Play is vital for children; through play, children can develop, explore, and practice new skills. This Town square created a resource aids in developing a better understanding of the skills and learning involved in children’s play.

You might think that I’m just playing, but…

Use masking tape to create roads on the floor for matchbox or hot wheel type cars. Children can ‘drive’ cars along the roads and create dramatic play scenarios. Children can add other accessories, such as road signs, farm animals, train toys, etc. to extend the activity.

Goal: Children will move vehicles around the masking tape roads and engage in dramatic play.

Looking for a new way to support outdoor play?  Chantelle Simmons, owner of Under the Oak Tree, sent these ideas for organizing natural materials and creating a play kitchen outside.

“We placed small metal buckets in plant pot holders on the railing to organize our natural materials.  We change what are in the buckets quite often.  In the picture, there are different types of stones.  We also use them to hold acorns, pinecones, seed pods, as well as a variety of other natural materials.  We also re-worked an area making it into a kitchen-like environment.  We have more plans to extend this area.  We have hung garden hose baskets on the wall to hold watering cans, tools, and kitchen items.”