Creative Play
Sir Ken Robinson is an education and creativity expert, and has spoken all over the world. He recorded one of the most watched TED talks, all about creativity and schools, and he identifies creativity as an essential skill for children. He said
that “creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”
The following activities encourage creativity in our children by allowing them to explore, try out new ideas and use their imagination. They can use lots of different items, altering one or two things, and making something new. When doing these activities with another person, children will get a chance to problem solve, communicate, and listen to one another. They will also make mistakes, and learn how to manage those, plus they will get opportunities to deal with frustration in a healthy way.
One of my favorite ways to encourage creativity is to use arts and crafts. There are several arts-and-crafts-based activities below to help kids to hone their imagination skills and create whatever comes to mind. This helps kids practice flexible and innovative thinking.
Inside: An incredible collection of play ideas for families during times when they need to stay at home. Also, why play helps at this time, and how we can view this as an opportunity to re-connect .
Usually, as families, we have busy schedules, and people are often going to sports practice or games, lessons, or after school activities. Because of the coronavirus and social distancing, things are getting canceled everywhere. This is a stressful time, and things seem to be changing day-to-day. Overall, what this means is that families are going to be spending a lot more time at home.
Play advocates often talk about the importance of open ended play, open ended play materials and having play be child led instead of adult led. There is a popular theory called Loose Parts was developed by Simon Nicholson in 1971.
The play date has been getting some negative press, with people listing all the things they don’t like about them. There are pros and cons to everything, so I decided to explain why I appreciate play dates.
A cardboard box (shoe boxes, amazon boxes, small boxes, etc) is the perfect thing to use to help kids think flexibly, be creative, and set the groundwork for problem solving.
Inside: Directions for a small group lesson on using paper airplanes to practice following directions. This activity is part of the Social Skills for Kids Book.
Inside: Definition of 16 play types from Bob Hughes and ideas for play materials to encourage variety in the way children play.
Definition of play:
“Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.”
Inside: An overview of 10 games that can be used to work on social-emotional learning at school, in small group settings or at home.
What was your favorite game to play as a kid? For me, it was Monopoly. My sister and I played this game all the time - it would keep us entertained for hours on a cold winter day.
What are your kids doing this Summer? For many of us Summer time with the kids is a time to enjoy the outdoors, the sunshine and if you're lucky the ocean.
As much as kids love Summer holidays, keeping them busy can be a real chore! Activities in nature, especially when done socially with their friends, family or teachers, don’t just keep restless kids busy or entertained. They also offer great developmental benefits that will help them academically and socially.
Inside: a list of social skills, both external (interacting with others) and internal (your inner thoughts & feelings) with playful ways to practice them.
Recently I went to a symposium on play where Stuart Brown, author of Play: How it Shapes the Mind, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, was speaking. I took off my mom yoga pants and put on real ones, drove to the symposium and sat down at a table. I pretended that I'm not an introvert and started talking to my neighbor. After I gave her my 30 second description of Encourage Play, she said “that sounds great but what does that really mean?”
Imagine a group of 4 kids, ranging from 9 - 14, working together, cooperating and solving some unusual and silly problems together. They were smiling, and proud of what they created.
Do you remember the excitement you’d feel when you had a sub in elementary school? They always did things a little differently, and perhaps you’d get a chance to do something really unique and different.
Once, I had a sub who loved to do art projects. She taught us how to make scratch paintings. I loved it from the first time I did it, and when I showed my own kids how to make them, they loved it too.
Children (and people in general) have to take turns all the time. Children take turns when they play games like checkers or four square, while they participate in a class discussion, or during a conversation. Adults have to wait and take turns too - in meetings, in stores and when driving. Taking turns, and in particular, waiting for the time when it’s your turn, can be frustrating. It’s good to practice turn taking, because it happens all the time.
I love pipe cleaners! They are a really versatile open ended play item that can be used in so many different ways. Here are 8 different simple and easy projects you can do with your kids. Try a few and let me know how it goes!
I love watching videos about the importance of play and how it affects children and adults. Play is so wonderful, and it’s how we learn. Check out my five favorite videos about play here.
We love arts and crafts in our house! But you don’t need to have a ton of fancy supplies to have fun and be creative. Here are some of our favorite arts and crafts supplies!
I love when my kids can play outside. I try to get them outside every single day. However, the weather doesn’t always cooperate for outdoor fun. At those times when you are stuck inside the house for whatever reason, try some of these activities:
We started going to a new dentist a few weeks ago and one of the prizes at the end was a HUGE balloon. They’ve lasted a while. My kids love balloons and ask to play with them frequently. Here are some simple ideas for playing with balloons.
When we traveled this summer, I kept our toy bag quite limited. I challenged myself to work with everyday items to use as toys for the kids when we were there. I even made a Pinterest Board with easy activities to do while traveling. Once we got settled, I took inventory of what was ready in the condo and went shopping for other basic items. One of the first projects we made were coffee filter sun catchers, very easy because we had coffee filters in the condo.
You Are a Social Detective is a great introduction to Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking, written especially for kids who struggle in social situations. The book is divided into 3 different sections. Whenever I use this book as a teaching tool, I read one section at a time.
The first section focuses on having different kinds of smarts, including school smarts and social smarts. It discusses how we use social smarts all the time, whenever we are around others. This is so important for kids to understand. You need to be using your social smarts anytime you’re around others. This section also focuses on expected behaviors and the consequences of those actions. If we do things that are expected, other people feel good and want to be around us more.
We like to do crafting projects using things we generally have in the house. It makes it quick and easy to set up play times. Check out our favorite fun and easy craft posts. Try one and let me know how it goes!