CreativePlay Plus: Ideas in Play and Child Development

The holiday season is in full swing, and for many people, this means Christmas shopping for children is at the top of their list. If you have kids on your list this year, there are plenty of ways to make sure they aren’t just overwhelmed by store-bought Christmas gifts, but instead get a chance to receive some great toys for creative play which can be used all year long!

One way to avoid the pressures of the retail world at Christmas is to make your own Christmas gifts for the children on your list. For toddlers, homemade play dough is a sure hit. You can create endless options using food coloring, and storage is simple with the use of disposable storage containers. Just be sure you use the kind with tight lids to keep the dough from drying out too quickly.

Homemade blocks are another great idea for toddlers. Using such simple things as empty milk cartons and paper bags, you can quickly and easily make a full set of alphabet or number blocks — Christmas gifts little ones will be entertained by for hours.

For slightly older children, Christmas gifts like playsilks are a versatile and fun alternative to traditional dress-up costumes. Purchased in basic white, these inexpensive playsilks can be dyed with Kool-Aid (yes, Kool-Aid!) and used in a variety of ways to create endless costume combinations.

Finally, if you spend any amount of time around kids, chances are you’ve built up a supply of crayons, many of which have been worn down to almost nothing. But that doesn’t mean these hard-to-handle nubs can’t be repurposed! In fact, you can use them to make colorful, chunky crayons which are easy to hold, and fun Christmas gifts for children of almost any age.