CreativePlay Plus: Ideas in Play and Child Development

Children can practice using their senses by looking for how things are alike and different in the great outdoors! Using nature also gives children an opportunity to appreciate being outside and exploring! Both activities below are great ways to help your child focus on details and makes paying attention a fun game!

Tree Sense!

If it’s possible, this works best where there are many different options of trees and plants.

First, blindfold your child and gently lead them to a tree. Stand with them and encourage them to get to the know tree using their senses! Ask them to feel and smell the bark, feel for leaves and estimate how big around the tree is by hugging the trunk. When they feel that they “know” the tree, lead them back to where you started (spin them around a few times) and take off the blindfold.

Now, have your child try to find their tree.

• What senses helped them to locate their tree?
• What things made that tree unique?
• Take turns and have them blindfold you and lead you to a tree!

Match Game

Ask your child to pick from a selection of objects (like a fuzzy stuffed animal, waxy crayon, or triangle-shaped object) and a color from their shirt and challenge them to walk outside and find textures, shapes, and colors that match their choices. Ask your child what ways they are different and how are they are same. They can record their findings in a journal with words or pictures. Have fun exploring!

With your child, pretend to shrink to the size of ants and have some fun looking at the world from a different perspective.  Ask your child to lead an ant-sized nature walk and find four things along the way that are interesting. Use a stone, small stick, or toothpick to mark these special spots.

After the walk, talk about the spots they marked and what makes them interesting. Talk about how these areas look to a person and compare it to an ant’s perspective. Feel free to pretend to be other animals like a bird flying high or squirrel jumping through the trees! Encourage your child to use his or her imagination and have fun role playing together!

With summer winding down it’s important to take the opportunity to go outside while the weather is nice and explore nature with your child! This month, we will be posting activities to help engage you and your child in nature that can be done anywhere, at anytime, with anyone. Be on the lookout for new posts each Thursday to encourage outdoor playtime and sparking your child’s interest in nature!

There are a number of ways to encourage your child’s creativity. As your child plays, you could ask questions that help your child elaborate their stories. Asking questions like “What happens next?” and “How are they feeling?” helps guide your child to develop a cohesive story. In addition, it engages them in the story so that they may think about ideas they may not have come up with otherwise, and encourages them to persevere and continue playing with an idea.

Caretakers should try not to not pressure the child to develop a story, but rather, it is important to observe and offer guidance when the child seems “stuck,” and to praise your child often for expressing emotions and using their imagination. Paying attention to your child’s playtime activities tells them that play is important. It also allows them to express themselves and communicate in a way that is most accessible to them. It is helpful to set aside time for your child to play freely without outside distractions and to offer times in the day when your child can play spontaneously.

To help your child think creatively, you might try asking questions like:

· What would it be like to have an amusement park all to yourself?

· What would it be like to go to a zoo on the moon?

· What would you do if you had a pet dinosaur?

· How many different ways can we use this block?

Or make up a story together. You could offer suggestions like making up a story about a boy or girl who has special powers.

Also, remember that it’s important to give your child time to play out their ideas and think creatively on their own without adult involvement.

How do you encourage your child to play creatively?