Play - Excavating sand castles

We added an extra element to building and knocking down sandcastles by hiding varies objects inside the castle.  It is very simple but here is what we did:

You will need

sand

a container to use as a bucket to make the castle (any shape or size)

objects that are smaller than container that you don’t mind getting sandy and slightly damp i.e. stones, blocks, toys

surface to turn castles out onto

optional – different objects to help excavate sand i.e. spade, spoon, brush, twigs

How to

Put some sand into base of container.  Add object and fill around and on top of it with sand.  Turn out.  Luath enjoyed both knowing what was hidden and also having me secretly hide an object.  We did this on Luath’s sand table so we only hid one object per small castle.

Have fun uncovering object with fingers or using various objects.

I tried to demonstrate slowly and carefully revealing the object but Luath preferred to get in and get it done.

Outdoor Play – It’s not just throwing stones, we are learning

As kids we used to say “you are a townie” if when you reached water you immediately started throwing stones into it. (We meant that rural kids wouldn’t get that excited about water but if you lived in the city it would be a great novelty).  We definitely don’t live in a city or town and we couldn’t live much closer to water unless we lived on it, but you will find us frequently throwing stones into the water.  Luath loves it and actually there is a lot of learning going on. 

20 things we are learning while we throw stones

Nature
 
Hands on – feeling different textures and temperatures of objects
Observing surroundings - lots to see and talk about
Weather – experiencing rain, wind, sun, fog…
Language skills
Lots of opportunity for new words, phrases, descriptions
Maths

Big/little
Heavy/Light
Counting
Comparing/matching
Science

Displacement – of water as stone hits
Gravity
Sound – different noise depending on stone size and water depth
Energy – kinetic energy from the stone produces ripples
Float or sink – throwing different objects
Timing
Throwing on the count of three
Fine motor skills

Picking up small objects = with bare hands, gloves and mittens
Manipulating objects in both left and right hands
Gross motor skills

Balancing
Bending
Throwing – underhand, overhand, unilateral, bilateral, aiming
Multi tasking
Balancing, bending turning and picking - in Luath's case also usually while talking

And the most important thing is that it is fun.
(Luath is 27 months)
Shared with Outdoor Play link up via Learning for Life see other outdoor play ideas linked up

Simple Science – sink or float in a puddle

Luath was very happy to see the return of some big puddles in the woods.  Once she had done quite a few return trips through them all we played a game of sink or float.

We took turns picking up an object and asking sink or float before throwing it into the puddle to discover what it would do.

Luath did say sink for most things – perhaps wishful thinking.  At one point she stamped on some moss to make it sink.

Stones were the only ones to sink.

Everything else floated.
   
(Luath is 27 months)

Outdoors Play – Taking toy vehicles outside

I was attempting to fork over a 1m square area that will be Luath’s vegetable and flower garden spot.  Luath was very keen to help but after two goes with her tools she had had enough. I suggested she might like to pick up some stones and put them in a tub but today that wasn’t what she had in mind. I wanted her to stay nearby me (our garden is mostly safe for her to wander but not fully yet).  One thing she enjoys is rolling objects, especially her toy vehicles down a plank indoors.

We collected her bag of vehicles and brought the slide to where I was forking.  Luath’s independent play depends on her mood and what she is doing so sometimes she played alone, sometimes she played and talked with me and other times we both played together.  It was a fun game to play.
 
She did keep a close eye on my forking and especially became very interested when I unearthed three small potatoes.  Her digger did a little work and it found two small pebbles which Luath described as seed potatoes. 
(Luath is 25 months)

Outdoors- Stick Man Adventures

We have borrowed the book Stick Man by Julia Donaldson twice, the last time was around Christmas. but it remains a favourite in our household.  Some of the books we read seem to become part of our everyday life, often we do or quote things from them. 

We have had a few stick men on our walks and many have made it home.  One poor stick man was undergoing a medical and ended up with a broken limb.  Luckily I had just made a plaster cast and he recovered with the help of sticky tape underpants.


Today when we were out for a walk Luath spied a stick (one I had also seen but hadn’t said so) and told me it was stick man.  I gave him arms by attaching another stick using some long grass.  He even looked like he had eyes, although he did have quite a leg length discrepancy!  We found a perfect home for him in a tree.  Luath immediately asking where his family were.

We gave his house a door.

Stick man tried on a new outfit – a mainly moss and leaves jumper.
    
Luath helped him cross the Troll’s bridge.

Sadly one of his arms broke so he is now featuring a new set of arms, but is quite happy sitting on the outdoor window ledge among our stone collection.
(Luath is 25 months)

Taking a rice sensory tub outdoors

It had been months since  Luath explored some rice.  We retried again about two weeks ago and she enjoyed the experience however rice ended up everywhere.  I had placed the tub on a large plastic sheet but it still escaped – getting stuck into Luath’s clothes, pinging out as transferred etc.  I try to be relaxed about mess, but when the mess spreads over a large area it is a bit of a pest.  I wanted to let Luath really explore the rice and not feel like I was constraining her, but it was a thought to bring the tub out again.  One day when we were playing outdoors, Luath spied the rice in the kitchen cupboard where I keep some toys for easy access while outdoors, and asked to play with it. Outdoors, I thought what a perfect place.

We had lots of fun scooping, pouring, whisking, running rice through our hands….  Luath started standing but then I brought out two step stools for us.  Luath did decide she was going to eat some rice and she thought it was very yummy. 

There was quite a bit of rice on the patio after we were finished which Luath asked to sweep up.  At the moment for us outdoors is definitively the best place for the rice sensory tub. 
(Luath is 25 months)

 Shared at Living Montessori Now

Outdoors - A homemade basketball hoop

We have a small basketball which sits under a bench on the patio.  It belonged to our previous dog, one of the balls he couldn't burst.  Our current dog prefers tennis ball sized balls.  Luath recovered the basketball from its resting place and immediately asked for a basketball hoop.  I am not sure where she learnt that from.  I had a look in the shed to see what we could use as a hoop and managed to make one using a hula hoop - it was used as an agility training toy with our dogs, some garden netting and bag ties.

I attached the hoop to Luath’s upside down slide using some rope.

Luath loves the hoop and has played with it a lot.  It reminds me so much of the USA as most homes around me had basketball hoops and I used to play quite often with my friends and their kids.

(Luath is 25 months)

Outdoor – Play while I try to sweep ending in a fun water hose game

We are having some gorgeous dry days – warm in the sun, frosty in the shade.  For us no rain is great even if it is cold.  After a  dog walk I thought I would try and do a little bit of patio sweeping and maybe another few small garden jobs.  Luath loves to sweep, she has an indoor and outdoor brush, so I thought we would sweep together but Luath had other ideas.  I thought it was fun to record how Luath played while I swept and how a job that really only would take about 10 minutes can take a lot lot longer with a toddler in tow.

A little bit of sweeping, then checking out the brush.

She then wanted to play on her slide – she needs help on this – so she had a few goes and I had a few pretend goes. She decided she then wanted to go indoors but to try to keep her outside I suggested some wall painting.  I gave her tubs of paint I had made a few weeks ago from food colouring, flour, water and salt. She enjoyed this for a little time – she loves the idea of painting but gets bored quite quickly, I had hoped the novelty of painting outdoors and on the wall would engage her.

Next she asked to go on her swing.  I managed to do some sweeping while I pushed her. She had another go on her slide and rolled some pine cones down it.  She then happily entertain herself investigating various items on the patio area while I finished sweeping.  I decided to clean our bird baths.  Luath thought we should use the hose and quickly climbed up but got distracted by some slates in a box.

Luath climbed down once I said I would use the hose, so we cleaned and filled the two bird baths.

Water hose game
I let Luath hold the hose herself.  I told her she was like a fire fighter and set up a pot to be the fire for her to put out.  The pot moved when it was hit at it’s base.  I then set up a few pots for her to aim and move.  It was quite a skill to get the water onto the pots as Luath tended to told the hose so the water was going upward.

We then build some pot towers, these proved tough to knock down completely.

We don’t use the hose often as we collect rain water (plenty of that usually here!) but I will definitely involve Luath for any future hose usage.

 

Shared with Tuesday tots via Rainy Day mum and outdoor play via Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Outdoor Play – Ice fish fishing

This was a spur of the moment game but it was lots of fun for the short time we played.On the way out for our dog walk Luath spied her fishing net and was desperate to take it with her.  We have taken many things on our walks but I managed to persuade Luath to leave it behind and we would play it on our return.

When we returned I took out a tub and added various coloured ice shapes – fish, starfish and flowers, that were left over from some bath time play.

We then used the net to do some catching.  Luath enjoyed checking the net to see what she caught and then laying her catch out on our small outdoor table.

Luath would have continued this game for a long time but her hands were getting very cold.  It would be a fun game on a hot day.  For the meantime I’ll need to find some non melting fish so we can play with warmer water.
Shared with
(Luath is 25 months)

A story walk with chalk

One of our summer bucket list experiences is to go for a story walk.  I have thought of a few ideas, some I am sure we will do, however they all involve some prep and props to carry.  Then this morning I suddenly thought I could use chalk – thank you the playing outside chalk link up for putting chalk to the front of my mind.

We often tell stories while we are out walking the dog.  We start our walks with me wearing Luath,  I try to give the dog a decent pace walk initially.  Some days Luath is happy just to bounce along, looking and talking.  Some days she starts singing or repeating words from a story, so we will do that.  Other days she is so desperate to get down I start reciting a story (either made up or from a favourite book), often involving us looking for things and this distracts her for a while.  The two favourites to tell in the woods are “The Gruffalo” and “Going on a bear hunt”.  I picked The Gruffalo for today’s story walk. 

First up at the side of the path, the mouse

Luath saw me drawing the mouse, but was so excited when we stepped back and there he was. 

All ready to start his walk in the deep dark woods.
            
We walked on a bit.  I said some of the story, and asked Luath what did the mouse see first.  When she said fox, then I started singing “we are looking for a fox, looking for a fox”.   We found him on the base of a tree, just above his underground house.

The fox and the mouse exchanged words and then on we went walking past the rocks where the Gruffalo enjoys roasted fox.  Again I asked Luath who the mouse met next and so next up we were “looking for an owl, looking for an owl”.  And we found him just below his treetop house

OK daddy said when he saw the photos it looked like a cat, but Luath told me it was an owl. The owl invited the mouse to his tree top house, but the mouse was off to meet a Gruffalo, and meeting him by a stream,(which is at our walks halfway point so we just pointed in the direction of the stream) 

We kept walking through the deep dark woods, there was a gap in the story, but we recapped on the story so far and then "we were looking for a snake". We came to a log pile house.

And met a snake

Who slid off at the mention of scrambled snake by a lake (there are four lochans in the wood so we pointed to the nearest one), 

Luath was getting keen to walk as this is the point in the woods where she usually gets down.  We just had time to spy the Gruffalo.

Normally our walk is a loop but today we about turned and retraced our steps so The Gruffalo could follow behind the mouse and meet all the creatures in the woods.  Luath spied the snake quickly.

I had forgotten which tree the Owl was on but we saw the fox and the mouse.  While we were walking back we stomped like a Gruffalo, flapped our wings like the owl, sneaked like the fox, were quiet like the mouse and slid like the snake – Luath when down on the ground to be a snake.

Luath also had a go at drawing with the chalk on some tree stumps (no photos as I was too busy keeping her safe).  I have an idea how she can be more involved with the drawing next time - I picked up some bark and some washed down slate.  It was getting too near our lunchtime to try that today.

What a fun outing and it was so good that all I had to do for preparation was put some chalk in a bag.  We will definitely do this again.  The Gruffalo fits in well, especially as all the creatures are lurking in our woods, we have seen field mice in the stone dyke, daddy has seen an owl, I think there are grass snakes, there are foxes about (they are more shy than their town cousins) and of course The Gruffalo is there somewhere.  I am thinking of other stories we can try out.

(Luath is 17 months)

linking up with

Tuesday Tots, see what other tots are up to,

playing outside chalk, see more ideas with chalk

read, explore, learn, see more ideas based on children's books