1 Toy + My Backseat = Creative Play!
A couple weeks ago I scooped up my Goddaughter and headed to the local library.
Last summer they renovated their infant/toddler play space and it is truly AHmazing now!
We touched everything, emptied and filled buckets, made stories with magnetic & felt walls, and squeezed countless stuffies for two smile-filled hours.
Seriously, it looks like toddler heaven, right?!
We played together and I watched as she played independently.
She sat and explored then wandered the 'big kid section' and made a few new friends.
Eventually it was time to head home.
We arrived before her mother and since the temperature outside were tipping towards negative, I hopped in the backseat with her.
"HAT" she signed, patting her open palmed hand on the top of her head.
I looked around, and sure enough the slightly dented fireman's hat from Halloween was still in the backset of my car.
We took turns putting on and taking off the firehat for the next ten minutes until her family arrived.
She never got 'bored'. Every time was as exciting as the time before.
Even though, I felt like a Sesame Street character saying, "on" then "off" over and over and over.
Then expanding to a sentence structure.
"The firehat is on your head."
"The firehat is on my head."
This type of creative, language-rich repetitive play is GOLD for a toddler's growing brain.
You don't need a room full of toys (wooden or otherwise).
You can inspire learning everyday through play by connecting and creating a new world, even in the backseat of a car!
Check out the two part series I did with Jill Lerman about The Power of Independent Play, where we explore ways to play with the kiddos in your life.
Cara Tyrrell, M.Ed is mom to three girls, a Vermont based Early Childhood Educator, Collaborative Parenting Coach, and the founder of Core4Parenting. She is the passionate mastermind behind the Collaborative Parenting Methodology™, a birth-to-five, soul and science based framework that empowers toddler parents and educators to turn tantrums into teachable moments. Through keynotes, teacher training, and her top-ranking podcast, Transforming the Toddler Years, she’s teaching the 5 Executive Functioning Skills kids need to navigate our ever-changing world.
Subscribe to my newsletter - The Core4Connector
Check your inbox every Monday at 11am EST for Collaborative Parenting stories and direct links to weekly Podcast episodes.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
