Learning through Play

The home of easy to set up play ideas! Browse a range of activities that are simple to create and often use the stuff you already have lying around your house! These activities are all created with communication development in mind, so be sure to join in with your little one and foster some conversation.

On the Blog...

Peg Play

Peg Play

For a little simple, quiet, calm activity this afternoon when August was getting a bit wobbly - I cracked out the pegs. They’re not the posh wooden ones you see...
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Sponge Squeeze

Sponge Squeeze

I picked up a car washing sponge at the weekend to give August a bit of a spongey experience!!! I'm always on about his brain being like a sponge but...
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Rainbow Pasta Sensory Bin

Rainbow Pasta Sensory Bin

Some sensory experiences take a big set up and clean up and I wanted a few that were easy to access and drama free. I bought two of these big...
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Recycled Rainforest

Recycled Rainforest

Our play tray today:I grabbed handfuls of leaves from the bushes in our back garden and added the cardboard recycling that I've been hoarding. THEN I remembered that I had...
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Paint and Draw Sensory Bag

Paint and Draw Sensory Bag

I set this up quickly whilst August was sleeping. Super easy - I put paint in a ziplock bag and taped it to the window. As with all sensory bags...
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Busy Board

Busy Board

Did anyone end up making a busy wall whilst in lockdown? I'm lucky (I think) that my partner hoards all kids of random stuff under the house so we were...
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Pom Pom Caterpillar

Pom Pom Caterpillar

Could have called it a tape worm but that wouldn't be all that glamorous, would it? SUPER EASY set up. Just like a sticky wall only on the table. I...
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Bathroom Picasso

Bathroom Picasso

The bathroom is the best place to paint - the room is your canvas! Whilst I DID put an old used canvas in the bath with August today, he was...
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Washing Line Dangle: The Level Up

Washing Line Dangle: The Level Up

GOSH - If you're a new follower then scroll back and see how TINY August was when we first did this activity! Back then it was to support his reaching...
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ANZAC Day Poppies

ANZAC Day Poppies

We're ready to put a poppy in our window. And we had a ridiculous amount of fun doing it. I put some of our @navybabynz metal pieces ina tray of watercolour paint...
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Tea Party: Imaginative Play

Tea Party: Imaginative Play

You might have seen that we're all about having tea parties at the moment. It's not just an excuse for me to play with the wooden toy biscuits, I promise....
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Fun with Mud

Fun with Mud

WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH?! We stepped up the mess factor today and played in mud. EVERYTHING is washable so why hold back? We rugged up and headed to the deck...
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Bubble Tray

Bubble Tray

A sensory play activity that takes 30 seconds to set up. Ideal. We did this after breakfast this morning and it was a huge hit. How?All you need is an...
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Camping by Torch light

Camping by Torch light

August loved playing with the torch yesterday so I thought I'd set him up with a camp to shine it in. We can't both fit under the pikler triangle or...
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They see me rollin'

They see me rollin'

We continued exploring the rotation schema this afternoon by rolling our ball-pit balls down the pikler ramp. I put the kinderboard at the bottom to catch them all. We're super...
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Pop to the shops

Pop to the shops

Spot the mother that is having shopping withdrawals during lockdown 😬😬 Today I set up a shop for August. YES this is elaborate and I KNOW that most of you...
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Sheep Enquiry

Sheep Enquiry

August loves 'Where is the green sheep' book. He also loves a book with a lion but I figured a lion might be a little harder to bump into in...
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Ice Painting 🌈

Ice Painting 🌈

We did some icey painting today! It was a bit chilly outside but we had a blast - even if August preferred painting his feet than the paper. When he'd...
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Exploring Hot and Cold

Exploring Hot and Cold

August explored the difference between 'hot' and 'cold' today out in the garden. I filled two plastic tubs - one with hot-ish water and the other with cold water and...
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Ball Pit Rescue

Ball Pit Rescue

August loved playing in the ball pit at the party yesterday but aside from naming colours and describing the properties and whereabouts of a sphere - the language opportunities are...
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