fact that it is cold, which makes it a perfect activity on a hot day!

Ice Painting

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Learning to Count – 25 months

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Monkey's wall stickers

Monkey’s wall stickers

Monkey loves numbers. Loves them. He’s been fascinated by them since he was tiny really. He has some ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ themed wall stickers in his bedroom, which include the numbers 1-5 which are positioned above his bed, and he has found those numbers fascinating since he was very small. He also loves clocks and watches and many times has nearly pulled a relative’s arm off (well maybe not quite off but given it a good tug) to see the numbers on their watch.

 

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Outdoor Painting on Cardboard

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outdoor painting this one

With the weather getting warmer there has been one activity I have been really keen to have a go at with Monkey – outdoor painting! Obviously with it being outdoors, the idea is that kiddies can be a bit freer to get really messy, but in all honesty I was still a bit worried about the mess! With all of the hard work that has gone into making our garden a much nicer place to be, I wasn’t particularly keen on paint going all over our lovely new patio. Even though the paint is supposedly washable, I was concerned about stains – as I know some of Monkey’s clothes have ended up a little stained from them!

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Bretton Water Park, Peterborough

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There is a little outdoor water park in Peterborough (Bretton Water Park) that I have heard about a few times, but not been to before. It doesn’t really have much information online about where it is or how to get there but in photos I had seen on Facebook etc. it looked great, so I decided to give it a go.

Bretton Water Park

 

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Making Play-doh Monsters – 25 months old

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Now I can’t take credit for this idea, but I also can’t remember where I saw it! I read a post about making Play-doh Monsters a while ago and thought it looked fun. I honestly didn’t think any more of it, didn’t plan on doing it with Monkey particularly, but obviously subconsciously filed it away somewhere!

Play-doh is a popular pastime in our house. It is very much confined to the conservatory and is well trodden into the (old) rug in there. Monkey can spend many a happy hour playing play-doh with Mummy, Daddy, or anyone who will play with it with him! Sometimes I try and hide it as I just can’t face playing with it anymore (bad mummy).

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