Mirrors, Eucalyptus Cloud Dough & Smurf Pretend Play

 

Play ideas using mirrors have been popping up every where

 Paint on the ceiling - Learning about symmetry  

 An everyday Story - loose parts & mirrors 

 One Perfect Day - Exploring Loose Parts on Mirrors  and I fell in love.  

 

It gives play such an interesting visual, brightens the surface, gives the objects another dimension and reflect the child and what they're doing. I thought to myself, if I think this looks cool and interesting as an adult imagine how intrigued a child must be. 

 

This was Dimples first play using a mirrored surface.

I mixed up some green eucalyptus cloud dough, Dimples is still fighting off one of winters last flu's so it was nice to take it outdoors in the sun and breathe in the fresh smell.

I crushed some green chalk, mixed it with a few cups of flour and added a few splashes of oil & a dash or eucalyptus oil, until it was the right consistency of cloud dough. It smelt nice and felt smooth & on the mirror it looked inviting. 

 

Even the smallest of specks were reflected.

It looked very visually inviting.

Using some silicon moulds and jelly cups Dimples build some 'stands' or pedestals for each of the smurfs and he noticed how it doubled, making a symmetrical image reflecting underneath. 

He was focused on seeing the reflections of his hands also, and what he was doing with his fingers.

 

Interesting stuff, Dimples moulded and shaped smurf huts, and made a tunnel. He buried some smurfs and explored the concept of the mirror, peeking peering and moving everything and himself around as he played.

The dog and miss cherub found it all very interesting aswell. 

 

Little Miss Cherub observing everything from my lap, was keen to put her fingers into the cloud dough, she mainly swiped it from one side to the other and inspected her hands in the reflection. Dimples allowed her one cup cake mould only and one handful of dough (which got swished around and off the side in less than one minute) however it was a nice act of kindness on his behalf. 

The cloud dough can be shaped, moulded, flattened and crumbled in

Many ways. It works great compacted into small jelly cups in particular. 

Remember that you can store it by putting it in a zip lock bag and saving it for another day. 

I think there are endless ways to play with mirrors and it gives such an interesting dimension to the objects.

 

Learning concepts;

Mixing and moulding

Sensory Play

Symmetry & reflections

Observation & visual attention

Creativity & Imagination

 

Ideas for Extension;

Cloud dough tunnels and Lights

Pretend Play - Ice cream Dough

Loose Parts on Mirrors

 

Happy Adventures

 

 

 

The Benefits of Small world play - Penguins in Ice and Snow

Dimples adores Penguins. He has gone through many phases with favourite toys and animals but Penguins have always remained a favourite and he loves all the Happy Feet Movies.
After Christmas was over we still had a batch of the fake Snow to play with so I threw together this Small World Sensory tub for him.

Small world play is an easy and cheap way for children to play.
You can use anything really; recycled materials, natural materials, bits and bobs that are laying around or a theme of small toys mixed with other materials. Anything that can represent the real world and that can aide in independent play.

With the Happy Feet Small World Sensory Tub Dimples played with Fake Snow, Water Beads, Real Crushed Ice & Ice cubes, Styrofoam pieces to represent ice capsules, his penguin figures, some small plastic seal animals & sea creatures and some rocks.

He played independently for a long time making up stories about his penguins.
The Ice cubes were used as stepping stones through the melted snow.
The sticks and rocks were used to build planks across melted snow.
The Styrofoam was used as ice capsules, or land for the creatures. Dimples made them "float" through the melting snow and made capsules collide together. Some of the baby penguins got stranded on the ice, crying for their dad.
Then there was a blizzard so Dimples made a cave for all the animals to be safe in.

Benefits of Small World Play:

• Builds on Imagination
• Encourages independent Play
• Sensory and tactile stimulation
• Develops story telling skills
• Encourages role-play where the child can re-enact real life scenarios or familiar experiences.
• Abstract thinking; cognition related to logic and reason as the child makes up real life scenarios and solves 'problems' in their play 
• Promotes creative thinking

Other Small world ideas we have done are:

Penguin Sensory Play

2 Ocean boxes for small world play

Echidna craft: Imaginary Australian Play

D is for digging.

Small World Sand dough Beach Play & Sea creatures

Magical Gnome garden

Happy Adventures into the New Year

Sand Dough Small World

This was a fun sensory activity where we explored the creatures that live on the beach in Australia through small world pretend play.

Dimples loves walking our beachs and collecting me things, recently he went for a walk with his Nanny and bought me home a bag of beach things; shells, beach pebbles, spounges, the bottom clumps of dead seaweed, sea erchin shells and other bits and bobs.  We used these in our small world beach with some plastic palm trees.

First we made up our sand dough using 4 cups of flour, 1/2 cup oil and table spoon of cocoa and 2 table spoons of bread crumbs. The result was  "sand dough" a mouldable soft dough that crumbles and resembles sand.

The sand dough was put out in a tray with the shells and beach things, palm trees and plastic sea creatures;  Crabs, turtles, lobsters, seastars, octopus, seals and ofcourse, there had to be a treasure box and a pirate.

Moulding the sand dough Dimples made a turtles nest, turtle eggs, a rock formation for the seals, burried creatures that were "fossils", buried treasure & rocks for the crabs to crawl side ways through.

Happy Adventures :)
Renee