{Three to Five Playful Preschool: New Resource for Parents}

Three to Five: Playful Preschool

Creative, Hands-On Learning

It's here! And you're going to LOVE all the brilliant, playful learning activities inside! The awesome new preschoolers' parent resource I was telling you about, "Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is ready for you all to download!

Why is it so awesome? Well, aside from the fact that Mama Pea Pod is a co-author (ahem!), there are plenty of reasons:

"Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is loaded with fun, play-based learning activities to help support your preschooler's development - from early literacy to early math learning to gross and fine motor skills to science and art, this e-book will help you provide learning experiences for your preschooler across a broad range of developmental skill areas through age-appropriate, play-based learning activities.

In addition to more than 25 playful learning activities and links to over 50 more activities and resources, the book also comes with 10 free printables to complement the activities - all brought to you by some amazing kids' activities bloggers including Nurturestore, Teach Preschool, Happy Hooligans, No Time for Flashcards and many more! And as an ebook, it is available everywhere worldwide for download directly to your computer, e-reader, and/or mobile device, so you always have it handy when you need it!*

And it's a steal! You can get your copy for the regular price of only $8.99! It's waiting for you :-) 

Here are some more reasons why you should get your hands on your own copy:

*It's an amazing resource!

*Hands-on, play-based learning activities

*Inspiring ideas, yet practical for every parent

*Handy checklist of developmental skills covered by each activity

*Convenience - with everything all in one place, just think how much time you will save by having all that searching already done for you!

*Gorgeous photographs with step-by-step guides - and all things you can easily do at home!

*Over 25 ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources (including a city-scape play scene, My First Journal pages, recipe card, numbers game, weather chart printables, alphabet play mats, unique hand-drawn art pages, conversation cards, block building challenge cards, bookmarks) and additional links to over 50 more activities!

*A range of activities to meet your preschooler's various developmental needs: hands-on, learning through play, math, language, literacy, science, art, sensory, gross motor and fine motor play and more

*At only $8.99 (regular price) you really can't beat that deal!

Think your friends would like a copy? Share this post with them using the share buttons below my signature, below!

* You can buy it now, on any device, and then download it when you are ready. Depending on the apps you have installed and your operating system, you might be able to go ahead and download the book directly onto your mobile device, but if you have any doubts or problems, I recommend you use a computer to download the book and then share it to your mobile devices.

{Come One, Come All, Step Right Up! Awesome Resource for Preschool Parents!}

Come One, Come All! Step Right Up!

Awesome Resource for Parents of {Preschoolers}

Parenting a preschooler is a ton of fun - and a ton of work! There is so much they need from us at this age of learning and discovery, and it can seem like a big responsibility to ensure they have access to all the right learning opportunities! I find myself constantly asking myself, "Are they getting enough fine motor skills practice?", "When was the last time they engaged in sensory play?", "How can we squeeze in more math learning?", and everything else in between! Pinterest is great for finding ideas, but I do find that I spend more time pinning than actually doing!

If you have a preschooler, too, and this sounds familiar, well, I'm thrilled to announce that I might just have exactly what you (and I!) need!

This awesome new e-book, "Three to Five: Playful Preschool" is packed with fun, play-based learning activities for helping to support your preschooler's development - all conveniently in one place! Available now for only $8.99, this is an awesome resource for parents of 3-5 year olds and includes more than 25 playful learning resources plus 10 free printables and links to more than 50 more activities and resources for parents of preschoolers - all brought to you by some amazing kids' activities bloggers, including Nurturestore, Happy Hooligans, Teach Preschool and more (including Mama Pea Pod!) 

Here's why you don't want to miss out:

+ It's an amazing resource!
+ Hands-on, play-based learning activities
+ Inspiring ideas, but really practical and everything all in one place
+ Great photos with step-by-step guides, and all things you can easily try at home
+ Over 25 ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources (including a cityscape play scene, My First Journal pages, recipe card, numbers game, weather chart printables, alphabet play mats, unique hand-drawn art pages, conversation cards, block building challenge cards, bookmarks) and additional links to over 50 more activities!
+ A range of activities to meet your preschooler's various developmental needs: hands-on, learning through play, math, language, literacy, science, art, fine motor and gross motor, and play
+ While similar resources on Amazon retail for anywhere between $15-$25, ours is only $8.99, so order now so you don't miss out!!

Or find out more about Three to Five: Playful Preschool here!

{Cool Dinosaur Small World Play}

Cool Dinosaur Small World Play

with Play Dough and Nature Items

This dinosaur small world play scene was a big hit at Sweet Pea's dinosaur birthday party! The kids had so much fun playing with it, and it was really easy to set up in about 10-15 minutes with just a little preparation ahead of time. All I used was some no-cook homemade play dough and nature items collected from the garden!

A few days before her party, I made several batches of no-cook homemade play dough in 'earthy' colours - shades of blue, brown, grey and green. To make the brown I first tried mixing red and green food colouring, but it made more of a greyish colour (which I used as 'rock' in our dinosaur world.) Then I found it worked much better to make brown if I just added some cocoa powder instead - and it smelled divine, too! In total, to fill our whole sensory play table [affiliate link], I made 5 batches of this no-cook homemade play dough recipe. I stored it in resealable plastic bags to keep it soft and fresh.

I flattened the play dough down in sections to make different landforms - blue for a lake, grey/beige for sand/rocks, brown for mud/earth, and green for grass/forest.

Then I went out to the garden and collected some bits and pieces of nature - clippings from some bushes, bits of grass, twigs, rocks, wood chips, and some flowers. I brought them in and placed them around the dinosaur world - bush/tree clippings, grasses and flowers in the grass/forest area, wood chips and twigs around the brown parts, and rocks to section off areas.

I used some brown play dough to form a volcano shape and rose buds and petals to make the red lava. Then I hid our Playmobil dinosaur set and all the dinosaur toys [affiliate links] I could find in amongst it all.

Doesn't it look fun?

If you have a little dinosaur lover, too, you might also like our Decorated Dinosaur Eggs and our Rainbow Dinosaur Dig!

Follow Mama Pea Pod's board Dinosaur Fun on Pinterest.

{Rainbow Dinosaur Hunt Sensory Play}

Rainbow Dinosaur Dig

Sensory Play

For Sweet Pea's 4th birthday we had a dinosaur themed party. I wanted to keep it easy and not too organized for the kids (all three and four years old), so I tried to have a balance between party games and less structured 'station' type activities. This rainbow dinosaur dig sensory bin was a huge hit! Digging, scooping, pouring, rummaging, squeezing, sifting - the sensory table was the centre of the party action!

To make it, I simply poured in lots of rainbow dyed* barley, rice, tiny star-shaped pasta and lentils, buried some little dinosaur figurines (some regular hard ones and some squishy gummy-style ones [affiliate link], too, for extra sensory stimulation), and tossed in whatever else I could find on hand - some feathers, pipe cleaners, large wooden beads, some wicker balls, and some fake petals. I added a couple of wooden scoops like these [affiliate link] and that was it.

Colourful, playful, sensory play - a preschool party hit!

*To dye the grains, simply put some in a resealable plastic bag, squirt in some food colouring and hand sanitizer and shake like mad. Then lay out in as thin a layer as possible to dry.

Subscribe to Mama Pea Pod for more simple play ideas directly to your inbox - including more dinosaur-themed ideas coming soon!

{Why a Play House is the Perfect Toy for Imaginary Play}

Simple, Creative Play with a Play House 

Let Their Imaginations Run Wild!

Peekaboo! How's the weather?

Imaginary play is definitely the number one choice for playtime at our house, and the addition of a play house has really helped to make our children's imaginary play come to life! Imaginary play is a key ingredient in growing creative kids and has huge intellectual and emotional benefits for children. It allows them opportunities to explore hypotheses, problem-solve, role-play social situations, develop language and literacy skills, and work through emotional stresses. 

Imaginary play: Super sleuth on a bear hunt

Having a play house has given our kids so many opportunities to expand their imaginary play, and having a 'life-sized' structure to play out their scenes in makes it all that much more real to them. In fact, we actually have two play houses - a wooden play house outdoors and a cardboard play house [sponsored link] indoors - to support their imaginary play.

Play house picnic party
at the 'ballet studio'

Below are some of the ways they play with their play houses and some suggestions for props. I recommend placing a basket of mixed accessories in or next to a play house and leaving the rest up to them. If your child wants to engage you in the play, follow their lead instead of trying to direct the play. Chances are, your child has much more imaginative ideas than you could dream up! If your child needs a nudge when it comes to imaginary play, try picking up a prop and starting the ball rolling with an inviting prompt. Something like, "Oh, thank you for this lovely invitation to your tea party! What can I bring?" or, "Excuse me, Doctor, but my baby has been coughing all night. Can you help?" will likely be enough to trigger a scenario in your child's mind.

Making the play house into an art gallery

Some ways that our play houses are used: [affiliate links provided to some of our favourite props]

*House - they play family roles, baby care, tea parties. Possible props: baby doll, tea set.
*School - Possible props: paper, pencils, math manipulatives, their homework!
*Farm - Possible props: stuffed animals, watering can, baby bottle (for feeding baby animals), vegetables (real or pretend)
*Ice-cream stand - Possible props: scoops, empty ice-cream containers, cash register, play money
*Art gallery - Our girls have drawn their own art inside their indoor play house, complete with frames. Possible props: paper, markers, paint or crayons, homemade paper frames
*Puppet theatre - The windows of a play house make a perfect stage for a puppet show! Possible props: puppets, piece of fabric taped up for a curtain
*Tent/Camp - Possible props: sleeping bags/blankets, pillows, marshmallows
*Circus - Possible props: leotards, hula hoops, stuffed animals
*Book nook - a play house makes a wonderful, quiet spot to read. Possible props: basket of books, cushions, lamp (we have the cord running out of a window to the outlet)
*Shop - Possible props: cash register, play money
*Gardening/Garden centre - Possible props: watering can, kids' gardening tools, plastic flowers and pots
*Dog breeder's kennel (a favourite these days!) - Possible props: toy dogs, ribbon to use as a leash, brush, bowls
*Rabbit caretakers - Possible props: stuffed animals, real or pretend carrots
*Dentist office - Possible props: flashlight (our kids use these invisible ink pens with UV lights), medical mask, tongue depressor
*Doctor's office - play medical kit  
*Vet - play medical kit and toy animals
*Picnics - serve a snack inside (way more tasty than when it's eaten at the table!)

Our decorate-your-own indoor play house

Our indoor play house is a Villa Carton XXL House [sponsored link], which is a brilliant creation - a cardboard house that comes flat and pre-printed in black and white to look like a country farmhouse that you put together and let your kids colour/decorate themselves! My girls (and I) LOVE Villa Carton products (you can see our review of the Villa Carton City Blocks here). They are the perfect combination of creativity and imaginary play. And while it would be possible to make your own cardboard box house out of a regular box, my girls love the 'real house' look of the Villa Carton house (and Daddy Pea much prefers it to having a regular cardboard box in the living room!) To colour it, they used a mix of paint, markers, and crayons (they especially enjoyed colour-mixing to make brown paint and using it to paint 'mud' on the tractor!) They added their artwork in frames that they painted on the inside walls. You could also make pretty paper frames with an open top to change out the artwork. They strung up some sweet star-shaped fairy lights inside, and have kitted it out with a cosy blanket on the floor. As you can see in the pictures, the colouring and decorating are ongoing (which is one of the things I love about it - both the creating and the play go on and on!) Our next project will be to make some paper bunting to add to it.

Imaginary play: Tea party for Pinkie

For more pictures of how my girls created and decorated their play house, click here.

(Please note that we received the Villa Carton XXL House for free to try out for review. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.)

{10 Everyday Fine Motor Activities for Kids}

Helping your child develop fine motor skills doesn't require lots of planning, special materials or tools, or genius creative ideas from Pinterest. There are so many simple, everyday activities that kids do all the time (often even without planning on your part) that help them develop the fine motor control that they will need later for writing in school. Here are 10 things that your kids probably already do that are helping them develop their fine motor skills on a daily basis! So stop beating yourself up over not having time or energy to put together those wonderfully creative Pinterest ideas - your kids *are* working on their fine motor skills daily! (And if they're not, these are easy ways to build it into their every day!) 

{Simple Invitation to Draw for Kids}

I set up this simple invitation to draw in about 5 minutes, and the girls have spent ages creating fantastic creatures and amazing scenes from it!

{Dolls From Your Kids' Art}

I don't know about you, but I've had my eye on those kids' art rag dolls that are all over pinterest for ages now. You know, the ones where you take one of your kids' drawings and turn it into an actual 3D doll. They are just so darned adorable, and I can't imagine a sweeter keepsake for them for when they are older! ....

{Creative 'Toys' for Kids}

Nurturing kids' creativity and thinking skills is an important role for parents. The toys we give our kids to play with can either help or hinder their creative thinking.

Two important points to keep in mind when choosing toys for your kids:

{Rainbow Sensory Play}

We made some beautiful rainbow barley this week!

I found a full box of expired barley in the back of the cupboard, and using the same method we used when we made our rainbow dyed pasta necklaces, we turned it into this fun, sensory play bin 

in happy 'spring' colours (wishful thinking on our part

 as it turned out - we've had snow twice more since!)

I set out a few figures to go along with it, and left Sweet Pea to her own devices

- which turned out to be a rainbow jacuzzi for her little friends 

and hide and seek :-)

 Try it with rice, pasta, or lentils, too.

For more rainbow fun see our Rainbow Party and Rainbow Blog Hop.

{Outdoor Play Party: Awesome Nature}

Hi folks, I know I haven't been around much lately, but we're back at school now and things are crazy and hectic. Between my full-time teaching job, additional department head responsibilities and homeschooling Princess Pea for Kindergarten on the side, I'm not sure when I'll be able to pop in next, so I'm putting blogging on hold for a bit. So I'm very sad to announce that this will be my last Outdoor Play Party for a while. However, the party will continue over at my cohosts' blogs (and watch for a new cohost next edition, too!). I encourage you to follow all of their blogs so that you can keep up to date with when new editions of the Outdoor Play Party are posted. I do hope that you will all still participate. I think that by sharing in this forum here, we are all doing our part to promote the importance of outdoor play for kids - too often overlooked in our busy, highly-scheduled society these days!

So, before I go, I leave you with some pictures from a recent hike we took. We had a lovely vacation in Croatia, including visiting the Plitvicke lakes area for a couple of days. We were so impressed that Princess Pea hiked a full 4 hours on her own, without a complaint! 

And what a beautiful place for a hike! 

Our route

And you gotta love hiking in Europe - in addition to the incredible and varied natural scenery, at the end there's always ice cream and beer waiting! ;-)