Category: Play

Play

Sparkle Slime

Zuby & Beans
We used pink rhinestones for our sparkle slime.

Supplies

  • 1/4 tsp Borax Powder
  • 1/2 cup clear glue
  • 1 cup warm water (divided into half cups)
  • 2 bowls
  • Optional: glitter or rhinestones
We love using Elmer’s glue to make our slime.

Instructions

  1. Combine borax and half a cup of warm water in a bowl. Stir until the borax is completely dissolved.
  2. Combine glue and half a cup of warm water in the second bowl. Stir until well mixed.
  3. Pour borax mixture into the glue mixture and stir. You will see the slime start to form. Add glitter or rhinestones.
  4. Remove slime from bowl and begin to knead. Continue to knead until you are happy with your slime. Have fun 🙂
Add some sparkle to your day with some sparkle slime.

Skills

  • Science
  • Math – measurement
  • Sensory

Sparkle slime

create, Play

Snow Colouring

Zuby & Beans
Snow painting is “snow” much fun!

Supplies

  • Empty spray bottles (the Dollar Store usually has nice mini ones)
  • Food colouring or liquid colours
  • Squeeze bottles

Instructions

  1. Fill bottle with water.
  2. Add a few drops of colour.
  3. Shake!
  4. Repeat for as many colours as you would like.
  5. Take your bottle out into the snow and create!
Snow paint is easy to make, with just a few ingredients.

Skills

  • Art
  • Creative
  • Fine motor
  • Science
  • Gross motor
  • Writing
  • Drawing
  • Colour mixing
  • Nature
Beautiful heart painted in snow!
Play

Hide the “Doggie”

Zuby & Beans
Hide the “Doggie” helps build confidence.

Recommended age 8 months and up

Supplies

  • Stuffed animal or doll

Instructions

  1. Hide the stuffed animal nearby with a little bit of him sticking out (so that he is easy to find).
  2. Say to your child “Where is Doggie?”
  3. See if your child can find him. If this game is new, you may need to say “Let’s find him” and help your child to find Doggie.
  4. Once you find him say “Yay! You found Doggie!”
  5. Have fun and use lots of praise and excitement in your voice.

Adaptations/Tips:

  • Start by hiding the object in the same room and slowly increase the difficulty based on the needs of the child.
  • Larger stuffed animals are easier to find, smaller toys make the game a little trickier.
  • Hide different objects. Hide item under a blanket and help your child to pull the blanket off and find the item.

Skills

  • Fine motor
  • Gross motor
  • Object permanence
  • Language
  • Social
  • Emotional
  • Confidence and self esteem
  • Cognitive
Academics, Play

Snow Writing

Zuby & Beans

Supplies

  • Small twig (writing tool)
  • Fresh snow

Instructions

  1. Use your twig to draw shapes, lines and pictures. This is perfect for developing prewriting skills.
  2. Older children can further develop their writing skills by also writing words.
  3. This is a fun way to work on academics, especially for children that don’t enjoy writing.

Adaptations

  • No snow! No problem! This activity can also be done with sand.
  • Children can grab different sizes and different kinds of twigs (ie. twig with pine needles) to experiment and compare the different writing tools.

Skills

  • Fine motor
  • Spelling
  • Language
  • Handwriting
  • Science
  • Nature
  • Hand strength
  • Literacy
  • Creative
create, Play

Cinnamon Play Dough

Zuby & Beans
We used cookie cutters and beads to decorate and play with our play dough.

Supplies

  • 1 cup white flour
  • 3 tbs cinnamon (or sprinkle desired amount)
  • 1/2 cup salt (fine)
  • 2 tbs cream of tartar
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of water
  • Optional: 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar and cinnamon together in a pot.
  2. In a separate bowl combine oil and water together. Slowly add the mixture to dry ingredients while stirring.
  3. Cook on low . Continue to mix until dough is thick and pulls away from the sides. About 3-5 minutes.
  4. Knead! Knead! Knead!

Note: Store play dough in a ziplock bag.

Skills

  • Science
  • Math – measurements
  • Social skills
  • Creative
  • Fine motor
  • Imaginative play
  • Sensory
Play

Scarf Play

Zuby & Beans

Supplies

  • Scarves

Instructions

  1. Provide your infant or toddler with scarves and watch them play.

Note: As with all of our activities, we recommend that they be completed under the supervision of an adult.

Adaptations

  • Add music
  • Practice fast and slow movements
  • Peek-a-boo
  • Hide and find objects under a scarf
  • Sing songs (language)
  • Name colours and movements
  • Add musical instruments such as shakers
  • Use descriptive language, such as “ lift your scarf high to the sky like a cloud”, “shake your scarf low like a squiggly snake”
  • Add to block play
  • Incorporate books or stories

Skills

  • Grasping
  • Fine motor skills
  • Object permanence
  • Motor skills
  • Sensory skills
  • Cognitive skills
  • Sight – tracking and movement
  • Eye hand coordination
  • Imaginative play
create, Play

Cloud Dough

Zuby & Beans

Supplies

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • Optional: 5 drops of lavender, orange or lemon essential oil

Instructions

  1. Add flour and vegetable oil together in a large bowl.
  2. Add 5 drops of essential oil.
  3. Mix the ingredients together with your hands and knead to form a dough.

Notes:

Cloud dough is as an ultra soft crumbly yet moldable dough.

This recipe can be made in full and stored in a plastic bin with lid for sensory play. Or, the ingredients can be reduced by half, if you would like to make a smaller amount.

Adaptations

  • Use ice cream props for an ice cream shop (pompoms for sprinkles)
  • Create a menu (writing skills and literacy)
  • Use little cups, mini sand toys and molds for play
  • Add animals for small world play
  • Use measuring cups for practicing math skills and measuring

Skills

  • Sensory
  • Math
  • Science
  • Fine motor
  • Small world play
  • Dramatic play
  • Creative play
Play

Wooden Peg People Play

Zuby & Beans

Supplies

  • Wooden peg dolls

Instructions

  1. Provide children with wooden peg dolls for dramatic play.
  2. The dolls can be painted or left unpainted. Wooden dolls allow children to use their imagination. This is especially true with unpainted dolls, which allow children to play and create a world that they have imagined. The unpainted dolls can become any race, gender, age or profession.

Adaptations and Extensions of Play

  • Use with your favourite books to promote literacy skills

Skills

  • Literacy skills when combined with story books
  • Imaginative play
  • Creative play
  • Dramatic play
  • Social skills
  • Language skills
  • Socioemotional skills
  • Empathy
  • Narrative skills
  • Retelling stories and attention to recall
  • Vocal skills
  • Tactile skills
  • Sequencing
  • Verbal skills
  • Listening skills
  • Acting out real life experiences through imaginative play
  • Diversity – seeing similarities and differences in the dolls to oneself and family
  • Turn taking and conversation skills, if playing with others
  • Cognitive skills
  • Expressive language
create, Play

No Cook Play Dough

Zuby & Beans

Supplies

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 3/4 tbsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tbsp of oil (add to water)
  • 1 1/3 cups water
  • Optional:
  • Food colouring
  • Lavender essential oil (10 drops)

Directions

  1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
  2. If adding food colouring and essential oil, add to boiling water.
  3. Add wet ingredients to dry and knead until dough forms.
  4. Have fun!

Note: Only an adult should be adding the boiling water.

Adaptations

  • Use buttons or shapes for counting or pattern making by sticking the items to play dough
  • Use play dough to create an ice cream shop or bakery
  • Add kitchen tools and allow children to explore different uses
  • Use with peg dolls or animal figurines in small world play
  • Add empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls to create structures
  • Playdough makes an excellent addition to loose parts

Skills

  • Science
  • Math – measurements
  • Social skills
  • Creative
  • Fine motor
  • Imaginative play
  • Sensory