PLAY IDEAS FOR EARLY LEARNERSFUN, ENGAGING AND HANDS-ON

MRSedgar

HELLO! I’m Jo.

I’m mum of three children, all under 3 years of age. I’m an early childhood teacher of 10 years.

I also own a business, Mrs J Edgar, creating and selling teacher planners and resources.

I am a strong believer in play-based learning and I

have created this resource to give you ideas of what you can do with your early learners.

Many of these activities can be adapted to suit your learner, and are guaranteed to be fun, hands-on and engaging.

Child supervision is required at all times.

I would love to see the fun you get up to. Tag me on Instagram,

@mrsedgarsclass

HELLO! I’m Jo.

I’m mum of three children, all under 3 years of age. I’m an early childhood teacher of 10 years.

I also own a business, Mrs J Edgar, creating and selling teacher planners and resources.

I am a strong believer in play-based learning and I

have created this resource to give you ideas of what you can do with your early learners.

Many of these activities can be adapted to suit your learner, and are guaranteed to be fun, hands-on and engaging.

Child supervision is required at all times.

I would love to see the fun you get up to. Tag me on Instagram,

@mrsedgarsclass

MRSedgar

MRSedgar

COLOURED FLOWERSLachie wanted to know why our flowers in the vase needed water. Even though I could explain it, it was much more effective (and fun) to show him. We grabbed a white flower out of the vase, stuck it in water and added a few drop of food colouring. Within hours we could see that the water had travelled up the stem of the flower and into the petals, turning them blue! This was a great way of showing that even though the flower had been cut, it still needed a “drink.”

MRSedgar

FIZZY FUN Cover the surface of a tray with baking soda. Fill an eye dropper with vinegar and drop into the tray. Watch the baking soda fizz! Add food colour to the vinegar to make it more interesting. Experiment with mixing colours and seeing the coloured soda fizz!

WATCH A PLANT GROW Put some cotton wool balls into a glass jar or plastic cup and add water so they’re damp. Stick a bean on either side of the jar so your little one can watch it grow. Observe what happens over the next few days!

Hop, skip or jump from one circle to another. Call out colours for your child to move to!

Draw several coloured circles on the pavement and have your child sort objects into the matching colours. Can your child add to the sort by finding their own objects in the enviornment?

MRSedgar

ALL YOU NEED IS CHALK!I can’t tell you how many times the chalk comes out when the boys go outside for play. Here are some ways to mix it up a bit!

Draw shapes, pictures, words or numbers on the pavement for your child to trace over in rocks, or whatever objects you have on hand. You could even go on a rock hunt around your local neighbourhood to find some to use.

Make chalk roads, or even a whole town for trucks and cars to drive on. Find things in the enviornment to create trees, tunnels, bridges and more!

Dip chalk into water for a minute, once the chalk is wet, use it to draw on dark construction paper.

MRSedgar

MRSedgar

FUN WITH CONTACT Tape some contact onto a surface, sticky side out. Head outside with your little one to find leaves, flowers, and other things in your environment to stick up and create art with! Use this same idea to make stained glass art by outlining pictures and filling them in with cellophane squares. Try a butterfly, rainbow or something else entirely! Trace a picture of a tree and find leaves outside to stick onto it.

SENDING MAIL Using a shoebox, cut a slot at the top to make a postbox. Allow your child to decorate. Show your child how to create a postcard by writing or drawing a message. Have your child ‘mail’ their postcard. Read and send them back something.

PLACEMATS Have your child create their own placemat. Simply decorate an A3 piece of card then laminate or use contact to protect.

WATER PLAY Explore objects that float and sink. Using foil, household scraps, etc. help your child create a boat that can float!

MATCHING PUZZLESDraw the outline of your child’s toys on paper and see if they can match their toys to the outline.

BALL TOSS Place a bucket on the floor and have your child try to throw a ball into it from a distance. Make it harder by getting them to take a step back.

MRSedgar

3 WAYS TO PLAY WITH DUPLO

1. Challenge your child to make the tallest construction possible, or create something symmetical. Make an animal

or a house for a toy. Your challenge can be as simple or

as challenging for your child as you set it out to be!

2. Create the letter of your name using Duplo, or make

your whole name!

3. Trace Duplo bricks to create a shape on a piece of paper. Have your child fit the bricks inside it.

MRSedgar

3 WAYS TO PLAY WITH PAINT

1. Use matchbox cars and other vehicles to paint tracks. Compare

the different wheel patterns.

2. Write an “invisible” message in white crayon, then paint over it

to reveal the secret! You can even practise writing letters, numbers,

words, or drawing shapes and pictures.

3. Experiment with using different kitchen utensils (e.g. potato

masher, fork, whisk) to dip into paint and stamp with. Challenge your child to turn some of their

dried stamps into a picture using a black marker.

MRSedgar

Put 1 cup of rice, 1/2 tsp vinegar + several drops of food colouring into a zip lock. Shake well,

spread onto baking paper and leave to dry for a couple of hours.

Read! Re-enact the story, go on a bear hunt, put on a puppet show, draw favourite scenes, set up a play phone for your child to speak to a book character...

Set up small world play, bury objects/letters/words for your child to find, mix two colours

together to see what happens. The possibilities are endless!

RAINBOW RICE

READINGKINETIC SAND

EASY FUN FOR EVERYONE!Here are some evergreen activities that always seem to impress my little ones. We come back to these activities every few days or weeks as they seem to be timeless, but each time we may vary it slightly to keep things fresh!

MRSedgar

Hide objects (story stones/duplo people/matchbox cars etc) in the backyard and see if your child can find where they are hiding. Alternatively, hide alphabet letters and

have your child make as many words as they can with what they find.

Mix colours, stick spaghetti into it, add googly eyes and feathers. Use shells, make leaf prints, add glitter. The

possibilities are endless!Recipe here: t.ly/b9er1

Dip blocks into paint and stamp onto paper! For older children, challenge them to make a

picture using the shape stamps.

Set up small world play, freeze flowers or toys (e.g. small figurines, duplo) inside ice cubes and have fun looking at them and watching

them melt.

PLAYDOUGH

BLOCK PAINTING

ICE PLAY

GARDEN HIDE AND SEEK

MRSedgar

Bring out a small wash tub, clean water and a tea towel and let your child clean

all of their toys! Guaranteed fun AND productive.

Set up a scavenger hunt by creating a list of things for your child to find.

All you need is some non-toxic acrylic paint and some medium-sized stones. Create animals, pictures,

letters etc. Hide them in your garden!

Randomly tape strips onto paper. Allow your child to paint each space using different colours, not

worrying about paiting on the tape. Help your child peel back the tape to reveal their art!

HOUSE DUTIES

SCAVENGER HUNT

PAINTING STONES

PAINTING WITH TAPE

MRSedgar

MRSedgar

WHAT ELSE?I Set up an obstacle courseI Make pizzas, pancakes or something else that’s quick and easyI Scoop up toys from the bath using a fishing netI Read an online book I Set up a tea party with hats, food, toys and musicI Make a cubby I Paint with water I Meditate: t.ly/2XMej I Pre-cut shapes from construction paper. Have your child create pictures using only shapesI Do a paper plate craftI Blow bubbles I Throw beanbags into a hoop I Create a treasure huntI Start a veggie garden

I Play eye spyI Do a puzzleI Create your own memory gameI Use dot markers to create a rainbowI Create a sign for your bedroom door I Make a stained glass window with black construction card and cellophaneI Dance (or learn an easy dance online) I Play GoNoodle: t.ly/GxbdmI Create a nature scavenger huntI Set up a role play area, such as a shop, a doctor's surgery, vet etc.I Dress upI Play a boardgameI Wash doll’s clothing and hang out to dryI Write a letter and post it

MRSedgar

I Play eye spyI Do a puzzleI Create your own memory gameI Use dot markers to create a rainbowI Create a sign for your bedroom door I Make a stained glass window with black construction card and cellophaneI Dance (or learn an easy dance online) I Play GoNoodle: t.ly/GxbdmI Create a nature scavenger huntI Set up a role play area, such as a shop, a doctor's surgery, vet etc.I Dress upI Play a boardgameI Wash doll’s clothing and hang out to dryI Write a letter and post it

MRSedgar

Mrs Edgarwww.mrsedgar.com.au