Playtime!

This summer we are inviting a flow of kids to our house.  Since our street is sadly without many youngsters I like to help organize playtime with others.  We have been having big kid play dates with other four and five year olds.  I am hoping this age distinction is not setting up hierarchal behaviors, rather I hope it is just allowing for uninterrupted big kid play. 

Then in order to promote positive open ended and imaginative play I try to keep a list of activities up my sleeves & also add new elements into the yard.  I also suggest always having a snack break & even an art activity (play dough, pastels and watercolors have worked well for us).  

Here are a few of the elements we have introduced so far:

The boys had an idea that kids would want to make tools out of cardboard so we had created a “creation station”… and one of my kiddos said, we could even make boats.   The station has grown and now includes scissors, string, a hole punch and pipe cleaners.  There is starting to be pipe cleaner art all over the yard. 

I set out a laminated card of Washington Birds  and when the kids discovered it and went bird watching.   

We have scrap wood all over the yard (without nails) and it is perfect for building/ stacking/ and painting with mud and also for making balance experiments and activities by putting boards on bricks.  This was a child’s discovery and a great way to explore fulcrums, balance & catapults. 

Last week I hid little animals and had the kids find them in the yard and then build an animal habitat. 

Some of the imaginary events that have occurred:

fishing with sticks (pipe cleaner hooks + fish)

tide pool games

play house

zoo & zoo keeper

The best play comes from the kids themselves so beyond props I try to stay at the periphery.  

The Rain is Coming Down

It has been a while since my last post, perhaps I have just been waiting for the weather to change.  In any case, this fall has been glorious.  The leaves have only just now shed the trees.   The low sun accompanied by long shadows has been present each day and the boys have played in leaves, rode their bikes and taken long walks throughout the neighborhood almost every day.

Now the rain has come:  The grey sky a cloak.  The air full of water.   

Nevertheless, the boys are happily playing.  Their mud pit comes alive when the water falls.  Water soaks the soil.  It streams from gutters.  The boys are thrilled.  For the past two hours they have not wanted to come in even though it feels wet and cold to me.  Instead they are happily singing and busily rushing around.  They are creating inventions with string and an old cook pot.  They are floating the wooden boats they made from scrap lumber in the puddle they filling with water from the gutters.

 One moment the mud is asphalt and they are stirring it up.  They have grand visions in mind.  Perhaps,  these visions are informed by the diggers and dump trucks we have been watching excavate the land for a new apartment building that will be dressing the skyline of our neighborhood. In any case the boys are having a great day of play.