I have worked with children for a long time and have observed many hours of play. There are so many children who spend a great deal of time playing with cars, trains, bikes - pretty much anything with wheels.
No matter what resources we put out some children are reluctant to move away from the toys they love playing with the most. Today we are looking at how we can bring other variations to Transport Play.
Hello, I am Julie Daniels. I run a Sensory Playgroup with Lynda Collett called Yellow Bird. Based in West London, I love offering a variety of experiences and activities for the children who come along to play. We have recently enjoyed a Transport Topic which kept the children really engaged.
We enjoyed painting, filling and emptying containers, sorting and even tasting!!
We use Tuff Trays as part of our set ups. Here is one we had with Transport puzzle pieces, vehicles, bowls and scoops. I coloured the pasta shapes red, orange and green to represent traffic lights.
I purchased the pasta hoop shapes from a local Turkish supermarket. They sell some really great interesting shapes - so its always fun to be able to offer something a little different.
I dyed them with Wiltons Food Gel and a little white vinegar to disperse the colours.
There was lots of filling and emptying going on during the session.
You could also use the pasta to make shapes and patterns. Why not add them to your creation station for some gluing and sticking. Or you could continue to store them in a container to use them again and again in your play set ups! We used them to make some sensory bottles.
Another Tuff Tray we made contained trains. We have a few children who are big fans of trains so I knew this would go down well. I added rice and corn to this tray. Some of the children pretended the white rice was snow!
The rice and corn made fun noises as they were scooped up and dropped back down into the tray. The children filled the train carriages and whizzed them around the tracks.
Jelly Play!! I was really excited as I have found some wonderful jelly that sets at room temperature. Before using jelly with the children we push it through the back of a fork to make sure the chunks are very fine. We always check with parents for allergies and keep a close eye on the children as they play. They love getting stuck in exploring the wobbly jelly with their hands (and their mouths). For this session we used scoops. Its the first time we have used them in our classes and it was brilliant to see the children having fun using them!
Have you ever painted with cars? Its an old favourite but it really is such fun! The children love observing the marks they make as they pull the wheels through the paint!
It makes lovely, colourful process art! Just squirt the paint over the paper and dot the cars/trucks around. The children will soon be over to take a closer look!
No topic would be complete without playdough! These cookie cutter shapes were a hit with the children!
Another painting activity we had was painting vehicles. We had various cut outs from magazines available. The children loved adding them as the travellers!
We had so much fun and we are looking forward to exploring lots more topics over the coming weeks! Come and follow our adventures over on Yellow Bird.
Thank you for joining us Julie. We love the activities you provide for your setting! Very inspiring! We can't wait to see what other activities you get up to with the children!
Amazing activities
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