True story: Another kindergarten teacher visits my class while we were doing some bubble art. During lunch, in the teacher’s staffroom, he asks if I have more play ideas. I say, “Yes,”… (of course!) lol. If you’ve been following me at Lessons Learnt Journal for any length of time, you’ll know that play and games for kids has become a huge part of my world.

I have had four kids within the space of three and a half years. I have seen my children thrive as we embraced the world of play-based learning. Kids have a natural enthusiasm for learning through their natural curiosity about the world around them. They are keen to learn, with inquisitive minds. When watching and hearing them play, I find it fascinating to think about the complex processes that are happening within play.

Play is appropriate for humans of any age. I will always treasure the memories of my babies and toddlers playing and drawing in their big cardboard box and making a collage with sticky back paper. I will always keep a ball in our home for baby ball games, should we have baby and toddler guests. 

I know how tricky it can be to find games for kids, (especially when you are sleep deprived). I know how valuable it is when other mums share what has worked for them. I love being inspired by great ideas, trying them out and seeing my children play, learn and grow.

I’m super chuffed to be one of the authors the Zero to Two Book of Play. I’ve seen the published version and it’s simply amazing.

• It’s filled with inspiring play ideas that are really practical and doable!
• The photos are beautiful.
• There are simple, clear step-by-step guides for things you can easily try at home.
• There are 25 ideas for babies and toddlers, and additional links to over 50 more activities. 
• There’s a great range of activities: the classics, things with a twist, sensory; all with a focus on play, backed up with lots of learning.

Check out this video for a sneak peek into the Zero to Two Book of Play.

To celebrate the release of the Zero to Two Book of Play, the eBook will be $6.99USD for one week only. After the 16th February, 2014 you can purchase the eBook for $8.99USD. You can buy your Zero to Two Book of Play, on any device, and download the eBook when you are ready.

(You can buy the book anywhere in the world. Paypal will take care of any currency conversions.)

Happy playing, because #playmatters!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Games for Kids: Zero to Two Book of Play by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Check out our kid-crafted gift tags this week on Childhood 101. These are fun, engaging and the results were amazingly pretty too.

This was the project that stained my feet blue for a few days; completely worth it.

Visit Childhood 101 and find out how to make these gorgeous homemade gift tags with your kids.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Making Homemade Gift Tags with Kids by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Would you believe it? It’s the 5th of December, and our Christmas Tree is still in storage… a fact that our kids don’t let us forget easily! It may be the proximity to the end of the year, the fun parties and gatherings at this time of year, the usual mayhem that life with kids brings, but I honestly feel like time passes super quickly in December.

So while I run around like a mad, headless chook, I am so excited to share these 10 wonderful Christmas Nativity Activities for Kids. There are so many great ways to playfully remember the wonderful gift of rescue, through Jesus.

Happy playing, because #playmatters.

P.S. If you’re reading this in an e-mail or reader, click HERE to see all of the great Christmas Nativity Activities for Kids.

• DIY Little Town of Bethlehem via Lessons Learnt Journal
• Easy Paper Plate Homemade Angel Wings via Lessons Learnt Journal
• Mini Paper Angels via The Craft Train
• Nativity Story Stones via My Little Bookcase
• Toilet Roll Nativity Set via Happy Hooligans
• Simple Nativity Song via Lets Play Kids Music
• Make Your Own Nativity Scene via An Idea on Tuesday
• 3 Kings via Red Ted Art
• The Christmas Adventure Box via Being Confident of This
• Matchbox Manger Craft via The Craft Train

Have you been featured this week? I would love for you to take one of our Featured at Lessons Learnt Journal badge.

Some of these ideas are from our Kids’ Co-Op. If you have a child focused post to share, be sure to come back and visit the Kids’ Co-Op link up here at Lessons Learnt Journal, (published and live here every Wednesday at 10PM CST or Thursday 3PM AEST).

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to subscribe to our RSS feed or receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Christmas Nativity Activities for Kids by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I’m all for keeping Advent simple and over the next few weeks in the lead up to Christmas, I’ll be reading Christmas bible stories with my kids and doing simple playful Christmas crafts, to enjoy the stories together. We kicked off our advent activities with a super fun and easy Christmas craft for kids: DIY angel wings. This week, to keep playing and to further build up our excitement about the coming of Jesus, we created a little town of Bethlehem.

The story for our second playful Advent activity is from Luke 2:1-7. In this story, Jesus was born in a crowded town of Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger.

After reading the story, and before we started creating our Bethlehem Town kids craft, we looked up where Bethlehem was situated on the world map. We talked about its location relative to Africa and Europe, (in particular, Italy as N&M have been learning about Italy at preschool).

This Bethlehem Town kids craft requires the most minimal of craft materials. All we used were TP rolls, markers, scissors and some sticky tape (you don’t really need the tape, it’s just that N&M can’t get enough of the stuff). 

They set about drawing windows on their town buildings. They made some doors and experimented with some ‘shade’ structures above the doors (i.e. those cardboard flaps above the doors). M drew the stables where baby Jesus was born. He drew Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

As we created the little town of Bethlehem, we talked about how unusual Jesus’ birth was. It was, and is, not normal for a baby to be born in a stable, where animals stay. It was, and is, not normal for a baby to be placed in a manger, where animals feed from.

“It’s so dirty,” M kept saying. N reasoned that Bethlehem was very crowded, and there was no where else to go. I added that this was no ordinary baby. This was the Son of God, who was born in a dirty stable and placed in a dirty manger. He could have been born anywhere really – when you think about it. He certainly had the power to, after all, he was the Son of God. I could see them trying to wrap their minds around all of that. It’s mind blowing really – when you think about it.

We brought out our Christmas fairy lights and added it to our Bethlehem townscape. It’s amazing how much more fun some simple lights can add to a play scene. 

What makes Christmas special for you and your kids? It would be fabulous if we could all share our Christmas ideas here. Are there  traditions you’ve grown up with? Have you tried something with your kids and it’s been loved to bits? Or have you tried something that hasn’t quite worked? Found or seen something online that just totally knocks your socks off? I’d love to pin ideas to my Pinterest boards, I’d love to share ideas on our Facebook Page. Let’s pool everyone’s wisdom together and get excited about Christmas together.

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Christmas: Bethlehem Town Kids Craft by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.