4 GENIUS Play Ideas to Build Skills!

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All Experts agree that play has a profound impact on childhood learning. It’s essential for kids to be kids and for that they need to play a whole lot! When many parents think of play, they think of toys. Would you believe me if I say there’s a lot more ways to play without the use of a single toy? (Hello there, New found savings)! Our family absolutely LOVES the Genius of Play community. Not Only do they give us amazing Play ideas, but each play idea helps develop 1 or more of 6 key benefits in our child. Whether it’s building Physical, Emotional, Social, Cognitive, Creative or Communication skills, The GENIUS of Play is the Right way. Here are the Top 4 Play Ideas we love…

1) MARSHMALLOW SCULPTURE

For this Cognitive and Creative Skill building activity, I asked Gabs what story she would like to create and left it at that. Her first creation was a mini marshmallow person, a very Long-Legged dog, and a Camera on a Tripod. (Posted on our Instagram >> @Crafty_Mommy_Blogger ) The second creation was a house from her favorite folktale “The 3 Little Pigs”. I helped her make it stand and she was super proud. Best part? She got to eat it after!
*Easy Clean-up

2)  FIREWORKS IN A JAR

This Play idea builds more on the Creativity skills. It allows children to create new things to explore and in this case get a little science lesson regarding the separation of oil, water, and circles of food coloring! It’s also a great calm play idea for when your kids have been way too excited and you just want a little quiet.

3) RUNWAY READY

This one was surely a Favorite for my Fashion / Makeup loving little. It was also a favorite for me because it builds on her Communication, Creativity, Emotional, Physical, AND Social skills! She was overjoyed that she could actually play with the makeup I told her to never touch. Best advice? Get your little lady some Kid-safe, Washable make-up to play with.

4) STORYTIME STRETCH

Lastly we build on Cognitive, Communication and Physical. I’m not afraid to admit that my kid is BEYOND lazy. She does, however, LOVE books so when I know she needs to get up and get moving we play the Storytime stretch game. It’s fun, It’s easy, and it allows them to use their listening abilities, memory skills and their bodies all in one! Our Favorite books to use for StoryTime Stretch are “The Wonder Of…” books. We have The Wonder of Horses, The Wonder of Underwater Animals and The Wonder of Dinosaurs. I love that each page of these books repeat the words Dinosaur, underwater or horses making those our words to look out for.

Overall, we LOVE checking out the fun new play ideas, worksheets, and developed information that The GENIUS of Play community has to offer. I advise you to take a moment and see how you can help build on your child’s skills!