Fun-day Friday: a Peek into our Playroom

Fridays are Fun-days here on the blog--a time to reflect on the week's activities and take a virtual peek into our playroom. I plan theme-related play and activities because planning and curriculum building is something I find enjoyable as a preschool-teacher-mommy. It also helps me to feel less overwhelmed when I am planning and choosing activities if I have a framework to build upon. That said, I do not introduce new themes each week--I go with my son's flow and my own energy levels. Additionally, you can also build activities built specifically on your children's interests or seasonal events and upcoming holidays. If you're searching here for play ideas, all posts include links to relevant labels that you can use to search from.

My son LOVES things that GO! We've been exploring a transportation theme over the past week that we will continue into the week to come. When it comes to theme-related play, I like to specifically take out toys and books we already have related to that theme. Not having all of the books and toys out at the same time helps reduce the sense of clutter in our already small apartment. Additionally, I think toy/book rotation in general helps to maintain a sense of novelty for little ones. I don't ever put all of the toys that are out away and swap; I think that might throw my toddler for a loop! There are certain things we keep out all of the time, like his kitchen set/dramatic play area. With a transportation theme, I might, however, add a couple of hard hats and construction vests to the dress up area. We also take theme-related library trips to check out books, CDs/DVDs and activity sets related to our topic of interest. If my son is particularly interested in a certain toy or material, I will even leave it accessible past the time that we complete a topic exploration and I am always amazed at how he integrates themes together!

"Blue Boat" Painting

Here's a look at some of our play over the past week:

I introduce alphabet letters to my toddler mainly through play and exposure. He is only two and pre-literacy happens in a lot of ways at this age--most importantly through exposure to language, sensory play and every day conversation. I will share more about how I introduce letters in future posts.

My kiddo gets very attached to particular books. Red Truck, Blue Boat, and Yellow Copter all by Kersten Hamilton have been longstanding favorites. Reading, rereading and rereading again can feel daunting, but I know repetition is an important tool for him. Story stretching activities, like our "Red Truck," "Blue Boat" and "Yellow Copter" paintings [the latter is not pictured below]j, are a wonderful way to expand on an interest and beat the monotony of a story you both probably have memorized by now.

"Trace the T" Table Time

BIG DIG Construction Sensory Bin

Sensory play is a great way to take the playroom outdoors 

"Car Wash"

Shaving cream is great for soaping up toy cars and finger-painting on the sidewalk!