Christmas landed and so did the toys. We let the boys have everything out for a few days before having a big sort out and putting some away in the study, with an organised play space to start the new year.
The first focus of the year was vehicles.
Austin loves trains and emergency service vehicles and Rory’s play has changed, he is less interested in jigsaws and more interested in small world play, he will play with trains and cars too and so we thought we would theme the playroom around vehicles for this reason.
We kept all of the basics;
- Animals – Austin and Rory can often be found using animals to ride in the cars or trotting the elephants across the tracks. Its an addition to their play using their imagination. These can also be used for counting or to add props to stories.
- Mr Potato Head – A great one for encouraging language development and so we always have this out. A good tool for intensive interaction and teaching body parts too.
- Box of bits and bobs – this changes all of the time, it has old phones, TV remotes, glasses, party bag gadgets and just anything and everything to tease the curious mind.
- Playdoh – A firm fave in our house, always accessible and can be used for in so many different ways with great benefits for fine motor skills, sensory development but also mixing colours, experimenting with shapes, using tools etc.
- Books – we always have a full but organised bookshelf, one in the playroom and one in the bedroom. We themed the books based around vehicles and transport with some simple books with wheels and buttons to be explored independently, and some longer stories to be shared together. We included an A-Z and a magazine too because it is important that children learn that print can come in a variety of forms and reading is a transferable skill used not just for books.
- Jigsaws -We changed the jigsaws to include Thomas the Tank and Bob the Builder, in keeping with the vehicle theme. Great for encouraging problem solving and shape awareness.
- Duplo – the Duplo is always out and there are a range of sets in there from fire station, submarine, aeroplanes. Again Duplo is a great tool for building, counting, sorting, colours as well as small world and imaginative play.
In addition we included;
- Kidcraft every day heroes wooden fire and police station – small world and imaginative play.
- playmobil emergency service vehicles with people and props – small world and imaginative play. Both of the above great opportunities for role play and language development.
- Two giant foam aeroplanes – gross motor skills, throwing and catching.
- Melissa and Doug workbench with construction kit for aeroplane and other modes of transport – encouraging construction and use of tools.
- Two baskets of random vehicles on the floor for exploring, these included small cars, trains, planes, helicopters, lorrys. Postman pat trains and carriages. Duplo vehicles and parts.
- Thomas The Tank Super Cruiser and Thomas Mini’s track and a range of trains and track pieces in the storage boxes.
It went down a treat.
For more of our blogs, subscribe FREE to http://www.austinandrory.co.uk
You can follow us on instagram or Facebook @austinandrory