Ever noticed how much kids love a good theme? A central topic is such a great way to get little ones engaging in all sorts of things – reading, writing, art and (best of all) new types of open-ended play. Plus planning a few weeks of play around the same topic gives the kids time to come up with deeper questions and learn more.
Announcing MPMK’s latest venture: Play Theme Cheat Sheets! As we said, playing around a theme is a great idea – the only drawback being that it requires a bit of planning. But no worries, we’ve got you covered. At the beginning of each month Alli will be here sharing a new theme and everything you need to tackle it. It’s one more way we’re working to help make life simpler and the family happier.
To take the idea even further – we’d love to hear your ideas too! Tweet or Instagram your favorite activities for the theme (this month, nature) and use the hash tag #PlayCheatSheet.
And speaking of happy families, how’s it going with our other new series: Happy Family Habits?
Question of the Day
We’re half way through our first 21 days of Happy Family Habits – how have you found ways to share your story with your children?
I am so thrilled to be kicking off our new MPMK series on play themes. Each month, we’ll be exploring a new theme and talking about ways to play and experience that theme with your kiddos all month long. We’ll include projects, books, recipes, you name it.
We’ve been doing play themes at our house for months now, and the benefits have truly been endless. It’s such a great way to connect with your kids while teaching them about a particular topic at the very same time. Plus, kids have a BLAST in the meantime. And who can beat that?
Since we’re in the heart of spring, we’re kicking things off with a nature theme–because April is the perfect month to get outside, learn about nature, and enjoy all the spring has to offer. Am I right?
Now we’re no strangers to making art with nature. We’ve ironed leaves, dried flowers, and painted with sticks. But this time we wanted to be a little more creative. So we collected whatever (and I mean whatever) we saw: twigs, acorns, stems, petals. We held nothing back. And when we got home…we played. For hours.
Now that you’ve got the ball rolling, here are our 24 more ways to have fun with nature all month long:
ACTIVITIES & DIYs
TOYS AND BOOKS TO HELP
QUESTION OF THE DAY
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