If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a mother of four children very close in age, it’s that we thrive on designated areas for specific things. My kids also do well with knowing they can access these areas at any point in time if they need to. Lately, our deck has been the space for creativity. We were luckily gifted a table and it was made just for creating. It has all of our art supplies right down the center, and is available at all times. The kiddos know that the only exp

If I tell you it’s beneficial to let your preschool-aged kiddo write on the wall, will you believe me? If you use a long strip of butcher paper, tape it eye-level to the wall and let your kiddo write letters, shapes, numbers or ANYTHING on it… you will be helping them build many muscles and improve handwriting a ton! ✍🏼 Standing while writing on a vertical surface builds core muscles and shoulder/arm stability! Amp up your game by adding a pillow or cushion under their fee

During the height of Covid, we were busting out all ideas and getting really creative with ways to extend activities and allow everyone to have their own space. I had a thought that instead of sharing one big sandbox, I could find a way to use a smaller container that would hold enough sand for them to play in and also could be stored without water/weather elements getting in. It was a great solution. This also saved us right after I had my third baby and it was the middle of

You’ll be surprised at what adding some loose parts to your sandbox will do for extending play! My littles ALWAYS want to pile sand on the outer rims of the sandbox and have their trucks plow through the piles. We decided to add a wooden plank across the sand box right at “lap level” for them to use as their road. Sand stays in. We also have added wooden wedges for ramps and pvc piping to pour sand into. Also! When we have two little people trying to share one space, the “roa

This is as simple as it gets. Make a list of things that you USUALLY can spot in your front or back yard. Laminate it if possible! Attach it to a mini-clipboard with a writing utensil and send the kiddos on their way to accomplish the hunt! What you need: 🔍 List of “findable” things! Preferably laminated! 🔍 Dry erase markers or writing utensil! https://amzn.to/3Q910VK 🔍 Mini Clipboard! https://amzn.to/4uvLKAl 🔍 Hunters! (your child!)

Everybody needs a craft in the shade on hot, hot summer day! We have this space set up under the deck and it’s used quite often! If we have playdates, I will set out some crafting materials and kids usually spend a good chunk of time taking a break from the heat and getting creative. Don’t be afraid to bring inside elements outside this summer! By setting a specific space for dedicated art and crafting, you’ll be amazed at what they can accomplish while their bodies cool down

We love playing outside rain or shine, sun or snow! Every once in a while, however, we need a break in the shade or just a quiet space to read, listen to music, or play a small card game. We made this “tent” from scrap wood and a basic A-frame. YouTube is magical if you’re wondering how to make something like this! This cool down tent has been a great space for us, to regulate, calm our senses, and reset our bodies when needed! It stays up all here with a weatherproof canvas,

Do you have a little person obsessed with construction, digging and water play? Looking to add sensory play, but avoid mud and mess? This one might be for you! We used our old hand-me-down turtle sandbox, drilled holes in the bottom (for drainage purposes) and added pea gravel! Some days we add on our water trough for some fun “gem mining” or pond play and connect our loose part tubes to our other water table and combine the two. What you need: Pea Gravel https://amzn.to/43Kw

Are you tired of telling your kids no to painting on places other than paper?! Pass out some tubs of paint and paint brushes. It’s the simplest way to let your kids get creative and repaint outdoor toys! Then let them take a sponge and wash it off! Easy, simple sensory input and heavy work! Plus your kids will never forget it! What you need: 🧽Paint! 🧽Empty tubs for paint! 🧽Paint brushes! 🧽Outdoor plastic toys that can get messy! 🧽Hose and a sponge!

We have had this outdoor hanging chalkboard for 7 or 8 years now! We’ve done one touchup and it has been through a move to a new house, so clearly we switched out ropes, but it’s been with us a long time! This year we added wood stump chalkboards that are small and can hang on the fence next to the big chalkboard so they are easily accessible! This one might be a lot of work on the front end, but once it’s in place, it literally does not need altered or updated! We keep a buc

Leftover pallets from last summer and leftover canvas… bam! Magic! We used this piece of canvas probably 30 times last summer and would just spray it down to wash off the paint and start fresh! The best part about this project, however, is that we’re able to put on new canvas as needed by just cutting to size and stapling it down! This honestly is the hit this spring/summer already! Process art is HUGE here. The kids love painting with different utensils! The paint containe

Back when we were a two child family! Our yard was tiny and proved to me that we could make ANYTHING from a small corner of a yard! In the height of Covid years, we made a boring space enriching and engaging! I homeschooled my oldest dude for all of kindergarten, along with his other kindergarten friend who was immunocompromised. We spent a lot of time outside using nature and integrating all other subjects. I strongly believe that this exposure shaped my little people into n

If you come across some old or new pallets, this is an awesome way to recycle them! I did nothing fancy to these pieces (I’m not really even sure I cleaned them properly to be honest!) 😂 I did take some acrylic paint and acrylic marker across the front of the boards to label them appropriately. This whole shelf was used a ton last summer and so we updated it again this spring— we added loose building parts (blocks and ramps) and ingredients for our mud kitchen, along with s

Talk about sensory explosion! 💥 This one is simple, but lots of fun for older kiddos to explore scents, textures and creativity! If you have more than one child, I highly recommend setting up each kiddo with their own “station” and stash of supplies so they can focus on exploring instead of sharing! 😉 What you need: 🍃 Old herbs and spices from your cabinet! 🍃 Bits and pieces of nature. Think flowers, grass, dirt, sticks, pinecones! 🍃 Utensils and bowls/cups for mixing! �

Phonemic awareness (the ability to listen to and manipulate sounds in words) is a critical element to beginning to spell and read words. This is a simple sensory activity that you can use with your little learner (most likely ages 4 to 6) to help build their ability to listen to sounds and blend them together to make a word. What you need: 🌀FOAM! https://amzn.to/4lPvaZs 🌀A surface suited for mess! What to do: ☝🏻Tell your little learner that they will be listening to some s

If this sounds similar to Minecraft… it should. Boys age, as they do. I’m learning to embrace every single interest and run with it. The goal is to give them space to be creative and messy and unique for as long as they’ll have it! Minecraft was a huge hit last summer and we decided on making the big, tall boys their own “crafting table”. This was a space out of reach for small hands. Sometimes the crafting table holds homemade battle weapons. Sometimes it holds mixtures of s

This scoop and poor challenge is for bigs and littles… But mostly BIGS! Believe it or not big kids have trouble scooping and pouring too! This is a great activity to teach patience, stamina, coordination and frustration tolerance! The goal is to try to move a substance from container to container without spilling it! What you need: 🍶some type of sticky substance able to be scooped, but challenging (we used sticky tapioca pearls)! 🍶 a surface that can get messy! 🍶 containe

The EASIEST… SIMPLEST… sensory learning activity ever. I say sensory, because this involves so many senses to work as a team here! There are two jobs in this set up, but don’t let that stop you from adding more! The “forklift” starts by pushing a pan or container of pom-poms across a good amount of floor space to the “distributor”. The “forklift“ listens for the “distributor” directions: a specific color and number. The “forklift” then picks out the color and quantity of pom

My definition of “Let Them” pictured below. 😂 Children are going to dig. They are going to explore, and they want to get messy (for the most part). Let them. It really helped from day one to assign a specific digging area in our space. It’s their own space to get messy and into explore all the senses with shovels, buckets, cars, figurines, water, other nature materials and a bunch of loose parts! If you’re able to, pick a spot that will give them enough space where they wil

Like my other Top 10 posts, these are in no way ranked in any particular order, but I need to say that all of them have been a major source of sensory play, creativity, and engagement in this household! Below are ten items that my kiddos ages 4 - 11 years old have been gifted over the past year! There is a solid mix of preschool and elementary school-aged toys and items! Stickikubes: https://amzn.to/4rpLuBg My kids love these teensy, tiny cubes! They are SUPER sticky! They