A little inspiration for your next play session

DIY Alphabet Painting

With a blank canvas and a little paint, you can make your child an alphabet poster for the wall, customize it to his or her interests, and save yourself fifty dollars. You can also choose colors that match well with whatever room you're going to put it in.

We found an inexpensive canvas at Michael's, where they are often on sale. You can also print their online coupons, which often feature deals like twenty-five percent off any item. Then I penciled in my alphabet, painted it blue and added a few items that my young son would recognize to go with the different letters. For him, "P" is for "Pumpkin", "L" is for "Leaf." Maybe at your house "P" is for "Pansy" and "L" is for "Lips." Whatever works best for your little one. 

I painted with basic, cheap acrylic paints, and it still looks lovely after six months, so I don't predict any upcoming peeling. 

Table Play

The right moment for a kid-sized table for N came this month. The same month when he started climbing onto every outdoor bench, outdoor cafe dining chair and living room recliner. His eighteenth month to be exact. He was ready for the big leagues. I mightn't have guessed it if he hadn't made it so clear. 

So I made him a table. Ana White's Clara Table to be exact. And boy, sitting at it is a revelation. He likes to move his blocks around it. Move his bugs around it. Move his toy cookies around it. Move his banana around it. Read on it. Drum on it. 

Sit at it. The way we do at ours, just a few feet away. And when I think of all there is to look forward to with this table, I can't help but grin. Play-doh. Coloring. Finger painting. The perfect base for block towers that soar to the sky. Picnics with his toy lamb and little toy lamb and toy sheep who all say ba. Did I mention N says ba for them now? How I do love it.

 I hope this table will be the kids' table for family Thanksgivings with his cousins. And a center of fun at playgroup. And a great place to put the little treehouse I'm making him. 

I like to put out different boxes of things on different days. You never know what you might find on a table. Especially if it has orange chairs...

Of course kids' tables are to be had in many places - rummage sales, IKEA, thrift stores, Amazon. But I really had fun making him his and letting him pick "Ripe Persimmon" from the paint samples at the store. I have loved dabbling in furniture building since N was born, and you just might too. Ana White makes it a lot easier than I thought it could be. I even circular saw now (and I only watched five safety videos first). A lot of new roles come with motherhood, and carpenter seems to be one of mine. 

On stocking the play kitchen...

I love having something for N to do in all the rooms of the house. Whether it's the bathroom or the kitchen or his playroom, if we're going to be in there for even the briefest period, it helps a lot if he has something to look forward to there. And we spend a lot of time in the kitchen! So N's kitchen area really matters. Our DIY play stove was a great beginning, but the way we've figured out to stock it has really helped keep the area fun.

There sure are a lot of baby kitchen products out there. Miniature pots and pans, mixing bowls, spoons, popcorn cartons, tin cans, ice cream cones, and everything else you can imagine. Even plastic baguettes and matzoh. If it exists in the adult world, it exists in tiny plastic imitation. But the thing is, N likes the real thing. He likes our raisin containers, milk jugs, parmesan tupperwares, Mac-n-Cheese boxes and Fuji water bottles. He likes our sauce pans, butter boxes and measuring cups. He likes the cream of tartar. He LOVES the sprinkles.

And the thing is, we already have all those things.

I get excited now when we are about to finish a plastic syrup bottle or a peanut butter jar. It could be said that I stalk that last bit of baking powder and final brick of baking chocolate, just waiting for them to disappear so I can add the container to N's pantry. We have a small set of realistic foods (tomato, banana, cheese, etc.) from Lakeshore Learning and a few food-themed coasters to complete the set, but mainly our kitchen play area was free, and we probably play with it more than anything else in the house.

In seventeen months, we've never had to put child locks on any of the other cupboards. As soon as he opens another door, I just ask him if he will please close it and if he wants his cupboard opened. Voila. Play ensues. We make cinnamon raisin broccoli oatmeal or peanut butter sprinkles eggs. You never know what will go in, but I help to stir and take enthusiastic tastes of all of our dishes. If play appears to be petering out, I head for the cupboard and invite further exploration.

"Do you think it needs some gatorade powder? Maybe some soy milk?" Generally my invitation is accepted, and the cooking goes on. It is elaborate and imaginative and I love to participate.

Creating an Outdoor Space for Play

Before I had N I had never heard of loose parts play, sensory play, stump circles or water tables. I didn't know you could make your own tree blocks, create playgrounds out of rocks and logs, create outdoor kitchens and make your own sandbox with little or no experience building. 

Then my son learned to walk but still only had a four minute attention span for his toys, and I found myself wondering, what will we do? What kind of space can I create so that my son will be happy and safe at home for at least some hours of every day? 

So I began to read during naptime. I checked out what Modern Parents Messy Kids had to say on the subject. I perused the thoughts of Teacher Tom. I hopped into the wide world of Pinterest and pinned photos of inspiring backyards onto my board. 

Then I found some stumps and lucked into some big rocks. I made a path for N to climb on across the yard with some of the rocks and stumps and scattered some stumps around as tables. I built two water tables. I built Ana White's Fold-Out Bench Sandbox and it was just not that hard. I scattered some buckets and shovels around. I made some tree blocks like Counting Coconuts. 

Now we play in the backyard every day. Pouring water, stacking blocks, making potions, seeing if this and that will float or sink. And when other kids come over, look out. It's a wild ride. Today we had four one and a half year olds out there and it was wet and sandy and great. 

The Getaway Room

It's nice to be able to get away. In your own house. With your toddler. So breakfast went badly. Or maybe the train table just stopped being fun. Or it was really hard to say goodbye to Dad when he left for work. Or the main house is a total wreck and you won't be able to clean it until nap time.

Enter, the getaway.

We tipped a bookshelf on its side, added some toys, put a blanket on the floor and some boxes and books in the corner, and voila! A getaway room in the guest room. Sometimes a change of space turns a tough moment into a great chance to play. We getaway every morning after breakfast, and whenever the need arises. 

Who needs Expedia when you can just toddle down the hall? 

Tunnels

Inspired by N's love of playground and playroom tunnels when we go out, we've made a lot of indoor tunnels. We often make them with blankets over various sizes of tables, but we've also had great luck with cardboard sides. We got a HUGE cardboard box from Amazon filled with diapers a few months ago and after using it as a tunnel of its own for a while, I took it apart and created tunnel sides with the big pieces. I added some windows with an exact-o knife and N and I like to peek in and out of the windows at each other or push toys back and forth.

As fun as tunnels are, and they are very fun, they have a limited fun duration. It's nice to be able to take them apart easily after a day or two and put the pieces away. 

Climbing Play

Every few days I find a new way to add different levels to the spaces N plays in. Whether it's scooting a footstool over to make a step onto the toy box, dragging storage tupperwares into a giant platform and covering them with a blanket, filling shipping boxes with books and creating steps in the corner of the guest room, or making a giant multi-leveled play island from all of the above, these small shifts in furniture really add to N's play. He likes to climb on the different levels, stand by them, stack things on them, sit on them, and practice getting on and off them.

As you build climbing installations for your little one, consider his abilities to get off and on alone. If you want to be able to leave him in a room alone for a minute, be sure the steps are small and blankets and pillows abound. At the moment, N is very interested in practicing walking on and off steps, so I have to keep my eye on him when he's up on anything.