Check out these creative ideas & download your FREE Easter printables for fun, easy Easter activities for families this year!
Keep the learning going all summer long with our free activities at Camp Learning Resources!
Sorting is an essential skill for children to learn, and it can be a fun activity when done creatively.
Sorting is an essential skill for children to learn, and it can be a fun activity when done creatively.
Growing Language in the Garden
With spring and summer come gardening and the perfect opportunity to grow your child’s language in the garden. As a speech-language pathologist, I know the best ways to develop speech and language skills are through everyday experiences and play! So why not encourage your child to join you in the garden while helping them to learn?
Speech and Language Skills to Grow in the Garden
While in the garden with your child, be sure to model new vocabulary words by talking about what you’re doing while you’re doing it (i.e., “I’m watering the flowers,” “ I’m planting the seed.” etc.).
It’s also beneficial to repeat these new words over and over! The more repetitions your child hears, the faster they learn and begin to use these new vocabulary words too (i.e., “I have a shovel.” “I dig with the shovel.” “The shovel is in the dirt.” etc.).
Here are a few ideas for vocabulary words that can be focused on in the garden:
Continue Growing Language by Bringing the Garden Indoors
Learning about a garden doesn’t just have to happen in a physical garden. Children often reenact their personal experiences within their pretend play. This is how they learn! By providing garden-themed toys to your child, like New Sprouts Grow It, you can encourage them to bring their experiences in the garden to their play.
With three interchangeable pots, a shovel, a watering can, a carrot, a radish, and two flowers, the Learning Resources New Sprouts Grow It! The toddler gardening set allows children to use their imagination to create their very own garden. This toy continues to build knowledge and understanding of the plant life cycle while encouraging fun, of course!
Other Ways to Give Your Child the Experience of a Garden
Don’t have a garden of your own? That’s OK! There are different ways that you can work on these skills outside of a personal garden at your home. Here are a few ideas:
Growing Language in the Garden
With spring and summer come gardening and the perfect opportunity to grow your child’s language in the garden. As a speech-language pathologist, I know the best ways to develop speech and language skills are through everyday experiences and play! So why not encourage your child to join you in the garden while helping them to learn?
Speech and Language Skills to Grow in the Garden
While in the garden with your child, be sure to model new vocabulary words by talking about what you’re doing while you’re doing it (i.e., “I’m watering the flowers,” “ I’m planting the seed.” etc.).
It’s also beneficial to repeat these new words over and over! The more repetitions your child hears, the faster they learn and begin to use these new vocabulary words too (i.e., “I have a shovel.” “I dig with the shovel.” “The shovel is in the dirt.” etc.).
Here are a few ideas for vocabulary words that can be focused on in the garden:
Continue Growing Language by Bringing the Garden Indoors
Learning about a garden doesn’t just have to happen in a physical garden. Children often reenact their personal experiences within their pretend play. This is how they learn! By providing garden-themed toys to your child, like New Sprouts Grow It, you can encourage them to bring their experiences in the garden to their play.
With three interchangeable pots, a shovel, a watering can, a carrot, a radish, and two flowers, the Learning Resources New Sprouts Grow It! The toddler gardening set allows children to use their imagination to create their very own garden. This toy continues to build knowledge and understanding of the plant life cycle while encouraging fun, of course!
Other Ways to Give Your Child the Experience of a Garden
Don’t have a garden of your own? That’s OK! There are different ways that you can work on these skills outside of a personal garden at your home. Here are a few ideas:
Easter eggs come in so many different fun, and egg-citing (see what I did there) shapes these days. I picked up these cute little chick eggs last year, and we have used them in so many different ways. In this blog, I wanted to share with you a simple water-based sensory play activity that never fails to entertain preschool-aged children…especially when they get to make their bubbles and add Bath Crackle!
What you need:
Let’s Get Set Up
Simply half fill your container with water (it helps make it not too cold to prolong the play), and add the chick eggs to the water. With an activity like this, half the fun is the child getting to add all of the ingredients to the water, so I tend to leave them on the side instead of already in the water.
What’s First?
My four-year-old was besotted with the little chicks in the water as soon as she sat down. I asked her if she would like to give them a super fun bubble bath, and of course, she was all in. The first ingredient we added was the orange drink powder. I asked her how many scoops she wanted to add, and she said three. Anytime you can give the child some sense of choice or ownership over the activity, it helps engagement levels. She counted out her three scoops of orange powder and added them to the water. She then gave it all a really good stir.
Bubbles Galore!
I love letting my daughter make her bubbles when it comes to sensory play. Sure, you can use an electric mixer to whip up super silky smooth bubbles… but seeing her face as she whisks away with the fork makes this method way more meaningful. Ask your child to add a squirt of dish soap and then let them use the fork to whisk the water and create bubbles. My daughter is obsessed with this process, so again, I let her choose several squirts to add to the water (within reason).
Scrub Scrub Scrub
Now that there are bubbles, your child can enjoy using the toothbrush to clean those little chickies. This is great for sensory exploration and fine motor skill development. My preschooler also enjoyed using the Jumbo Eyedropper as a shower for the chicks. The Handy Scoopers were fun for grabbing the chick eggs and dipping them in and out of the water. It was like they were bobbing ducks at one point!
What’s That Noise?
Those squeaky clean chickies have enjoyed their bubble bath, but why not add another sensory material to the mix just for fun?! Magic Bath Crackles are one of my favorite sensory additions to water play. Simply pour some in the water and wait for the neat crackling sound to begin. They also have a smell and add a slight blue tint to the water. All of these changes are great for prompting discussions about our senses and developing key scientific skills such as observing, discussing, and predicting.
This type of sensory play is simple but always a winner with my preschooler. She likes being able to add the ingredients independently (a great reason to use drink powder such as Kool-Aid over food coloring), and water in general just seems to evoke so much hands-on play and learning. We hope you give this one a try too!
Easter eggs come in so many different fun, and egg-citing (see what I did there) shapes these days. I picked up these cute little chick eggs last year, and we have used them in so many different ways. In this blog, I wanted to share with you a simple water-based sensory play activity that never fails to entertain preschool-aged children…especially when they get to make their bubbles and add Bath Crackle!
What you need:
Let’s Get Set Up
Simply half fill your container with water (it helps make it not too cold to prolong the play), and add the chick eggs to the water. With an activity like this, half the fun is the child getting to add all of the ingredients to the water, so I tend to leave them on the side instead of already in the water.
What’s First?
My four-year-old was besotted with the little chicks in the water as soon as she sat down. I asked her if she would like to give them a super fun bubble bath, and of course, she was all in. The first ingredient we added was the orange drink powder. I asked her how many scoops she wanted to add, and she said three. Anytime you can give the child some sense of choice or ownership over the activity, it helps engagement levels. She counted out her three scoops of orange powder and added them to the water. She then gave it all a really good stir.
Bubbles Galore!
I love letting my daughter make her bubbles when it comes to sensory play. Sure, you can use an electric mixer to whip up super silky smooth bubbles… but seeing her face as she whisks away with the fork makes this method way more meaningful. Ask your child to add a squirt of dish soap and then let them use the fork to whisk the water and create bubbles. My daughter is obsessed with this process, so again, I let her choose several squirts to add to the water (within reason).
Scrub Scrub Scrub
Now that there are bubbles, your child can enjoy using the toothbrush to clean those little chickies. This is great for sensory exploration and fine motor skill development. My preschooler also enjoyed using the Jumbo Eyedropper as a shower for the chicks. The Handy Scoopers were fun for grabbing the chick eggs and dipping them in and out of the water. It was like they were bobbing ducks at one point!
What’s That Noise?
Those squeaky clean chickies have enjoyed their bubble bath, but why not add another sensory material to the mix just for fun?! Magic Bath Crackles are one of my favorite sensory additions to water play. Simply pour some in the water and wait for the neat crackling sound to begin. They also have a smell and add a slight blue tint to the water. All of these changes are great for prompting discussions about our senses and developing key scientific skills such as observing, discussing, and predicting.
This type of sensory play is simple but always a winner with my preschooler. She likes being able to add the ingredients independently (a great reason to use drink powder such as Kool-Aid over food coloring), and water in general just seems to evoke so much hands-on play and learning. We hope you give this one a try too!
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Looking for an easy, low-prep way to get into the Spring or Easter spirit and develop your baby or toddler’s fine motor skills? Try a tape rescue mission paired with Learning Resources Discovery Eggs!
Materials we used:
To set this activity up, simply hide various loose parts or small toys inside each Discovery Egg, place them in the muffin tin compartments, and then tape them down in a variety of crisscrossing patterns.
If you celebrate Easter, plastic eggs leftover from your annual hunt will also work in a pinch. Still, we loved these Learning Resources Discovery Eggs because they (a) are sturdier, larger, and can hold more treasures and (b) look more like speckled, realistic bird or dinosaur eggs that have cracked down the middle, so they’ll be fun and appropriate for imaginative play all year round!
For this age group, we found that easily removable washi or painter's tape works best. We want it to be a fun challenge for our toddlers -- not so impossibly difficult that it frustrates them too soon in the rescue mission. We hid small spring-themed loose parts like wooden rabbits and carrots inside the eggs, but any high-interest items that will excite your child will work, as long as it fits inside the egg (which measures about 3½ x 2¾ inches). Other options could include small animal or dinosaur figurines, colorful pompoms, alphabet magnets, taste-safe (and highly motivating!) snacks, seashells, and other small natural objects. Tell your toddler that items are hiding inside each egg, and it’s their job to help them escape!
This simple play invitation takes only minutes to set up. Still, it delivers a wonderful opportunity for your child to work those hand and finger muscles -- important for future tasks like writing, tying shoes, manipulating zippers, and cutting paper. It also taps into their budding development of problem-solving, coordination, patience, and perseverance in a low-pressure way. What’s more, they can count, sort, and describe all of the treasures inside, so there are many ways to adapt this activity to extend their learning and play.
We paired our fine motor rescue mission with seasonal picture books like Egg by Kevin Henkes, which provides a great opportunity for story retelling and reenactment using the Discovery Eggs as props!
Looking to adapt or extend your play and learning even further?
Looking for an easy, low-prep way to get into the Spring or Easter spirit and develop your baby or toddler’s fine motor skills? Try a tape rescue mission paired with Learning Resources Discovery Eggs!
Materials we used:
To set this activity up, simply hide various loose parts or small toys inside each Discovery Egg, place them in the muffin tin compartments, and then tape them down in a variety of crisscrossing patterns.
If you celebrate Easter, plastic eggs leftover from your annual hunt will also work in a pinch. Still, we loved these Learning Resources Discovery Eggs because they (a) are sturdier, larger, and can hold more treasures and (b) look more like speckled, realistic bird or dinosaur eggs that have cracked down the middle, so they’ll be fun and appropriate for imaginative play all year round!
For this age group, we found that easily removable washi or painter's tape works best. We want it to be a fun challenge for our toddlers -- not so impossibly difficult that it frustrates them too soon in the rescue mission. We hid small spring-themed loose parts like wooden rabbits and carrots inside the eggs, but any high-interest items that will excite your child will work, as long as it fits inside the egg (which measures about 3½ x 2¾ inches). Other options could include small animal or dinosaur figurines, colorful pompoms, alphabet magnets, taste-safe (and highly motivating!) snacks, seashells, and other small natural objects. Tell your toddler that items are hiding inside each egg, and it’s their job to help them escape!
This simple play invitation takes only minutes to set up. Still, it delivers a wonderful opportunity for your child to work those hand and finger muscles -- important for future tasks like writing, tying shoes, manipulating zippers, and cutting paper. It also taps into their budding development of problem-solving, coordination, patience, and perseverance in a low-pressure way. What’s more, they can count, sort, and describe all of the treasures inside, so there are many ways to adapt this activity to extend their learning and play.
We paired our fine motor rescue mission with seasonal picture books like Egg by Kevin Henkes, which provides a great opportunity for story retelling and reenactment using the Discovery Eggs as props!
Looking to adapt or extend your play and learning even further?
Messy play can be a tricky type of play for several reasons. First of all, not all kids like messy play, and that’s ok. My youngest has always been getting messy and just throwing herself into whatever activity is put in front of her, but my eldest was a completely different story. It’s only natural to worry and think that children should naturally love getting messy without a care in the world, but the truth is not all kids do. The same can be said for parents. Some parents are entirely relaxed about play getting a little chaotic and don’t mind the clear up after; others just don’t enjoy the experience. There is no right or wrong here; there is simply opportunity. Opportunity to play, opportunity to learn, and opportunity to grow. However, those things will only happen if both child and parent feel comfortable and confident. I wanted to share an example of how you can set up a ‘messy play’ activity, but in a way that allows you as a parent, and your child as an individual, to decide how messy the situation gets.
What you need:
Let’s Get Set Up
The way you set up activities has a significant impact on how your child chooses to engage with the materials. I always try to make a setup that naturally creates a sense of intrigue for my child. For this reason, I put all of the materials on our large mat and chose not to squirt out any of the shaving creams yet. Allowing time for my four-year-old to touch all of the materials and talk about what she’d like to make with them immediately gives her a sense of ownership over her play and learning. She is deciding how to enjoy the play rather than following my idea of what the play should look like. Honestly, kids often have way better ideas anyway!
How Shall We Play?
Once my preschooler had looked at all the materials, and we’d talked about their names, she told me that she wanted to squirt out the shaving cream and make it colorful. Here’s the main reason I waited to open the shaving cream… for her, getting to squirt the can by herself was super exciting and instantly made her more engaged and hands-on. Then she added the color drops and mixed it in all by herself. She still hadn’t touched the shaving cream, and I was in no rush to make her test it out.
The Importance of Tools
I am always very intentional about supplying tools with a messy play setup. When my son was a preschooler, he would avoid touching sensory materials too much, so I was always sure to provide tools. This helped him get comfortable with the feel of the materials first, and then he would eventually be more hands-on with them. The decision was his, and that was important to me. I always feel that forcing a child into messy play doesn’t do anyone any favors and can deter future involvement.
What’s Next?
After making the colored shaving cream, she started an experiment using fine motor tools to transfer the shaving cream into the plastic eggs and the water. She called her creations ‘sparkly egg cupcakes’ and took great pleasure in adding glitter to each one as the sprinkles. If the word glitter makes you shudder, don’t panic. I always say to fellow parents that if you aren’t comfortable with the material, don’t use it. Instead of glitter, use pom-poms or beads. They will be just as much fun!
Getting Messier…
You can see from the photos that as the play progressed, things got messier and messier. As I mentioned earlier, though, this was all based on my preschooler’s play decisions, not my pressured directions. She is always at her most creative when the play is open-ended and hands-on. She made another batch of colored shaving cream, washing her tools with the Twisty Dropper™ and scooping away with the Handy Scoopers™. Shaving cream and water is a great sensory base combination because if your child is a little hesitant of the shaving cream on their skin, they can wash it straight off in the water. Have a towel ready to dry off, and then the play can resume there and then.
Follow the Child’s Lead
My final tip is always to follow your child’s lead when it comes to playing length. I know how frustrating it can be when you set something up, and after 5 or 10 minutes, your child announces they are ‘all done’ and trots off to the toy room. Please don’t view this as a failure. It’s a win, a small win maybe, but still a win. They showed enough interest to engage, and I bet that they will likely engage for longer next time. Try to reflect on what they did for those 5 or 10 minutes and focus on your setup next time.
I hope you have found some of these tips helpful. Try to remember that messy play can be an acquired taste for parents and children alike. You can use the way you set things up to help support your child’s needs in a way that will encourage them to engage within their comfort level, and that will also keep the activity within your mess tolerance level. Happy playing!
Messy play can be a tricky type of play for several reasons. First of all, not all kids like messy play, and that’s ok. My youngest has always been getting messy and just throwing herself into whatever activity is put in front of her, but my eldest was a completely different story. It’s only natural to worry and think that children should naturally love getting messy without a care in the world, but the truth is not all kids do. The same can be said for parents. Some parents are entirely relaxed about play getting a little chaotic and don’t mind the clear up after; others just don’t enjoy the experience. There is no right or wrong here; there is simply opportunity. Opportunity to play, opportunity to learn, and opportunity to grow. However, those things will only happen if both child and parent feel comfortable and confident. I wanted to share an example of how you can set up a ‘messy play’ activity, but in a way that allows you as a parent, and your child as an individual, to decide how messy the situation gets.
What you need:
Let’s Get Set Up
The way you set up activities has a significant impact on how your child chooses to engage with the materials. I always try to make a setup that naturally creates a sense of intrigue for my child. For this reason, I put all of the materials on our large mat and chose not to squirt out any of the shaving creams yet. Allowing time for my four-year-old to touch all of the materials and talk about what she’d like to make with them immediately gives her a sense of ownership over her play and learning. She is deciding how to enjoy the play rather than following my idea of what the play should look like. Honestly, kids often have way better ideas anyway!
How Shall We Play?
Once my preschooler had looked at all the materials, and we’d talked about their names, she told me that she wanted to squirt out the shaving cream and make it colorful. Here’s the main reason I waited to open the shaving cream… for her, getting to squirt the can by herself was super exciting and instantly made her more engaged and hands-on. Then she added the color drops and mixed it in all by herself. She still hadn’t touched the shaving cream, and I was in no rush to make her test it out.
The Importance of Tools
I am always very intentional about supplying tools with a messy play setup. When my son was a preschooler, he would avoid touching sensory materials too much, so I was always sure to provide tools. This helped him get comfortable with the feel of the materials first, and then he would eventually be more hands-on with them. The decision was his, and that was important to me. I always feel that forcing a child into messy play doesn’t do anyone any favors and can deter future involvement.
What’s Next?
After making the colored shaving cream, she started an experiment using fine motor tools to transfer the shaving cream into the plastic eggs and the water. She called her creations ‘sparkly egg cupcakes’ and took great pleasure in adding glitter to each one as the sprinkles. If the word glitter makes you shudder, don’t panic. I always say to fellow parents that if you aren’t comfortable with the material, don’t use it. Instead of glitter, use pom-poms or beads. They will be just as much fun!
Getting Messier…
You can see from the photos that as the play progressed, things got messier and messier. As I mentioned earlier, though, this was all based on my preschooler’s play decisions, not my pressured directions. She is always at her most creative when the play is open-ended and hands-on. She made another batch of colored shaving cream, washing her tools with the Twisty Dropper™ and scooping away with the Handy Scoopers™. Shaving cream and water is a great sensory base combination because if your child is a little hesitant of the shaving cream on their skin, they can wash it straight off in the water. Have a towel ready to dry off, and then the play can resume there and then.
Follow the Child’s Lead
My final tip is always to follow your child’s lead when it comes to playing length. I know how frustrating it can be when you set something up, and after 5 or 10 minutes, your child announces they are ‘all done’ and trots off to the toy room. Please don’t view this as a failure. It’s a win, a small win maybe, but still a win. They showed enough interest to engage, and I bet that they will likely engage for longer next time. Try to reflect on what they did for those 5 or 10 minutes and focus on your setup next time.
I hope you have found some of these tips helpful. Try to remember that messy play can be an acquired taste for parents and children alike. You can use the way you set things up to help support your child’s needs in a way that will encourage them to engage within their comfort level, and that will also keep the activity within your mess tolerance level. Happy playing!
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We do so many different types of sorting trays throughout the year, and it is effortless to keep them fresh and engaging simply by using seasonal materials. This blog will share three simple Easter-themed sorting tray ideas, all featuring our favorite Learning Resources® fine motor tools, and lots of fun and inexpensive Easter materials.
Colorful Bunny Tray Sort
This super cute bunny-shaped egg tray was from Dollar Tree and made for a nifty sorting tray. It works really well just for balancing plastic eggs on and doing little water transfer activities. We, however, decided to use it for a color sorting activity. I put colorful dot stickers on each egg compartment and put out the mini egg and chick erasers of the same colors (from Target). I chose to include the Gator Grabber Tweezers™ as the fine motor tool as they are just the right size for the tiny erasers.
My four-year-old got straight to work matching the blue, pink, and green colors on the erasers to the dot stickers on the tray. Using the Gator Grabber Tweezers added an extra challenge because you have to be patient and manipulate the tweezers to the right angle. For now, we just stuck to using this setup for color sorting, but in the future, it could easily be adapted to include numbers or letters which need to be matched.
Mini Egg Tray Sort
These plastic egg trays are so versatile for sorting activities, and I love how you can fit a bowl perfectly in the middle of it. I got this one from Dollar Tree, and it works well, being clear as it means you can quickly see colors and write on it using a dry erase marker. For this set up I simply added lots of mini foam Easter eggs to the bowls and supplied a pair of Squeezy Tweezers™. I intentionally chose not to label the egg compartments with set colors or numbers as I wanted to allow my preschooler to sort freely.
My daughter loved using the Squeezy Tweezers to scoop up the eggs and then very intentionally chose which compartment to put them in. She decided to mix the colors in the compartments, carefully counting how many she was adding each time. After a while, she decided that she would sort the eggs into little ‘egg pies.’ It prompted lots of pretend kitchen role play and the use of numeracy and literacy skills to describe her sorting decisions.
Bunny and Carrot Hide and Seek Basket
Do you ever use a hide-and-seek theme for your sorting trays? This can be an enjoyable way to peak engagement levels. I used an Easter basket and filled it with Easter grass. I hid little bunny erasers (from Dollar Tree) and tiny carrot erasers (from Target). I provided my preschooler with a set of Primary Science® Jumbo Tweezers™ and asked her to search for the bunnies and their carrots. She thought this was very exciting and was thrilled to find each bunny and carrot buried in the grass. She took a moment to feed each bunny a carrot as she found them.
As she found the bunnies and carrots, I encouraged her to sort them into the two little buckets I had provided (from Dollar Tree). She then carefully counted her findings, and we spoke about the concept of more and less. She discovered that there were more carrots than there were bunnies. The great thing about this type of sorting tray is that you can easily repeat the whole process. She enjoyed hiding all of the bunnies and carrots, ready for me to find and rescue the second time around.
It is incredible how using seasonal trays and materials can breathe so much excitement into sorting activities. The combination of a seasonal tray, some fun-themed loose parts, and, of course, a few Learning Resources fine motor tools is such a winner!
We do so many different types of sorting trays throughout the year, and it is effortless to keep them fresh and engaging simply by using seasonal materials. This blog will share three simple Easter-themed sorting tray ideas, all featuring our favorite Learning Resources® fine motor tools, and lots of fun and inexpensive Easter materials.
Colorful Bunny Tray Sort
This super cute bunny-shaped egg tray was from Dollar Tree and made for a nifty sorting tray. It works really well just for balancing plastic eggs on and doing little water transfer activities. We, however, decided to use it for a color sorting activity. I put colorful dot stickers on each egg compartment and put out the mini egg and chick erasers of the same colors (from Target). I chose to include the Gator Grabber Tweezers™ as the fine motor tool as they are just the right size for the tiny erasers.
My four-year-old got straight to work matching the blue, pink, and green colors on the erasers to the dot stickers on the tray. Using the Gator Grabber Tweezers added an extra challenge because you have to be patient and manipulate the tweezers to the right angle. For now, we just stuck to using this setup for color sorting, but in the future, it could easily be adapted to include numbers or letters which need to be matched.
Mini Egg Tray Sort
These plastic egg trays are so versatile for sorting activities, and I love how you can fit a bowl perfectly in the middle of it. I got this one from Dollar Tree, and it works well, being clear as it means you can quickly see colors and write on it using a dry erase marker. For this set up I simply added lots of mini foam Easter eggs to the bowls and supplied a pair of Squeezy Tweezers™. I intentionally chose not to label the egg compartments with set colors or numbers as I wanted to allow my preschooler to sort freely.
My daughter loved using the Squeezy Tweezers to scoop up the eggs and then very intentionally chose which compartment to put them in. She decided to mix the colors in the compartments, carefully counting how many she was adding each time. After a while, she decided that she would sort the eggs into little ‘egg pies.’ It prompted lots of pretend kitchen role play and the use of numeracy and literacy skills to describe her sorting decisions.
Bunny and Carrot Hide and Seek Basket
Do you ever use a hide-and-seek theme for your sorting trays? This can be an enjoyable way to peak engagement levels. I used an Easter basket and filled it with Easter grass. I hid little bunny erasers (from Dollar Tree) and tiny carrot erasers (from Target). I provided my preschooler with a set of Primary Science® Jumbo Tweezers™ and asked her to search for the bunnies and their carrots. She thought this was very exciting and was thrilled to find each bunny and carrot buried in the grass. She took a moment to feed each bunny a carrot as she found them.
As she found the bunnies and carrots, I encouraged her to sort them into the two little buckets I had provided (from Dollar Tree). She then carefully counted her findings, and we spoke about the concept of more and less. She discovered that there were more carrots than there were bunnies. The great thing about this type of sorting tray is that you can easily repeat the whole process. She enjoyed hiding all of the bunnies and carrots, ready for me to find and rescue the second time around.
It is incredible how using seasonal trays and materials can breathe so much excitement into sorting activities. The combination of a seasonal tray, some fun-themed loose parts, and, of course, a few Learning Resources fine motor tools is such a winner!
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It is easy to associate Learning Resources® products with preschool-aged children, but there are so many great options for Elementary-aged children. In this blog, I’m sharing my favorite finds for this age group, all of which are under $15 and ideal for encouraging learning through play.
A Game or Two for Some Family Fun
I love that my son is old enough now to really engage with board games and card games. It’s fun to explore different Math and Literacy skills through playing games together as a family. For that reason, I include two recommendations. The first is a card game called Snap It Up!® Phonics & Reading Game. The game is described as being fast and crazy, so I know my son will have fun with it. You basically have to pick and pass cards as quick as you can to spell words, great for reading and spelling skills and lots of fun!
I thought a new board game would be a nice addition and this money-based one, Buy It Right™ Shopping Game, looks like a great option because he has been learning all about money at school. I also love that it can be played at three difficulty levels, so we can choose a version for my 4-year-old to join in with or keep it more challenging just for my 2nd grader. It’s a fun way to teach children about the importance of money by allowing them to set prices, buy and sell items and make problem-solving decisions to move across the game board. So much learning happening, all whilst enjoying a fun game.
Something for Outside
I love nothing more than seeing my 7-year-old enjoying nature and the warmer Spring weather. I chose a few fun items to add to his Easter basket, which would encourage play and learning outside. The first was a pair of the Primary Science® Binoculars. Just today, he excitedly pointed out a bright red bird perched on a tree in our backyard. Binoculars would have been perfect for him to get a closer look and possibly even lead to some fun drawing and painting projects. I like these particular binoculars because they look a little more ‘grown up’ but still have the high level of durability and comfort that kids need. I also wanted to add in a magnifying glass and decided that I really liked the idea of how small and portable the Dual Lens Magnifiers are. This is a pack of ten small plastic magnifiers, perfect for keeping in pockets when playing in the yard or going on nature hunts.
Let’s Get Building
Gifting toys that encourage STEM skills is always a good idea in my book. We have some great Learning Resources building toys. My 7 year old particularly likes Gears! Gears! Gears!® because they provide a little more engineering challenge than regular building bricks. In his Easter basket, I include the CycleGears™ set as I know he’ll love having some wheels to create vehicles with.
Another great addition for my 7-year-old will be the STEM Explorers™ Geomakers™ set. We don’t have any building materials like this, and I look forward to him exploring 2-D and 3-D shape building and completing some of the challenge cards. It’s always fun when the child is old enough to read and undertake the challenge cards independently; it gives them such a sense of ownership and achievement.
Never Too Old for Role Play
It can be easy to assume that older kids won’t enjoy the opportunity to pretend play, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I spotted this Stethoscope on their website and loved that it is a real-life working stethoscope! How fun to set up a doctor’s office, but this time around, you can actually listen to the heartbeats of your patients. I’m looking forward to it offering a nice numeracy link and record heart rates and learn about time and counting together.
What do you like to include in your Elementary-aged child’s Easter basket? We’d love to know what your favorite items are, as well as which Learning Resources products have been a hit with your kids in the past.
It is easy to associate Learning Resources® products with preschool-aged children, but there are so many great options for Elementary-aged children. In this blog, I’m sharing my favorite finds for this age group, all of which are under $15 and ideal for encouraging learning through play.
A Game or Two for Some Family Fun
I love that my son is old enough now to really engage with board games and card games. It’s fun to explore different Math and Literacy skills through playing games together as a family. For that reason, I include two recommendations. The first is a card game called Snap It Up!® Phonics & Reading Game. The game is described as being fast and crazy, so I know my son will have fun with it. You basically have to pick and pass cards as quick as you can to spell words, great for reading and spelling skills and lots of fun!
I thought a new board game would be a nice addition and this money-based one, Buy It Right™ Shopping Game, looks like a great option because he has been learning all about money at school. I also love that it can be played at three difficulty levels, so we can choose a version for my 4-year-old to join in with or keep it more challenging just for my 2nd grader. It’s a fun way to teach children about the importance of money by allowing them to set prices, buy and sell items and make problem-solving decisions to move across the game board. So much learning happening, all whilst enjoying a fun game.
Something for Outside
I love nothing more than seeing my 7-year-old enjoying nature and the warmer Spring weather. I chose a few fun items to add to his Easter basket, which would encourage play and learning outside. The first was a pair of the Primary Science® Binoculars. Just today, he excitedly pointed out a bright red bird perched on a tree in our backyard. Binoculars would have been perfect for him to get a closer look and possibly even lead to some fun drawing and painting projects. I like these particular binoculars because they look a little more ‘grown up’ but still have the high level of durability and comfort that kids need. I also wanted to add in a magnifying glass and decided that I really liked the idea of how small and portable the Dual Lens Magnifiers are. This is a pack of ten small plastic magnifiers, perfect for keeping in pockets when playing in the yard or going on nature hunts.
Let’s Get Building
Gifting toys that encourage STEM skills is always a good idea in my book. We have some great Learning Resources building toys. My 7 year old particularly likes Gears! Gears! Gears!® because they provide a little more engineering challenge than regular building bricks. In his Easter basket, I include the CycleGears™ set as I know he’ll love having some wheels to create vehicles with.
Another great addition for my 7-year-old will be the STEM Explorers™ Geomakers™ set. We don’t have any building materials like this, and I look forward to him exploring 2-D and 3-D shape building and completing some of the challenge cards. It’s always fun when the child is old enough to read and undertake the challenge cards independently; it gives them such a sense of ownership and achievement.
Never Too Old for Role Play
It can be easy to assume that older kids won’t enjoy the opportunity to pretend play, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I spotted this Stethoscope on their website and loved that it is a real-life working stethoscope! How fun to set up a doctor’s office, but this time around, you can actually listen to the heartbeats of your patients. I’m looking forward to it offering a nice numeracy link and record heart rates and learn about time and counting together.
What do you like to include in your Elementary-aged child’s Easter basket? We’d love to know what your favorite items are, as well as which Learning Resources products have been a hit with your kids in the past.
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