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

Make believe play can involve many different kinds of play. Often times we think of things like "House" or "Construction". These forms of play usually involve Gross motor and Creative Thinking. Today I want to talk about another form of "Make Believe Play". I like to encourage make believe with small manipulatives. Farm is a wonderful way to bring these forms of play together. you can set up a farm play set and add areas like water, mud or straw for the animals. you can even add play food to create gardens on your farm. this is a wonderful way to engage motor and sensory play. Cars is another fun way to use small motor play with sensor experience's. different kinds of cars have different wheels that will make different tracks when run through paint or sand or dirt. Cars are also fun to run around on a carpet or through a track that is made from blocks that will also use your friends small motor skills. Doctor or Vet is another fun way to introdu...

We all know that our senses are Sight, Sound, Touch and Smell/Taste. Each one serving its own individual purpose. Sight allows us to understand the world around us, sight also allows us to understand objects around us.   Hearing is the first   link to understand and develop language. Touch is our first defense against harm from our environment.   And smell allows up to develop taste over time. Our sense of movement creates our stability and sense of position in the world. This allows us to build coordination   and eventually learn to process information.   Soon we gain the ability to walk , run and play. To learn these skills one at a time it is most helpful to break large tasks down into achievable steps. Once one is achieved and mastered them introduce the next, until the task is complete.   For Children who are learning to use and develop visual skills, make sure that all the objects they will interact with are at child height to promote e...

This Concept works for all formal areas of learning. Math, writing, reading, science. This is wont require as much work as it sounds like it will.Look at the goal that is attempting to be taught... and turn the written information and bring it into real world experiences. This will engage children in the learning process. extend children's interest in learning and engage their physical needs at the same time. Turn skills or themes that children need to learn or practice into games.If we let children experience learning, their interest and engagement will go so much further.    This is also a great method for Transportation and Construction   Construction/Gross Motor Play Encouraging your children to use their imaginations and every day objects to create learning and creative experiences. This also  squashes boredom and engages creative thinking and determination to "figure New things out" . Sometimes as parents and educators we forget that child...

Play is how children develop their Skills, Creativity, Relationships and sense of self. Some people believe that  play is unproductive (especially as children get older). I however believe that play is really a child's work. By this I mean, that children grow and learn as they play. Children are not meant to learn through sitting still and listening, watching things be demonstrated or reading from a book alone! Children learn when they experience. Some children are interested in some forms of play and learning over others. This is what makes them individual. I believe that that most productive learning environments provide all forms of play and learning work in a way that allows every child to choose what interests them the most. These forms of play/ work should include but don't have to be limited to  : Small Motor :Digging, Stringing, Cutting, Coloring, Painting, Mixing , Large Motor: Running, Climbing, Spinning, Kicking, Math: Counting, Meas...

Picture Lables with Words Labeling objects that children use or see every day with the word of what they are along with a picture creates a visual and language connection. For children who communicate through pictures this is a very useful tool that helps them develop and learn. one of my favorite ways to do this using play, is by playing something I created called "The Color Game". This is a game that uses mats with pictures of everyday object on it and a set of matching cards (laminated pictures works too) . I divide the cards up among players and everyone takes turns matching the pictures they flip over to the pictures on the board. I have extended this game by adding the letter that each object starts with. This can be used for letter recognition, spelling or even learning to read for older children. This truly is a game we all enjoy playing. Curiosity Boxes with Clues this is another fun and engaging way to develop speech. I like to collect objects tha...

Hello Everyone!! I just wanted to send you a little extra message on this Friday!  I am so excited to tell you about something that I just created. I often get asked, "Do you have any suggestions how I can get my child to learn" (fill in the blank). It is sometimes hard to come up with an idea at that exact moment without knowing the child or their skills and needs. Soooo I started thinking about how I could come up with answers to this question that would be easy to give to someone off the top of my head. I have created a weekly Email course where I will GIVE you 5 activities on a variety of different topics, delivered to your Email Inbox each week!   5 Activities To Promote Learning and Development" (Each Week Will Be a Different Topic)  I Cant wait to start sharing with you! Join My Free Weekly Email Course   " 5 Activities To Promote Learning and Development" (Each Week Will Be a Different Topic) http://t...

Games:  are a great way to use eye hand coordination. Playing games like Baseball, Hot Potato, Play dough is a great tool for creating games that use eye hand coordination as well. You can play a game that I use a lot called alphabet soup that creates letters while learning sounds a much much more. (if you want more information leave me a comment below).  Busy Boxes  : are a fun activity that I created. These are small activities that children can engage in to practice a skill. one of my favorites is a "Robot" box. They have to choose parts and stick them together to create a robot. ( I have many others on my website). http://thecreativecampus.weebly.com/programs-products-and-free-content.html Projects : I enjoy providing activities in my classroom that use eye hand coordination. I also love art and I have found a great activity that engages all of it. I like to provide art materials in a bin along with parts of a house. (the roof, side walls, doors ect.) Encourag...