DIY Dramatic Play Theatre

Dimples loves to dress up, he has an insanely large collection of dress ups for a 4 year old. Over the years I have collected any dress up outfit, pretend play props and funny looking piece of clothing I have come across into a toy box and it got to the point that we were hardly getting them out because there was just too much. So I decided to designate an area for the dress ups and make a play area to encourage Dimples to role play and make use of his collection. Here is the DIY Theatre I made in our lounge room. 

It was so easy, and its the lazy Mums DIY play space. I do have a sewing machine but I had 5 minutes to spare so I grabbed a red sheet, cut it down the middle and laid it across the floor then I put a string across the middle of both 'curtains' and doubled them over so that the string remained in what was now the top. I grabbed a stapler and stapled it about an inch from the edge (making sure the string wasn't in the way and was in the top side. Ok so its not ideal and you may want to sew it but it was easy and any one can do it.
I put a small hook on the wall which is opposite a baluster railing at the top of a stair case, I then tied the strong with the curtains hung from the railing across to the hook, making sure that they open and closed.

You could do it from wall to wall or across a corner of a room I guess, or if you had one of those portable clothing rails that could work. All Dimples dress ups were put in a couple of toy boxes behind the curtains and he started to do performances. Mission Complete.

Its pretty funny!
He is quite the drama King. He starts his performance with the curtain shut and counts down, then he claps three times before he rips the curtains open and springs out into action. He does high energy dances, sings and jumps around the place, he does comedy performances as a clown and falls down over and over and over laughing at him self. He always remembers to do a bow when he is finished.

Dimples tells jokes and because the height of the curtains is head height the DIY theatre also doubles as a Puppet show. He ducks down and uses props to put on a puppet show with his stuffed animals.
Its great for Family Fun. Miss Cherub sits and watches his performances excitedly and on the weekend we had a screen free day where myself, Adventures Dad and Dimples had to take turns doing performances. We spent the afternoon laughing at each other and being silly together.

Dimples has utilized all the dress up gear more in the past two weeks than he has in the past two years.
He has a Monsters Inc suit which is a favourite and a Monsters inc toy that he was talking for as if he was a ventriloquist.  He has developed quite a laugh, he always cracks me up.

Learning Concepts:
Pretend Play
Imagination & Creativity
Role Play
Being Active
Vocabulary
Imitating people, things and animals
Developing a sense of humor
Confidence in self

If you enjoyed this you can Keep updated with all our Adventures by following Adventures at Home with Mum by "liking" us on Facebook or following us on Pinterest 

Happy Adventures :)

Easy Kids Indoor Obstacle Course

Haven't done one of these in a while so when we have had a few yucky weather days Dimples has been getting a little bored of his usual play so I set this Easy Obstacle Course up inside for him.
In the past his favourite obstacle course would have been our Outdoor Obstacle course seen here. Being the one and only contender he was trying to outdo his personal best time.

 He started with some lounge cushions, I drew up instructions along the path. First he had to jump 6 times, then he had to hop over the lizard, then there was another cushion and this time he had to shake his entire body to the count of 6.
As he jumped off there was a balloon that he had to shot & score in a bucket before sliding and "slithering" under a tunnel- Tunnels are easy and the best part of an obstacle course, use chairs and a bed sheet or a small table.

 On the other side there were some spiders & snakes sitting waiting by the balloon so he had to watch out for them and grab another balloon, first he had to put the balloon between his knees and waddle like a penguin to the shooting line, then he had to shot another goal with his balloon.
Next he had to get onto his sit and spin and spin around 7 times.
This was great for his counting practise as he had to count without thought while he was distracted doing many other things.  After he had spun around 7 times and was a little dizzy he had to walk the tightrope ( a Zig zagged line of masking tape).

Then after that he had to jump on the spot and " tiptoe" over some cup coasters. Then he was on the home stretch the last part of the obstacle course was to grab his teddy and commando crawl down low to the finish line. Once he made it to the finish line, where miss Cherub was watching he had to put on a party hat and ring the bell.

Learning Objectives:

• Gross Motor Skills
• Locomotor skills
• Bilateral coordination
• Ball Skills
• Sequencing & Memorising the steps
• Hand eye coordination
• Balance
• Counting practice
• Imagination (e.g. avoid the lizard, tip toe over the Lilly pads, save the teddy bear)
• Strength & Agility
• Doing your Best - Striving to beat personal Best

Extend with these Play Ideas:
OutDoor Obstacle Course
Spider Maze
Easy Gross Motor Obstacle Course


Happy Adventures  :)

Please leave a comment and share this if you enjoyed it

Easy Gross Motor Obstacle Course

This Obstacle course was so simple to create inside. It is a great way to get the kids active when your trapped indoors, or to just do for fun! All you really need is some paper masking tape (not the plastic stuff, the paper form will come over the floor in one go) and a little space.

Using the tape we put down a Start line. Writing "start" in big red letters.
We started with a straight BALANCE line.
First Dimples balanced toe to heel, then he tried hopping and finally I got him to walk with a golf ball in a spoon.

Then he had to jump, do a twist/turn jump, jump backwards 3 times.
I cut some little coloured foot prints out and stuck them on the ground as a guide.

Wearing a hat on his head Dimples then had to balance heel to toe, twist at the corner, rotate his body in the next direction and follow the zig-zag line.

More jumping, coordinated jumping over some soft blocks.
You are not allowed to touch them or you have to go back to the start remember!
Then he had to walk in his monster shoes a couple of meters until he got to the tunnel.

Using the top of the dinning room chairs and a table cloth, he had to crouch down low and crawl through the tunnel. The next time we made it lower, off the seat cushion and then he had another go at commando crawling down real low, without touching the table cloth.

He had to spring out of it and jump over 2 large soft toys, they were pretty close together so he had to judge the distance and land carefully so that he didn't hit them.
One big Monster Jump to the final stretch.

There was a pillow case waiting for him to climb into.
He had to race down the hall in the pillow case until he reached the stop sign.
Winner!!!  Lets do that again.

Do you have active kids?

Even on rainy days it is possible to utilise what seems like boundless amounts of energy.
Try having a stop watch timer and see if they can beat their time.
Or you could try doing it backwards, sideways or wearing a super hero Cape.
We extended our race by adding in some animal actions; Hop like a kangeroo, tip toe like a sneaky fox, slither like a snake!

Happy Adventures  :)

Outdoor Play - The Spider Cave Maze

Creepy Crawly Spider Cave Fun

  Try not to get caught in the web!

Spiders hanging from all around.

This Outdoor activity was a great physical fun way to get active, get moving, have some imaginary pretend play and build on those all important gross motor skills. Dimples mastered the way he moved his body to trick the hanging spiders, creep, crawl, duck down low and climb around the web without getting caught. He had to stretch his legs and balance as he climbed through and move in all different directions as the spiders danced around above his head trying to get him.

 

Over the past fortnight, as Dimples has been enjoying some Spring time outdoor play, I have been carefully spinning an intrinsic Web. I initially started with 2 posts, a large hoop and some wool. I strung the hoop in the centre and weaved the web around it, locking it on and securing it with wool up to the 2 posts that i had firmly whacked deep into the ground.

Then I randomly added some connecting bits of wool so it resembled a web.

I hung a very large, prickly spider down through the hoop and Dimples made a fun game of jumping through the hoop without getting touched by the Spider.

This went on for many afternoons and he enjoyed it so much that I decided to belt another post into the ground so that there were 2 connected walls (in the shape of a right angle). 

With the second one, I used a small hoop that he can through balls through and i left a open space on the bottom so that he can crawl under.

Dimples chilling out under a spiders web

 Dimples spent lots of time playing in his web, trying to jump through the hoop and crawl under the web without getting caught by the spiders. It was a great imaginary game he had going on.

I would rest the large spider up in the web, and just as he went through I would tap the post so that the spider swung down, launching itself towards Dimples. He thought it was hilarious and wanted more. The way the spider quickly swung down after him must have been so realistic from his view and he would excitedly squeal that he had tricked it, and that he was too quick for it, and "You missed me! ha ha!"

It didn't end there!

 

A large Hoop is on one side of the structure, with a very large hairy spider covering it.

I added one more side so that there were now 3 web walls and one open side. With this web, i just used wool, making sure a majority of the web was down the bottom and some was up the top, i then strung the connecting centre pieces of web (wool)  so that there was a large gap pulled open. Large enough that Dimples could climb through.

With the left over wool I strung it up over the top, zig zaging and connecting all areas like a web roof. Some pieces were up higher to a near by Shade Umbrella.

I dangled 30-60 cm pieces of wool randomly through out the roof of the web and near the openings and hung plastic and rubber spiders and scorpions.

 

Jumping through the hoop without getting touched by a spider can be tricky.

We made a few games up with the maze, one where Dimples had to use it as an obstacle course, climb through the hoop duck under the other side, through a ball through the small hoop and carefully climb through the other web opening without touching the web all the time staying clear of the spiders.
Another where I would shake the top of the web so that all the spiders shook around like crazy and he was a distressed fly, trying to find his way out of the web with out getting eaten by the spiders.
Then he got some stuffed toys to join in and he would try and throw them through the large hoop without hitting the spider that dangled over the centre.
Dimples loved the Spider Maze so much that we left it up for the Halloween Party we had over the weekend and all the kids enjoyed jumping through it and tangling things in the web.
They kept busy and active manoeuvring around so that the spiders couldn't get them.

Room to crawl under the webs... WATCH OUT!

 

I couldnt capture the entire web in one photograph so this is the design of the 3 sides with the back wall completely open.

 

 

Happy Outdoor Adventures :)

Bat Bowling & a BOO! Halloween Link Party

Halloween is nearly upon us, but instead of the usual messy sensory play in this adventurous household Dimples has been getting physical with some cute Bat Bowling pins.

It took about 10 minutes to make these DIY batty bowls. I used 6 small empty water bottles with some black water-colour paint in them, screwed the lids on super tight and shook the paint around inside. I simply used a glue gun for the rest. I stuck some orange ribbon around the lids, I cut some bat wings from black cardboard leaving enough room for a fold, these were also glued on with the gun and of course 2 batty button eyes. Done! Ready to roll!! 

What you need

 

We used them outside for a while and Dimples experimented with different size balls. We took turns and had a proper game of bowling then took it inside and dimples continued by him as I cooked tea. He lined them all up next to each other and in a triangle set. Slowly creeping forward each time he bowled, it was so funny to watch. Great active fun indoors and out.

 

If you're a regular on my blog you may have noticed we have been doing lots of Halloween stuff. I love Halloween and its a great holiday for children to get into, lots of funky colours, fun activities, strange food and don't forget a great excuse to dress up.

 

In celebration of Halloween and all the awesome ideas out there, myself and fellow Australian Mum and child focused blogger Stephanie from Boy mama Teacher mama thought we would host our very first linky party, a Halloween central spectacular.

Welcome to Boo! A Halloween Linky! We are excited to see your Halloween activities and to share them with Halloween fans around the globe.

Boo! A Halloween Linky 
is co-hosted by Adventures at Home with Mum and boy mama teacher mama

When you link-up you will appear on both sites. Please feel free to share any post you have related to Halloween. We welcome crafts, activities, play ideas, recipes and costume ideas. The Linky will run from October 19th through until November 3rd.

Throughout that time, Adventures at Home with Mum and Boy Mama Teacher Mama will feature a few posts that we think will interest our readers.

 

A Few Guidelines

• Please link your favourite post featuring a Halloween activity, craft, recipe etc. Feel free to link more than one post, but please no more than 4.

• Please do not link giveaways if they are not related to Halloween.

• Grab a Boo! A Halloween Linky Button and display it on the post you are linking or somewhere else on your site.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.adventuresathomewithmum.blogspot.com.au/" title="Boo! A Halloween Linky"><img src="http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w377/stephfw18/HalloweenLinky120.png" alt="Boo! A Halloween Linky" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Once you have linked-up, share the love and visit a few other posts from the linky. And don’t forget to leave a comment.

A Reminder

Linking up gives

Adventures at Home with Mum and Boy Mama Teacher Mama permission to feature and share your post via various social Medias including Pinterest. If you are featured, we may grab a photo from your blog for use in the post and, of course, we will share a link back to your site.

 

Thanks for linking-up!

Happy Halloween!

 

Balance Stumps - Outdoor Play Decor

Our Out-Door Play Area is slowly growing, its beginning to take over the yard. I love it! I am a strong believer that outdoor Play is essential and one of the fundamental ways kids learn. Particularly gross motor skills, but outdoor play also builds a kids physical confidence; it encourages safe risk taking, children get to test their ability and know their boundaries. Through this they learn what they are capable of and when they should stop. Have you seen Dimples tree house & water wall??? Click here.

These bright balance tree stumps are such as easy way to spruce up an outdoor play area.  They look fun and add a colourful addition to a play area, they could be adapted into any area or even used as a garden border. All you need is a fallen tree (or you could get a post from the hardware shop) we are lucky enough to live in the country and had a fallen tree that was in perfect condition. Adventures Dad cut it up into different lengths and Dimples had a ball painting them with me.

I used Exterior Paint, half a litre of paint in each colour did about 3 coats on each stump, the paint was fade proof and didn't require any under coat or protector. However, if your timber was still wet it may absorb the paint so you could end up needing more paint as it dries out. The other thing I was weary of was the colours, I went for bright rich colours instead of light ones, again if you picked light colours or pastels you would require much more paint or under coats to seal the stumps first.

The stumps were dug and packed into the ground using mud about 15-10 cm deep, ideally you would cement them in but a good strong pack has done good for us and they can steadily hold my weight with out any movement what so ever so I trust they are safe for Dimples.
Just to add another element to the task I placed them around in a S shape so that Dimples has to shift balance and direction, they are also at different heights.

There are many benefits of outdoor play, this type of activity helps develop a child's body strength, Imaginative play, happiness being outdoors & being active, Perseverance, Testing their own limits, Balance, Attention & focus, body coordination, Stretching, Learning what they are capable of doing, connecting them to natures, & helping them to rely on their own instincts.

Dimples has already formed a game where he is surrounded by snapping crocodiles below and he mustn't fall into the swamp below. He has learnt to have his arms out by his sides as he balances and he tends to go right foot first as he steps down, but left foot first as he goes up a step.
The colours are also fun. Dimples and his good friend Miss K chanted the colours for each other as they stepped on them and it brightens up his whole play area making it look so much more appealing.

Happy Outdoor Adventures :-)

SPLAT Painting

Splat painting was probably the funnest thing we did this week.

We got to get outdoors, let off some steam & Splat paint EVERY where.

I lined the brick wall outside with large paper, sticking it up with blue tac.

I then got 4 large cups and mixed up some water colours with some water, so that it was a smooth yet runny consistency.

Using some water (pool) sponge balls, and some circular sponges dimples soaked them in the cups of paint and used all his might to throw them at the paper.

As the hit SPLAT they went, the paint effect was great, as was the sound when they hit.

He squeezed them, and practiced throwing them as hard as he could both over & under arm.

It was lots of fun and he got to burn off some steam.

The harder you throw them, the bigger the SPLAT.

I had a go & let off some steam pelting the balls at the wall, it was good Messy fun.

Happy Adventures :)

Benefits of Pretend Play

Recently I had the opportinity to do a guest post @ http://positiveparentingconnection.net which resulted in some great comments. So here is an extended version with some additional ideas, links & pictures for the Captain Underpants fans...

In a busy world with what seems to be tireless amounts of chores, it is easy to fall into a cycle of giving your child the same toys to play with each day, using the TV as a baby sitter or saying "maybe next time", "hold on, I just need to finish this first" each time your child comes running to you with underwear on their head exclaiming that they are Captain Underpants requesting that you come play with them.  As parents it is important for us to acknowledge that for a child "Play" is not just leisure but is how they learn.

Captain Underpants flying through the clouds... 

 Of course there are many forms of play and endless ways to engage in play with your child. Dramatic or Pretend Play is just one way that children benefit from immensely that will also give you a chance to positively enhance their learning experiences, their self-esteem but most importantly it can strengthen your relationship with them.

Here are some of the benefits derived from Dramatic / Pretend Play-

• Pretending:  Just the act of pretending is a learning curve for a child. It grants them with an outlet to role play what they have seen in their world. This helps them learn about how the world works and practice how adults interact.
• Social Play: Pretend play encourages negotiation, cooperation, and role playing different situations. Pretend story lines and characters, turn taking, sharing are all great skills to learn.
• Social interaction: Not only does it help with social skills but it encourages a child to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and be empathetic and considerate of others. This gives them a chance to practice behaviour, manners and language that is needed when they interact in real world situations, as well as what behaviour is acceptable in public.
• Language development: Dramatic Pretend play encourages expressive language that would not otherwise be used by the child.  Often through pretend play withdrawn children can first start to express themselves by acting a certain role.  Further, this gives the parent an opportunity to extend on language skills by paraphrasing what the child has said using more descriptive language and exchanging conversations using expressive language examples.
• Imagination: Pretend Dramatic Play is a great for showing how imaginative children are. Imagination is an important building block for learning.  It is not only important in childhood, imagination is crucial for life. Just imagine a world without it, we would not have scientists making new discoveries, artists making new artworks, Santa traditions, award winning stories like Avatar and we would not be able to cognitively process these possibilities or examples.
• Self-esteem: By giving your child complete control in their pretend world and accepting them as a silly character like Captain Underpants you are enhancing their self-esteem. While they use their own initiative to develop story lines, their creative imagination to expand stories and their own personality to choose a character they enjoy, you are enhancing their self-esteem by allowing them complete power in the world & enjoying it with them.
• Motor skills: Playing is very busy work. While pretending to be adults or role playing your child is also fine tuning their motor skills. Mixing, Pouring, scooping, cooking, squatting, lifting, serving, moving around & remaining active.
• Practice: Practice makes perfect, while they are playing & pretending they are practicing all the skills they are going to need as they grow up into adults in the real world. From simple things like dressing, measuring, serving food, cooking skills, to handling money, grocery shopping, going to the doctor, answering the phone and not to mention practicing appropriate manners, behaviours and etiquette.

 

Pretend Play: Eating out at a cafe

Try to provide some Dramatic Props:

Tea sets,
cooking utensils,



Old cooking pots
outdoor mud station mud-is-good-for-you
play kitchen,



Fresh food Shop with trolley, plastic food, food boxes & Cash register



plastic food,
a cash register,
empty food containers,
Real ingredients  eg: worms-eyeballs-goblin-finger-stew



Pretend cooking with Rainbow Spaghetti.
Doll houses,
Telephone, masks,
Dress up accesories,



Flower Stand. Playdough as mud & flower arranging.

pretend money,
wallets & bags,
a pretend shop stand,


Muffin tin, Shaving Cream & real ingredients. pretend-cooking-wild-berry-muffins

play tools,
toy doctor kit,
bandages,

Doctor mask & toy doctor kit

toy animals,
kids tool bench 
building toys
Costumes pirate-party-dress ups
Make Costumes eg: making-robot-suit
Buried Treasure treasure-hunt

By accepting your child in their make believe world you give them complete control not only over the game, but over the 'world' for that short time, this enhances their self-esteem and gives you a chance to engage in their interests and their blooming personality, share in their enjoyments and it strengthens their trust in you and the world around them.

So next time a screaming Captain underpants runs past you, grab a towel and throw it on as a Super hero cape & go rescue Big Ted from the malicious tornado that’s about to hit your house.

Happy Adventures