The Creative Campus The Place For Learning Activities for all ages!

Hello Friends, Have you ever felt like you don't have the resources, Like you are not creative enough to eliminate the struggles you and your child are experiencing as you try to learn and build new skills as you play and explore together? I want to show you that it's just not so! I want to share with you a way that you can Play, Learn and Grow with your child IN SPITE of these feelings of Limitations or Struggles . I believe that when you engage with your child in activities that are centered around them, they naturally are engaged and develop an interest in the activity and learning what lessons the activity provides. Building New Skills and Engagement doesn't have to be work! it can be fun for both you and your child. When I work with clients I help them create "Invitations to Play, Learn and Grow". I describe an invitation as any activity that is set out for a child to explore and engage in at their own pace. These activities are always open ended ...

I Spy with my little eye, all my friends who are reading this!  I think your really going to enjoy some of the ideas I have for you on this theme. I love hands on and even messy Learning!  so one of my favorite ways to use this theme is to offer a I Spy Jello Dig! float objects in Jello and solidify. let the children squish, dig, scoop to their hearts content! then talk about the different things they have found. you can tell stories about the objects you have found (this is a lot of fun). I even love to do I SPY inspired art. give the kids themes to choose from, you can even use learning topics... and let them go through magazines or art pieces and glue things on that connect to their  chosen topic . I hope you enjoyed these activities, and If there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating and engaging at home?  leave me a message and I would love to help in anyway I can. Leave me a comment below or your ca...

Gobble Gobble Friends!  I have something fun for you. I love to do turkey activities. Several Years ago I created a Turkey game that I like to use In my math center. I have feathers of different colors, and turkeys with numbers on them. Sometime I let the kids engage with the activity alone, and other times we play a group game with it. I also like to put feathers out in the science area with different investigating tools. Their are so many fun things you can do with turkeys/ feathers. you can even g et a container and play a what is it game. or use the items to create a story directed by the children. (sometimes its fun to get them to act it out as they tell it).  I hope you enjoyed these activities, and If there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating and engaging at home?  leave me a message and I would love to help in anyway I can.

Spiders! AHHHH.... I don't know about you, but I do not like them! . However kids seem to enjoy them.  I have learned some fun ways to give kids fun learning experiences without grossing myself out. I use the book The Very Busy Spider. I provide pieces of string that are all different sizes, plastic spiders, Cotton balls to spread into webs, and a back drop. ( a barn or a doll house)... I then let the kids engage with the materials how they wish. Some dump the materials into the barn and create play that way. others build a spider web on the table separate from the Barn or House. My objective is to let the kids learn and play as they wish. a fun way to use spiders and webs in art, is to give the kids white tissue paper strips and let them paste the strips onto black or blue paper and then dip their hand in brown paint to place a spider in their web. Turns out SUPER Cute! I hope you enjoyed these activities and if  there something you might be struggling with? o...

Who Doesn't love pumpkins. I like to do a lot of fun activities with this topic. pumpkin seed math is a lot of fun. you can color the seeds different colors and let everyone take turns taking a scoop from the big pot. then they have to count and sort the seeds by color. once everyone has taken scoops and the seeds are gone. count each color and see who has the most of each. If you are looking for a fun art activity. make a pumpkin patch. stuff brown bags full of news paper till fat. then paint them orange with a green stem. add a face to make them a jack O lantern. ( you can use the pumpkins as a gross motor game as well. Before painting the faces on, display the colored pumpkins in a *field* and let ever person walk about and Pick One.  then they can add their own face to the one they choose.  Makes for a fun group project . For More Pumpkin Themed activities, Check out the "Invitations To Play" Program: https://yescourse.com/store/invitations-to-play-with-open-en...

Hello Everyone!   As you know I am working on a theme this year.  I enjoy providing my friends with "Loose Parts" For play and letting them create their own play with  the parts. I do this by providing things that are connected to the theme we are talking about. I don't ever give instructions on how to use the items. I let the children explore the items and engage together. For Instance today I am writing to you about " "Letter" and a few themes that I enjoy using to Teach "Letters". For Alphabet soup, I would set you small letters, Pictures of random items, and Cooking utensils. By Doing this, you encourage many different forms of learning. Language, Math, Science.  I hope you enjoyed these activities, and If there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating Letters- Chica Chica LooseParts Advice: Using Games and Sensory activities is a great hands on way to encourage children to e...

Hey Friends! Who doesn't love super heroes?  I think we all have at some point in our lives. Super Heroes of course have Super Powers, These can be very useful in the classroom. especially when you want to engage your kids in physical activity. Stack up blocks and ask they what super power they want to use to try to knock them over( use old boxes so they fall over with your child's strength). a great Small Motor or Art activity that I love to do, is Making a Super Hero. give each child a person cut out... and let them use art pieces to create their own super hero. ( you can also give them a blank sheet of paper and let them create their super hero from scratch). I hope you enjoyed these activities and if  there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating and engaging at home?  leave me a message and I would love to create a solution based on your specific need. If your looking for more Learning and Skill Growth...

Everyone loves fireworks (even those of us who don't like the noise). I have some noise less ways for you and your friends to enjoy them together.  Make your own "fireworks" show. Fill a shallow container with shaving cream assist kids in dripping water colors into the shaving cream. Use Combs or sticks to draw in the shaving cream (slightly mixing the colors). Gently lay  a paper on the top and peel back. wipe off the excess. Another activity I  like to do is to give each child a coffee filter and glue it to a colored square sheet of paper (as a background). Then you can be creative use tissue paper and glue to the filter. Or you can paint the filter. These are also very pretty. Last but defiantly not least fun. fill water balloons with paint. Let the kids either throw them at a wall that is covered in paper Or if you have a deck or porch, lay the paper on the ground and let the kids throw the balloons at the paper. (don't use a lot of water mostly paint). Jus...

Stars and Planets (Loose Parts)   Oh my Stars, are we going to have some fun!  do you have friends who like to learn everything their is to know about stars and plants? I have some fun activities to get them engaged. Let them create their own planet. give them different size circles, and let them design their planet . you can also get them to engage their language skills and creativity. talk to them about their planet and what its like. Dictate what they say . IF some of your friends are more interested in stars over planets, give them some star shapes and night sky colored paper and encourage them to create a starry night sky. These are just a few of my favorite activities for this topic, and I hope you have as much fun with them as I have. I love this theme, because it offers endless open ended fun and learning. Everyone can find something to enjoy with this theme. It doesn't matter if a child is more drawn to Science, Art  or Hands on construction. Ther...

Welcome Back Friends! Transportation is a theme that has something for everyone!  Planes, Trains, Cars, Boats!  in the past my friends have enjoyed creating their own cars and boats and trains . I provide the boxes and they bring the transportation to life!  then they use them to create interactive play. So much fun!  I have also enjoyed putting Transportation themed  counters in the sensory area and let the children create their own  Train tracks, Road ways, or water ways for boats. Transportation (Loose parts) This is a great theme that is not only perfect for young kids… but if you have older children, you can get them involved with this as well. The things you can do with transportation are endless. Really gets you to use your imagination and creativity. Is there something you might be struggling with? or feeling frustration around while you're creating and engaging at home?  leave me a message and I would love to help in any way I can. ...

"Invitations To Play with Open Ended Loose Parts" Created For Children Between ages 2 ½  - 5 Results  Expected: Educational Growth and Skill Development What Makes it different from my other programs? I share activities with you and tell you how to     re create the activities at home. I also give you questions for Deeper Learning and Engagement with each topic. This way your only Focus needs to be Having fun and Helping your child Learn and Grow through play. ​Click The Link Below To Start Free Version Today! 6 Weeks Work Of Fun and Learning http://yescourse.com/store/invitations-to-play-with-loose-parts-free-version/?ref=3cad   I can't wait to Learn and Grow With you as We Play! Your Creativity Producer, and Professional Mess Maker, Theresa At The Creative Campus

Open Ended Loose Parts! Under The Sea I don't know about you, but I love pretty much everything to do with water. So naturally this is a theme that I get really into and enjoy as much as the kids do. I have had a lot of fun with this theme over the years. there are a lot of movement opportunities as well as hands on experiences with this one. I have listed some of my favorite activities below. 1) Hand Print Fish (string on line with stick) 2)Fish sponges in Shaving Cream Sensory 3) Move Like A (Crab, Whale, Fish) Questions For Further Learning and Engaging: What Kinds of animals live in the ocean? are animals the only living things in the ocean? what are the biggest and smallest things that live in the ocean? You can create a lot of fun Dramatic Play situations. You can defiantly do a lot of science and sensory. I love to put sand out and give the kids water, and all sorts of tools. The creative ideas the kids come up with are endless...

Gardens is a theme that you can use several times.  you can use it to talk about food or you can use it to talk about flowers and plants. To be honest, I'm not sure which is more fun. I like to offer dirt in the sensory area, I leave out material flowers, gloves and garden tools (kids size). I let the kids decide what kind of garden they are gonna create and what they want to put in it. I also like to use this theme as a science experience. I let the kids plant real plants and then over time I encourage them to take care of them as they grow. when they are ready the get planted in the ground. you can further the activity by cooking with their produce.  These are just a Few of my favorite ways to work with this theme. Bugs and plants as a theme is one of the few that i get a little carried away with. You can use it for so many things in so many ways. the fun is endless from scavenger hunts to Gross motor and everything in between. Some of my favorite ways to use this theme...

Clouds!  this is a really fun theme. you can even use this one with different age ranges together.  The pictures included in this post are a few of my favorite activities I have done with this theme. Printing clouds with puffy glue is a fun art activity that engages Eye Hand Coordination.   Read the book "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" and print out the images. you can use them for fun Gross Motor activities. Gather the kids together and do a Cloud themed "move Like A" Game. Play Music and One at a time, pull the pictures from a container. Tell the students, "Move Like A.... Mitten, Bird" Ect. You can also Display the pictures around a room, and walk around the room giving clues about the pictures they might find. Clouds and Loose Parts  Invitations To Play and Learn This is a great sensory subject that can be used in so many ways. I love to use cloud activities in the sensory area. The Science area allows the children to investigate and experiment...

Bears, and Snakes and Birds Oh My!  Animals is a fun theme that everyone gets into. I have to admit that brown bear is one of my favorite books. I have created a lot of fun activities around that book. I like to put out sand/dirt, hay and grass for the kids to play with.   then I give them a play barn with animals. this is a great way to combine sensory play and make believe play into one. I also love to play a game called "move like a".... and I call out different animals. its a great way to get the kids moving. I love to do art with this theme too. Some of my favorite things to do are: Making Snakes. You can do this several ways, Cut a small plate into a swirl and let the kids decorate it. OR you can cut strips of paper and trim the edges into the shape of a snake. (this is my favorite way). I give the kids paint dabbers and art pieces and let Their creativity run wild. Of course no animals theme is complete without " What is It"? I have a container wit...

I don't know about you! but I love using the Construction theme! I love to work with the kids to build stuff... and then of course to DESTROY Muahhahah!  Construction can be used in so many fun ways. you can build a cave for pretend play. You can Build Towers in the sand table (hence the DESTROY). They can even build their own house or other building, which is great small motor, eye hand coordination and Art All wrapped into one! If you are looking for more of a full body approach, you can use large blocks and mats, even folding tents to Construct obstacle courses, Make believe play structures. Construction (Loose parts) I love this theme because it gets kids moving and communicating. You can turn any learning area into a construction zone (i know that sounds scary, but it doesn't have to be). You can use blocks and encourage children to build life size buildings. You can use art as construction. Sensory experiences can be construction zones as well. Is there somethin...