Play Activities

Play Activities

Kids Play with Anything #6: Play with Baking Soda and Vinegar

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Here’s a secret formula proving kids play with anything: Play with Baking Soda and Vinegar = Explosions of Fun. Sometimes called how to make volcanos. Baking soda and vinegar cannot be considered toys but they combine for some amazing play. They are inexpensive and affordable, but with all these ideas, you might need the extra economy size. Kids love to do this over and over.

play with baking soda and vinegarPlay clothes and newspaper are a good idea to protect tables. We used a big pan, but it wasn’t quite enough. Using plastic wine goblets, a bowl of vinegar, another of baking soda and some big spoons, Little Sister scooped some baking soda into a glass. Then she added a spoon of vinegar. Right away, bubbles started to form and grow in the glass. She wanted the fizz to go right over the top and spill out so added some more vinegar until they did. After a few times, there were puddles of soda and vinegar on the cookie sheet. The sensory play of spreading the puddles all around and feeling the solution with her hands and fingers appealed to her as much as the fizzing. Perhaps even more.

play with baking soda and vinegarAnother time, we first made a thick paste of baking soda and water. This was poured into ice cube trays and popped into the freezer overnight. The next day, both Big Sister and Little Sister each used an eye dropper to squirt vinegar onto one soda cube at a time. Again, there was lots of fizzing and bubbling all over a tray.

science color fizzy funThis activity can be done any time of the year and with children of various ages. It’s also good in emergencies, when you need little ones to play quietly in a small space. Too bad it’s not offered on airplanes, but it’s great to do in kitchens when we want to be able to watch kids while we’re busy. Try it with colored solutions of vinegar for a rainbow in a bowl. Use different kinds of squirters. Growing A Jeweled Rose has compiled over 50 ideas for play with baking soda and vinegar.

For childhood there is another formula. Play = Absolutely Necessary, Toys = Optional. Do you agree?

Play Activities

Kids Play with Anything #5: Child’s Play with Rocks

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Child’s play with rocks starts almost as soon as little ones can pick them up and may last a lifetime. They are not a toy, but definitely great for play.

play with rocksA small rock is just the right size for a child’s hand. When it gets warm, kids find a rock comforting to hold. Available in an endless variety of sizes, shapes, textures, and colors, kids can play with them in an endless variety of ways too.

Rocks are made for throwing. In puddles, lakes, and oceans. Over and over, kids will throw rocks, watch the ripples, and listen for the splash. Small rocks are made for digging and dumping, either with pails and shovels, or with diggers and dump trucks. Some are just the right size for carrying, and others so big kids want to climb them.

play with rocksOne of the ways that kids play with rocks is by sorting them. This can be done over and over. A category can be rocks of one color, type, or shape. Big Sister calls one bunch of her rocks, her jelly beans because of their shape and another set, her pirate rocks because they look like jewels.

science fun and play with rocksRocks can be arranged in different patterns. These ones go strawberry/rock, strawberry rock. Or, they might make designs and pictures like art work.

science fun and play with rocksFor kids, rocks have special magical powers. A rock might be part of pretend play, as in a treasure to be guarded or maybe one to find. Young kids—and grownups, collect rocks. Sometimes, the collection stays the size of pockets, but other times, it grows to shelves, boxes, and rooms.

Bella-painted-rocksBuilding with rocks is another way to play. Rocks might be stepping stones, a fairy path, a road for cars and trucks, or a home for a small plastic dinosaur. They are fun to paint.

Kids will find other ways to play with rocks. After any rock play, before doing laundry, check pockets. Rocks are not a friend to washing machines. They don’t feel so good in boots and shoes, either. Nevertheless, when it comes to kids and play, rocks really rock, don’t they?

Play Activities

Kids Play with Anything #4: Child’s Play with Paper

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Paper isn’t a toy, but it’s playful. These ideas for child’s play with paper are another way that kids can play with ordinary, everyday non-toy items. While we buy toys for children, they make April Fools of us by playing with anything.

play with paperUsually, when we think of activities with paper, what comes to mind is drawing, coloring, cutting, and gluing but paper is also fun to rip, crinkle, bend, fold, and throw. However kids play with paper, they are problem-solving, experimenting, discovering, creating, communicating, organizing, planning, interacting, sharing, negotiating, and more. Paper is stacks of fun and learning and suitable for kids of all ages as long as they don’t eat it.

play with paper airplanesOne of the first things that kids discover with paper is that it makes sounds when scrunched up or torn. They soon figure out how they can tear it. Paper can be rolled and thrown to be a ball that doesn’t hurt. A paper ball won’t float in the air like a sheet of it. A paper airplane not only floats, it flies. Older kids and adults will fold paper to see which kind of paper airplane will fly the farthest. Sometimes, airports will have paper airplane contests and give prizes.play with paper snowflake Paper can also be folded into easy shapes like tents or incredible origami ones shaped like animals, birds, and baskets. Holes add a whole new dimension to paper, turning a piece of paper into a mask or a lacy snowflake.kids science fun with paper

Kids play with sheets of paper and tiny little bits. It behaves differently when it’s wet than when it’s dry. Does paper float or sink? If we fold paper to make a boat, what happens?

play with paperPaper comes in different sizes, colors, thicknesses, and texture. It’s easy to accumulate lots of paper for playing by saving it in a basket or box. It can be used for countless art projects and other play activities. Big Sister noticed some tissue paper was orange like fire. The recycling had some other colors too. Using colors she saw in flames, she scrunched them into a box for an imaginary campfire. A cotton ball and chopstick made the marshmallow for roasting. Imagination can turn paper into restaurant orders, post office letters, messages in secret codes, and play money.

Even without words, paper can tell a story. Child’s play with paper is quite a story, isn’t it?

Play Activities

Kids Play with Anything #1: Child’s Play with Boxes

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Inspired by April Fools and how kids can transform anything into a toy, this post explores child’s play with boxes. Kids are masters at having fun in different, and often for adults, quite unexpected ways. Kids can turn adults into April Fools nearly every time they get a present in a box. Why? Because they … Continue reading Kids Play with Anything #1: Child’s Play with Boxes →

Play Activities

Fairies, Leprechauns, and Imaginative Play

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A great deal of the appeal of St. Patrick’s Day is the fun of imagining. Fairies, leprechauns, and imaginative play can happen on other days too. We’ve all heard Einstein’s words, “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.” Somehow, fantasy takes second place to reality. But children—and also adults, need imagination as part of the real … Continue reading Fairies, Leprechauns, and Imaginative Play →