Four bedsheets, sewed together into a large parachute; little ping pong balls are flying everywhere in the air. Twenty three to five year olds having the time of their lives, giggling , chasing the once airborne balls. “It’s so simple, and they love it,” said a mother, while she captured the moment on her phone camera.

Play is enjoyable and play may be simple, but play is fundamental to every interaction and connection children make in their early years. Play is the way in which children explore and experiment with emotions, social interactions, new ideas and learning.  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 the importance of play in the context of their holistic development. Providing children, especially in their preschool years, with play opportunities is crucial in developing their curiosity, experimenting and risk taking. These play opportunities allow children to explore who they are, and allow them to grow as confident learners.

The saying, the days are long, but the years are short, rings so true. How quickly those preschool years fly by. Some of our favourite preschool activities feature our range of home-made play dough; large scale painting and painting requiring finer motor skills; playing and working outdoors in our garden; hunting for creatures large and small; and of course making our own dinosaur fossils.

We have fond memories of play because of there is an amazing play loving blogging community who shout out from their virtual roof tops, the most creative, fun, engaging activities for kids. I am so grateful when other parents share what has worked for them. I love being inspired by great ideas, trying them out and seeing my children play, learn and grow.

After the success of the Zero to Two Book of Play. there were requests from readers for an eBook of playful ideas for three to five year olds. We heard the requests and are thrilled to share with you the Three to Five Playful Preschool eBook. It is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. This amazing resource has:

• Hands-on, play-based learning
• Inspiring ideas, but really practical and everything all in one place 
• Great photos, step-by-step guides, all things you can easily try at home
• 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources (inc. city scape play scene, My First Journal pages, recipe card, numbers game, weather chart printables, alphabet play mats, unique hand-drawn art pages, conversation cards, block building challenge cards, bookmarks) and additional links to over 50 more activities
  
• Great range of activities: hands-on, learning through play, math, language, literacy, science, art and play.

Check out this video for a sneak peek of  the Three to Five Playful Preschool eBook.

To celebrate the release of Three to Five Playful Preschool, the eBook will be $6.99USD for one week only. After the 25th May, 2014 you can purchase the eBook for $8.99USD. You can buy your Three to Five Playful Preschool, 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: Three to Five Playful Preschool eBook by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Don’t you just love it when kids ask to do some work? Sure, it takes a whole morning of letting them move their energetic bodies around, and of you sorting out squabbles, but hey – we have reached this point in the day when younger siblings have their afternoon naps and yes, they ask to do some quiet work. Wow. It’s time for one of our play kits for quiet time, (accompanied by a mandatory cuppa for mummy).

Here’s a quick re-cap if you’re new to our play kits for quiet time:

I still remember my despair when N and M stopped having their afternoon naps. Once I got over the shock of it all, I realised it was actually quite a nice opportunity to make time for them, working, playing and resting with them, while Mr E and Miss K napped.

During this time in the afternoon, we would do some quick literacy or math work (max 15 minutes), followed by an undisclosed amount of time watching TV or playing games on the iPhone or iPad; yep, I said it. This still happens now and then, but since I’ve started putting these play kits for quiet time together, I’m surprised by how quickly an hour of screen free time passes by.

Each play kit for quiet time includes:

{BOOKS}: A variety of non fiction and fiction books – provides opportunities for modelled reading.

{FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY}: To build up their pre-writing skills.

{PROBLEM SOLVING / CREATIVE ACTIVITY}: These skills are often overlooked, yet it’s so important to foster these skills as they enable deeper levels of thinking.

There’s certainly value in independent work, but these play kits for quiet time aren’t put together with the aim of having children be entertained and engaged independently. Rather, these play kits for quiet time provide opportunities to work with children, to model new skills to them, to work and play with them, and all done in a relatively quiet manner, (because the rest of the household is napping).

Here are the contents of this play kit for quiet time:

{FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY}: Exploring painting tools. We had so much fun with this. A simple, open ended art activity for kids. A great way to build up fine motor skills.

{PROBLEM SOLVING ACTIVITY}: Cat And Mouse GoGetter. The boys received this game from a friend for their birthday present. I am seriously impressed with this game. It’s such a simple concept yet challenging. It’s so fun to watch the boys figure out the puzzle and there are so many different challenges and levels of challenges too. I want to have a turn playing, but the boys always seem to want to play with it.

{BOOKS}:

What quiet activities that work really well in your home? After more play kits for quiet time? Click HERE. I’ll be sharing play kits for quiet times regularly here, (hopefully on a weekly basis), so watch this space.

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 Play Kit for Quiet Time: Cat, Mouse and Painting Tools by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

You may have your younger kids napping or you just need some time to rest your ears, but we all know that time in the day when you just crave some  quiet in the home. Enter play kits for quiet time. 

Here’s a quick re-cap if you’re new to our play kits for quiet time:

I still remember my despair when N and M stopped having their afternoon naps. Once I got over the shock of it all, I realised it was actually quite a nice opportunity to make time for them, working, playing and resting with them, while Mr E and Miss K napped.

During this time in the afternoon, we would do some quick literacy or math work (max 15 minutes), followed by an undisclosed amount of time watching TV or playing games on the iPhone or iPad; yep, I said it. This still happens now and then, but since I’ve started putting these play kits for quiet time together, I’m surprised by how quickly an hour of screen free time passes by.

Each play kit for quiet time includes:

{BOOKS}: A variety of non fiction and fiction books – provides opportunities for modelled reading.

{FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY}: To build up their pre-writing skills.

{PROBLEM SOLVING / CREATIVE ACTIVITY}: These skills are often overlooked, yet it’s so important to foster these skills as they enable deeper levels of thinking.

There’s certainly value in independent work, but these play kits for quiet time aren’t put together with the aim of having children be entertained and engaged independently. Rather, these play kits for quiet time provide opportunities to work with children, to model new skills to them, to work and play with them, and all done in a relatively quiet manner, (because the rest of the household is napping).

Here’s a new play kit for quiet time. 

Here are the contents of this play kit for quiet time:

{FINE MOTOR / CREATIVE ACTIVITY}: Hammering and making pictures from shapes, to build up fine motor skills; a great pre-writing activity for kids.

{PROBLEM SOLVING  ACTIVITY}: Here are two domino games for preschoolers and young children. Domino activities and games with dots, help children learn to subitise; supporting their development of both spatial and number sense.

{BOOKS}:

My Bones (My Body)

My Digestive System: An Exciting Way to Learn About Your Body (My Body)

My Heart and Lungs (My Body)

The Octonauts and the Sea of Shade

CLEMENTONI Build the Human Body Kit 61126 0

I Wish I Had a Pirate Suit

I Spy a Balloon (I Spy (Scholastic Paperback))

I Spy a Skeleton

What quiet activities that work really well in your home? I’ll be sharing play kits for quiet times regularly here, (hopefully on a weekly basis), so watch this space.

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 Play Kit for Quiet Time: Dominoes & Hammering by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I still remember my despair when N and M stopped having their afternoon naps. Once I got over the shock of it all, I realised it was actually quite a nice opportunity to make time for them, working, playing and resting with them, while Mr E and Miss K napped.

During this time in the afternoon, we would do some quick literacy or math work (max 15 minutes), followed by an undisclosed amount of time watching TV or playing games on the iPhone or iPad; yep, I said it. This still happens now and then, but since I’ve started putting these play kits for quiet time together, I’m surprised by how quickly an hour of screen free time passes by.

Each play kit for quiet time includes:

{BOOKS}: A variety of non fiction and fiction books – provides opportunities for modelled reading.

{FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY}: To build up their pre-writing skills.

{PROBLEM SOLVING / CREATIVE ACTIVITY}: These skills are often overlooked, yet it’s so important to foster these skills as they enable deeper levels of thinking.

There’s certainly value in independent work, but these play kits for quiet time aren’t put together with the aim of having children be entertained and engaged independently. Rather, these play kits for quiet time provide opportunities to work with children, to model new skills to them, to work and play with them, and all done in a relatively quiet manner, (because the rest of the household is napping).

Here are the contents of this play kit for quiet time:

{FINE MOTOR ACTIVITY}: Make a simple black and white collage to build up fine motor skills; a great pre-writing activity for kids.

{PROBLEM SOLVING / CREATIVE ACTIVITY}: This Sesame Street memory game was a hand me down from a church family. Such a classic game. (My memory is shocking btw!!).

{BOOKS}:

My Bones (My Body)

My Digestive System: An Exciting Way to Learn About Your Body (My Body)

My Heart and Lungs (My Body)

The Octonauts and the Sea of Shade

CLEMENTONI Build the Human Body Kit 61126 0

I Wish I Had a Pirate Suit

I Spy a Balloon (I Spy (Scholastic Paperback))

I Spy a Skeleton

What quiet activities that work really well in your home? I’ll be sharing play kits for quiet times regularly here, (i.e. hopefully on a weekly basis), so watch this space.

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 Play Kit for Quiet Time: Black & White / Memory by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.