Category: Play

Practice literacy skills while having fun searching the outdoors with our printable winter scavenger hunt.

Looking for an easy activity you can make at home with leftover chocolate boxes?

Supplies

• Empty box of chocolates
• Coloured pompoms
• Coloured stickers

Directions

1. Place a sticker in each chocolate indentation.
2. Set out the empty chocolate box with pompoms.
3. Help your child match the pompoms to the corresponding coloured sticker.

Adaptations/Extensions of Play

• Use the materials for dramatic play
• Try using different fine motor tools to pick up each pompom (large tweezers, mini tongs, grabbers) etc

Skills

• Colour recognition
• Matching
• Sorting
• Math Language – talk about what you are doing 🙂
• Visual discrimination
• Fine motor
• Concentration
• Eye – Hand coordination
• Dramatic play – allow children to play with the chocolate box however they choose.

Supplies

• Multiple coloured manipulatives (erasers, balls, coloured cotton balls, buttons, etc)
• Felt pieces in colours of manipulatives (pieces of coloured construction paper can be used, or you can draw the colour with a marker on paper)

Instructions

1. Set out your coloured pieces of felt on a table or the floor.
2. Set out a basket of different coloured manipulatives that match the felt pieces.
3. Children will explore mathematical concepts as they match the manipulatives to the corresponding pieces of felt.

Skills

• Fine motor
• Colour recognition
• Sorting
• Cognitive skills
• Visual discrimination skills

Supplies

• 2 large mixing bowls (or containers, buckets)
• Slotted spoon
• Balls (or other objects that float)
• Water

Instructions

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with water.
2. Put the balls into the bowl with water and place the other bowl beside it.
3. Give your child the slotted spoon and allow them to catch the balls with the spoon and transfer balls to the other bucket.
4. This is a lot of fun and can also be challenging while developing eye hand coordination skills.

Note:

• We recommend placing a lot of towels on the ground surrounding the area of this activity, to prevent children from slipping.

Skills

• Eye hand coordination

Supplies

• Laundry basket or box

Instructions

1. Provide your child with a box or laundry basket and join in the fun.
2. Play is easy when you use what you have at home!
3. Refer to the skills section below for ideas and skills developed.

Skills

• Gross motor: toss balls, beanbags, or stuffed toys into the basket
• Fine motor: weave scarves through the holes
• Dramatic play: place stuffed animals inside to create a zoo
• Hop into your basket and pretend you are driving a bus, car, boat or train
• Play peek-a-boo!
• Self reg: fill your basket with a blanket, pillows and your favourite book to create a cozy reading nook

What else can you create with a basket? The ideas are endless 🙂

Looking for a fun activity that requires zero planning and zero set up? Say no more, we’ve got you covered!

Supplies

• Shaving cream
• Sponge
• Table

Instructions

1. Spray shaving cream onto a table and give your child a sponge.
2. Have fun wiping away the foamy shaving cream.

Adaptations/Extensions of Play

• Use your finger to draw shapes, lines and pictures. This is perfect for developing prewriting skills.
• Older children can further develop their writing skills by also writing words.

Skills

• Fine motor
• Spelling
• Language
• Handwriting
• Hand strength
• Literacy
• Creative