Promoting Play with Every Day Objects

Rain Gutters are a great "every day" item that add hours
of fun and learning exploration to your day!

I'm sharing a bit more from the wonderful book Let Them Play An Early Learning (Un) Curriculum by Jeff A Johnson and Denita Dinger today. I cannot come up with enough great things to say about this book! It is so difficult to pick just a few highlights to share with you, because this book literally is jam packed with amazing information!

One of the tidbits I love, and I'm jumping all over the book.... comes from Chapter 7, Where they encourage you to take baby steps towards an (un)curriculum. Denita and Jeff encourage you to experiment, to add different every day activities, mixing up every day items with varying locations and actions. Try moving things from inside out, or outside in.... or try doing things under the table instead of on top! There are so many basic baby steps you can take to experiment and change things up a bit!

Toilet Paper, The Awesome Vaccum of Fun and
Oodles of children at the Family Fun Night for the UP Early Childhood Conference,
So much laughter, learning, and play!

We love to use all kinds of every day objects in our program. Having things that have no prescribed purpose, open ended loose parts really allow the children to explore, create, and use their imaginations to explore! I love how the book encourages you to extend those opportunities by making small changes like the location of an activity, thus allowing for further explorations and extensions!

Is there anything more engaging than a cardboard box?

If you missed the beginning post, in regard to my

extended book review and giveaway-

you will find it here:

Let Them Play! Giveaway ;).

Here is a list of the prizes:

There will be 3 Lucky Winners!

Lucky winner #1 will receive a copy of Let Them Play An Early Learning (Un) Curriculum
by Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger (courtesy of Explorations Early Learning)

Lucky winner #2 will receive a gift package of natural wooden blocks handmade by B&B Blocks

(The winner will receive one set of blocks, not all of the options shown in the photo)

and

Lucky winner #3 will win a package of homemade finger puppets from Lori's Creative Delights!
(Actual finger puppet characters may vary from those shown in photo)

Now, for today, Here is your comment question:

What is your favorite every day object that you like to include in the environment for the children to explore?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easter Egg Caterpillars!

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My friend died

I learned a hell of a lot from Dan Hodgins. He was mentor, a friend, and a "bone shaker" for many of us in the field of Early Childhood Education. He was and will always be a champion for children, and protector of childhood. I have so many great memories of time spent with him, it just doesn't seem like we had enough time. Dan died this past Saturday. Interestingly enough, Dan and I talked about death quite a bit. It is one of those topics that isn't talked about all that much in our field, but is super important. All living things eat, all living things poop, and all living things die. Dan and I recorded a podcast for awhile called "Shaking Bones." Dan was always shaking bones, even before I met him. To say I was honored to be asked to be his co-host would be putting it lightly. I loved recording with him. He was never afraid to touch on topics that were a bit edgy, or issues that sometimes weren't talked about much at all. We even...

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...

Janis said…

I like to add clothespins. You never know what the children will find to clip them on to, hook together, hook to each other, use to pick up and move an object, etc. While they are doing all those things, the muscles in their hands are being strengthened for fine motor skills.

May 9, 2012 at 5:36 PM

Heather@Cultivated Lives said…

My favorite everyday object is bamboo skewers. My kids use them for all kinds of things!

May 16, 2012 at 10:12 PM

Adina said…

Rice. It's great and soothing for kids. You can also dye it and mix it up to learn about colors

May 17, 2012 at 10:09 AM