Get Outside And Play with Loose Parts: The Pesach Edition!

Pesach is ever so near and it is a holiday laden with opportunities for play and learning for children. S has been busy crafting, learning, storytelling, reading, building, tasting and singing at school. Y has been working on his own Hagadah with me at home. Their free play at home has been infused with Pesach themes and one afternoon last week, I decided to roll with that in an "out-of-the-box" and outdoors way--playing about Pesach with loose parts.

There are plenty of loose parts purists out there--folks who use only the strictest adherence to loose parts play theory in their classrooms and homes. These spaces can be amazing for children and adults of all ages. I am more eclectic here. I like to add it in, like a nutritional supplement, as opposed to rigidly adhering (like a restrictive diet). One challenge I often have with loose parts play indoors is the restriction of space. We make it work and have done some amazing play and exploration with a variety of different loose parts. Heading outside allows us a bit more space (particularly in our backyard space, even though, like our front yard it is semi-public and shared with neighbors) and a novel backdrop. One in which the environment itself can serve as a loose part (or multiple loose parts).
In setting up our provocation, I wanted to include the Pesach story and elements for retelling it. I also wanted to incorporate items large and small, natural and man-made, living and nonliving, some even musical! There was a basket with a baby Moshe and a picture book with the Pesach story. There was a basket full of play silks and scarves. Perhaps the boys would dress up or add them to the scene. Silks laid across the ground to resemble the river were lined with rocks (and a basket of those were set along the side as well) and plants. There was a tray of frogs and glass gems (gotta throw in your favorite plague), and a small dish of glass gems and mosaic tiles and interesting stones as well. Another metal tray held our fearless leader, Moshe Rabeinu, and a selection of wooden peg dolls representing the Jewish people behind him on their journey out of Mitzrayim. The end of the Nile was marked with a basket of tambourines played by Miriam and the Jewish women and along the sides were some baskets of cardboard tubes and assorted window blocks. Beyond that were the items already out in our backyard space.
I gave very little introduction other than to say there were toys and materials for playing about the story of Pesach. The boys could use what they wished as they felt they wanted to. They could act out the story, play about it, build about it or come up with their own ideas.

Many times, when something is new, it is met with a bit of trepidation. Some children will flock toward the familiar. Some will dip their pinky toe in and then slowly enter. Others jump in, full body and immerse. Still others will go to another space or activity altogether and enter only when ready. This is why I always remind myself and others of the most important "loose part," TIME. Children need time to engage, immerse and remain in creative play. We tend to pour a lot of energy and time ourselves into provocations or activity setups and then we can feel frustrated or concerned when they are not met with a response we expected. One thing I have almost always found to be true is that given the space of time and silence, children do engage and explore--each in their own way and at their own pace.

Y went immediately to the baby Moshe in the basket. He loves babies right now and this felt familiar and soothing.

S gave everything the once over and walked away to the sensory bin, still filled with desert sand dough from our Digging in the Desert STEM challenge. A repeated activity has the component of familiarity that is comforting to him and served as a base for later emerging into the play scene across the yard... Sand, dough and sensory materials are a wonderful loose part to use in play! He also enjoys using other loose parts and tools in the sensory table, taking them out into other play areas and adding in others from other play areas as well. 

Both boys slowly moved into their play experience and I really invited myself to sit back and observe. At one point, I asked S and Y if they would like me to read the story in the book while they played. S's response was incredible! "Mommy, I'm worried that if you are reading it will stop us from playing!" I love that he advocated for ownership in his play space and experience. I completely respected his response and continued to watch as they played, responding to questions or remarks as I was invited to.

Play begets play and sometimes there are requests for additional components to support the process, like when S asked if I could build the tee-pee for them again. We stopped into the house to grab our old sheet and I re-planted the garden stakes and fastened on the sheet for the boys. He busily took to building a bonfire again using silks and stones and then needed to go to the front yard to pick a couple of sticks from our play garden. That, of course, meant he'd need some playdough from our STEAM drawer cart inside to make them marshmallows for roasting. Perhaps the part about roasting marshmallows over a bonfire during the original exodus from Egypt didn't make the story line in our liturgy, but it did in play!

 Large riding toys, push toys and other outdoor materials make for great loose parts as well. Here, S lay himself in our big red wagon and declared that he was "baby Moshe in his basket."

It took the boys a while to fully engage in our provocation and they were completely immersed for quite a while as well. Long enough for Tatty to get home and make the grown-ups some dinner which we happily ate up outside watching the boys in wonder and play.


Once two, somewhat reluctant but very tired boys were hauled up for a bath and bedtime, I decided to set up a smaller scale Pesach provocation on our kids' table. This would greet them in the morning and kept them busy throughout the weekend that followed. While they start at the table, the pieces rarely remain there. Some are incorporated into block buildings. Some find their way to other areas or other uses and part of encouraging the boys to engage in this type of play is allowing for that (and working on skills to return objects appropriately when we are done). One of the best components of encouraging loose parts play before a big holiday is the fact that it is so independently led and run by the children. We can get a lot done while they are engaged in their play. There's still a lot to do to prepare for the holiday but for now, everyone is keeping pleasantly busy (most of the time) and, as always, happily playing!

Purim Play: Invitation to Create Wooden Peg Dolls with Loose Parts

For quite a while, I'd had a plan to set up a pop-up loose parts station for the boys to design and create their own wooden peg dolls. We use a lot of my handcrafted wooden peg dolls in small world play, storytelling and even on our Nature Table. The boys love creating materials and toys that we use in their play and the implementation of my longstanding idea finally came to fruition in time for Purim. We've made Purim puppets here before and lo and behold, great minds think alike because I also saw that S was making a set of wooden peg doll Purim characters at school this year. You could definitely set this up to specifically create the characters from the Purim story (or any other story for that matter). I decided, however, that I wanted it to be really open ended and let the boys decide what to create.

When setting up your pop-up loose parts station to create wooden peg dolls, you can include any of the following you have on hand or add in/swap in other items:

• wooden peg dolls (I bought these on Amazon, but you can also find them at craft supply stores or use the old fashioned wooden clothespins).
• sequins
• wool roving in a variety of colors
• tissue paper squares
• fabric scraps
• washi tape
• markers
• tacky glue
• scissors

Some other ideas you might add/sub in include:

• ribbon, lace scraps, rickrack
• small buttons, gems, beads
• yarn/string
• colored/patterned paper
• paint
• felt scraps
• small google eyes
• stickers

The boys each had such creative ideas. I gave very little instruction and truth be told--I came downstairs later the morning we had this set up so my husband was the one who was with them at the beginning! Each of them did make an adorable little peg doll. I drew eyes on the peg dolls in advance and you can do the same or leave them untouched. S created a peg doll that is also a character from Paw Patrol (and has some corresponding fabric wings). Y created his own blue haired little wooden baby. And S also used some materials to make little doll "towels." It was so cute and fun to watch them explore and create. We added the finished and dried products to our dolls and dollhouse accessories and they have been integrated into play and storytelling here. The boys feel such pride when their art is put to use, and not merely displayed.

It is really fun to keep this activity open ended like we did, but it can also be tailored to a theme. Some other ideas to adapt this activity include:

• family/class wooden peg doll self portraits--create your own mini-me
• peg dolls to go along with a fairy tale or favorite story
• wooden peg dolls using natural loose parts (leaves, flowers, acorn caps--perfect for a fairy house or garden!
• holiday themed peg dolls

Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Spring Themed Playroom

I know, I know, it's not Spring yet, but I just couldn't wait any longer! We've all got the itch to get outside and dig in the dirt and until then, we've been happily playing, creating and daydreaming about our future garden inside our playroom. Some people get into Spring cleaning; I get into Spring playroom setup--to each their own! So come on in and take a little walk through our Spring themed playroom updates... You might even stay and play for a while!





Small World Play & Literacy:

One of our very favorite books for early Spring is Sibylle von Olfers' The Story of the Root Children. This tale lends itself so beautifully to storytelling and small world play. I often use our top shelf (pictured to the left) as a Nature Shelf, particularly during seasonal shifts. Stocked with the book and a couple of others in that genre, some natural, manufactured and handmade loose parts, the space is ready for small world play and storytelling! The boys enjoy arranging materials on the shelf and also carrying them to the rug or table to play with in a larger space. They can also add in other building materials and accessories as they wish. As the season continues, the shelf will shift along with it...

Old Man Winter is there for now and the Root Children are still fast asleep under Mother Earth's careful watch...

but soon enough, Spring will bring forth new surprises and wonders both found outdoors and handcrafted inside.

Dramatic Play: Flower & Garden Shop

As Purim is also coming up in two weeks, our dramatic play area is still stocked with props and materials for building castles, dressing up, puppetry, acting out fairy tales and cooking up delicious meals at the Three Bears' Cafe. I did add in a Spring element as well with the addition of our Flower & Garden Shop...

We used some printables and inspiration from Pocket of Preschool's Flower Shop and Garden Shop Dramatic Play set. S really loved using the order form to check off which type and/or color of flower the customer (me) wanted to order...and I really loved that I managed to sneak in some pencil practice!

S is busy planting the daffodils I ordered in our DIY No-Sew Planting Set as Y uses our make-shift garden hose to water the growing flowers.

Y is having a go at the pencil taking flower orders...

Our shelves are also stocked with color sorted (and labeled) cups of flowers for planting, picking, arranging, selling and purchasing as well as a collection of gardening tools, gloves, watering cans, pots and vases and even a basket of actual seeds with a couple of magnifying glasses to encourage closer observation...

S had the idea to use the seeds in dramatic play for planting. He is sprinkling sunflower seeds on his plot!

They need lots of water to grow!

Sensory Table: Planting Station

Filled with assorted dried beans and stocked with pots, gardening tools and artificial flowers, our Planting Station Sensory Bin is the perfect Spring themed extension of our flower and garden shop dramatic play. Both boys have had a lot of fun scooping, raking, filling and planting in this area.

Art & Writing Center:
I must admit that while I am full of ideas for our Art & Writing Center, it is the area that most often gets neglected and, well, a little bit stale. We do a lot of art and pre-writing activities and the boys do go through phases where they are particularly interested in some of the materials, but I don't generally change it up as often as some of the other areas and everyone is always very excited when I do!

A bit out of the box, here is our collection of Fairy Garden Loose Parts for use in art and design. The boys can use the artificial flowers, furniture, stones, mosaic tiles and small fairy play accessories on their own, with the mirror trays, with playdough or even in their growing Fairy Gardens (which I will post on at a later date).

One of the best ways to freshen up a stale art and writing scene, I've found, is to change up the paper! As odd as that sounds, writing, drawing and painting on a medium that is of a different size, shape, color and/or texture really encourages artists and writers of all ages and interest levels. Here, we are stocked with some seed catalogs for cutting/collage, graph paper for garden plans and design and fingerpainting paper (glossy in finish) cut in half with rounded edges. Off to the side, I've stocked our Stick Bound Nature Journals (another DIY home project I'll post on in the future).

Coloring books are a great way to relax, create art and practice fine motor and pre-writing skills. Very often, they are stored away on a bookshelf here and sometimes, even when they are out and available, they are used once or twice with crayons and then re-shelved and abandoned. With the addition of watercolors, brushes and plastic cups (recycled from some small flower plants), a new element of wonder and creativity is added. The boys can use the watercolors with the Spring and nature themed coloring books or choose some watercolor paper instead (also in the drawer).
They are able to take a cup to the bathroom or kitchen to fill with water as needed, empty it when they are done and help wash and replace items to the drawer.

Our writing drawer is stocked with Spring themed writing paper from Pocket of Preschool's Spring Math & Literacy Centers set, assorted sizes and colors of cardstock, blank cards and envelopes, a notepad, butterfly and caterpillar shaped papers and a collection of Spring and gardening themed stickers. I've found both boys flock to do writing and drawing the most when there are many options for supplies and mediums to use!

We love Kwik Sticks here (top drawer) and oil pastels--both of which work beautifully in conjunction with watercolor paints for gorgeous resist art. The middle drawer is stocked with some floral and Spring themed rubber stamps and washable black ink. The boys can stamp away and add color in the form of colored pencils, pastels, watercolor or whatever strikes their fancy. I especially love my recycled sushi tray collection. It's a great way to transport items from our shelves to the table to work and also great for collecting and transferring other small objects around the house for use in play. These are also useful for painting projects, playdough and "portion control" in small loose parts or scraps used for collage. That is an item that is always accessible in our art and writing center and they get plenty of use!

As we eagerly await the weather outside to catch up, we've been really enjoying Spring themed play inside with materials both natural and man-made. The boys' wheat grass Fairy Gardens are growing quickly and we've added in a couple of small flowering plants purchased quite inexpensively from Trader Joe's. (There will be more on this, as well, in a future post.) There is much to look forward to as we plan, plant and ease into the season. As Purim comes and passes, we will be phasing out some of the play things and materials related to that theme and making space for additional Spring related activities and themes related to other upcoming events. Until then, there is much to be excited for both outdoors and in!

We'll be back soon...

Think Spring & Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Playroom: Welcome to Fairy Tale Land!

There has been a great deal of building excitement over Purim this year with the beginning of the new Jewish month of Adar. The challenge this year is that it is a leap year in the Jewish calendar and there are two months of Adar--this is Adar I. Purim falls in Adar II. Conversations with S have been flooded with the topic of costumes, the Purim story and characters, and, of course, the treats we eat and share on the holiday. Even Y has been toddling around claiming to be Haman with a very believable scowl on his face! So do I try to quell the excitement and shift the focus for the next several weeks? At first, I did. I didn't want it to be "too hard to wait." But then (even I was getting excited by now) I wondered, why is it so terrible to be excited while you wait? Excitement is a wonderful and joyful emotion. And the month(s) of Adar are a time we are called upon to increase joy. So, I told the boys a few days ago that we would do a playroom shift and transform our Fire Station into a Fairy Tale Land!

The boys used watercolor paints in a crayon resist
to decorate our play-theme signs.

The Purim story itself is quite a dramatic one--most suitable for acting, story telling and small world play. It lends itself quite well to a fairy tale theme. I've touched upon the topic of fairy tales with young children before and I do think they hold an inherent value educationally as well as socially and emotionally for children. I do not feel concerned that children won't recognize the difference between fact and fiction. I don't worry about some of the darker content in fairy tales either--literature and play are safe spaces to navigate deep emotions and childhood fears. I do think that fairy tales are rich in language and opportunities to problem solve, think critically and resolve conflict. Through playing and story telling about common fairy tales and fairy tale themes, children gain an empowering role in overcoming childhood challenges as well as a rich vocabulary, deep imagination, creativity, social skills and critical thinking skills to boot.

While I have prepared materials for many of our dramatic play themes, this one I created from scratch. I spread the work over the course of many days in advance and even I was getting too excited to wait until Purim was closer to transform our play space. I am holding off on setting out all of our Purim props and accessories, but I knew I wanted our Fairy Tale Land play-theme to include some key components:

• costumes (both specific character costumes as well as open ended props and playsilks)
• puppets and our puppet theater
• a Three Bears' Cafe in our kitchen/housekeeping area (the boys had been playing about restaurants a lot lately)
• small world play opportunities
• castle building opportunities with a variety of blocks and loose parts
• literature!
• theme related sensory play
• theme related STEAM challenges
• art
• creative writing/recording, story telling and play acting

I will definitely be posting as we delve deeper into this theme, exploring individual fairy tales in a variety of ways as well as incorporating creative STEAM activities, sensory bins and art/creative writing opportunities. Until then, here's a peek in side our playroom...

A collection of hand puppets and finger puppets are ready to go along with our puppet theater. The boys can put on their own impromptu shows (we even have show tickets!) or act out specific stories and fairy tales. 

Castles and building castles are a big component of this theme. We brought out a wooden playcastle I bought last year at a craft supply store and some toy "Purim story characters" (medieval dolls from Safari Ltd.) and also generic dollhouse dolls and furniture. I also included larger building materials in this area (a combination of recycled tubes and magnetiles) to encourage building on to the castle and kingdom. The boys can bring in other toys and building materials from our other shelves and STEAM cart as they wish. 

Costume central! We have baskets of scarves/playsilks, hats, costumes and costume props.

The Three Bear's Cafe can extend into our living room kids table to accommodate restaurant patrons (human or puppet!) 

Our menu, with a bit of my sense of humor and a photo bomb by a particular Ninja Turtle...

Our play shelves and STEAM cart are stocked and ready. The boys really like to have space beyond the kitchen set for setting up cooking/baking activities, restaurants and stores. I devoted two shelves to that purpose. The top shelf has some additional building materials and loose parts, peg dolls and props for small world play. 

I kept some of the drawers in our STEAM cart the same--particularly ones that were getting a lot of traffic from the boys (like our woodworking drawer and scrap wood). I swapped in bear counters in three sizes (perfect for Goldilocks!), some photos of real castles to inspire building ideas and writing/recording ideas, some awesome castle blocks I scored at a thrift store last year (pictured above) as well as Legos and colored wooden blocks.

Our current sensory table is a Porridge Sensory Bin to go along with our Three Bears' Cafe...very simple setup with dried oats and some cooking utensils and wooden dishes.

The boys got busy at play!

Dinner entertainment has been amazing around here...

Parenting hack: Hang mirrors outside of your bathrooms! Your kids will spend all day looking at themselves and you can finally reclaim the right to peeing alone with the door closed!

Happy Playing!

Playsilks: The Prop that Packs a Playroom Punch

Since beginning this blog a few years ago and sharing my love of playful parenting and teaching, I am often asked questions from fellow parents and teachers about playroom setup. Some of the most frequently asked questions I get are ones about what toys and props to invest in and include. We are living in an era of option overload and the toy aisles in stores are just one example. Stocking a classroom and playroom that is ready for learning and exploring can be consuming--both financially and mentally! How do you save your sanity and your savings account? And furthermore, if you are trying to live a lifestyle of frugality and less consumerism/materialism, how do you maintain a healthy balance? And lastly, in a world full of fancy electronic toys that promise to meet developmental needs throughout childhood, how do you choose what to stock your shelves with?

I don't have a simple solution. Nor am I a perfect example of the practice I preach of living with less. We started off very meagerly here and we have come to acquire a lot of toys! Sometimes at night, I think Melissa and Doug should come over and help clean up their mess (or at least contribute rent money). We have doting grandparents, loving aunts and uncles, generous friends and we are also parents who love to play and want our children to have the very best and sometimes are swayed by thinking that comes from the cute little play set in Walmart or a flash sale on a long wanted product off Amazon. Additionally, while I have some types of play and play props I really love and favor, I am not rigid. I do think there is a significant value in creative play with open ended materials. But I do not think that play with pretend food or dolls with faces or a fireman costume is valueless. We are a both/and kind of home. There's a plastic ice cream set AND pom poms in the kitchen area. There are natural wood circles and plastic blocks in the STEAM drawers. My kids play just as much with cardboard boxes as they do with the toys that come in them.

But what if I had to choose? What if I had to pick one or even a few play props that really pack a punch? And what if they also needed to be something that wouldn't break the bank? Drumroll please....

I'd like to welcome my good friend, the playsilk to the center stage! Including playsilks in a variety of sizes, colors and even patterns to your play area can be a great way to meet a variety of play needs across a wide span of ages (from infancy up). And I'd even open that up to include not just the traditional playsilk, but portions of fabrics of all kind. Playsilks are a popular item particularly in nature based, Waldorf and Reggio inspired environments. There are some well known and loved resources for purchasing such items online and they are not cheap! There are also ample tutorials accessible online to dye your own silks at home. I am here to say with confidence that I have now made the investment in "real" playsilks and included a variety of scarves, scraps, blankets and textiles rescued from thrift shops or even my own closet. They all receive equal love and attention from my children (even if I really really love the exquisite texture and craftsmanship on the set of 3 hand-dyed commercial playsilks).

But either route you take (and even if you also take both), what is so great about the playsilk anyway? Why is this such an asset to your play space? Well, playsilks are a prop that packs a playroom punch. They can be used in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes across a variety of developmental stages. Take a peek at some of the ways they have come into play in our home:

From infancy and through the early months, silks and fabrics add an element of texture, light, color, height and wonder as little hands grasp, grab, pull, pinch and explore...

They are the perfect backdrop to a nature table that celebrates a seasonal shift...

...a soft and sunny space for small world play...

...and on a larger scale, the perfect backdrop to an indoor sunflower house...

...outside they build the perfect bonfire...

...inside they're used to build a "pizza oven fire..."

...that brave firefighters must put out before they are then transformed into a delicious and enormous pizza for everyone to safely enjoy!

...they are a cozy bed for a boy and his baby...

...and skillfully sewn with a magic wand into...

...the perfect impromptu fairy garden costume...

Yes, playsilks play a plethora of important roles in a playroom--some rehearsed, others improvised in the moment. Where there's a need, there's a playsilk, indeed. They are versatile loose parts. They expand sensory skills in the infant years. They build fine motor skills as children begin to grasp and then to connect and tie and untie and disconnect... They expand creativity and abstract storytelling skills as they are manipulated into costumes and stories, settings and props. And if you don't really know what to do with a long piece of silk other than to tie it like a cape, don't worry! Your children will show you!

So while I sometimes have a bit of guilt over the sheer quantity of toys and supplies I've acquired over the years of being a play at home mom, I don't feel guilt over the well stocked basket of silks and fabrics. And I don't shrug off that lone scarf in the corner of the thrift store that just really speaks to me from the 50 cent bin or the moment I pull an old tichel back out of the donation pile to set up on our nature shelf. They may eventually end up back in the bag of items towed in my car trunk for over three months before they make it to Goodwill, but for now they may be a backdrop to a puppet show or even a puppet. Or a pizza. Or an apron. Or a kite or the flames shooting out of the bottom of a rocket ship headed to Outer Space to visit S's imaginary friend Jerome while he is on a family vacation to Mars.

Happy Playing!