I want to zero in on a parenting ‘bone of contention’ when it comes to outdoor play: your child complaining that they are bored after 5 minutes!

It’s easier to spend time outdoors when the weather is fie. But in the colder months especially, it often feels like there is nothing worse that bundling your child up in millions of layers to go and play outside, only for them to whinge about being bored or hungry almost as soon as you’ve walked out of the door.

When I first moved to Vienna in January 2019, I had to start preparing to leave for school pick-up an entire hour before because I had to get a baby and toddler into snowsuits and boots to collect my son. It was a mission for sure! (for reference, it usually takes 30 minutes all in these days).

When all is said and done, it’s all too easy to want to forgo going outside at all when it takes so much effort for what seems like little reward.

Despite all of this, going outside has always been a key part of our day and we’ve now got our rhythm keyed in. With an energetic youngest son who would quickly resort to running around the apartment and jumping off the couch (which the neighbours did not appreciate!), I had to ensure that we spent plenty of time outside so I wouldn’t have to constantly tell him to stop what he was doing.

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What You’ll Learn in this article:

• How to make outdoor play a key part of your daily rhythm

• The benefits of a child led walk

• Why boredom is a good thing

• Key items that help extend outdoor play

• How to make a DIY mud kitchen

• Essential resources for outdoor play

How to make outdoor play a key part of your daily rhythm

The more you read my content, the more you’ll come to realise just how interlinked everything is. The key cornerstones of This Playful Home are:

• Family Rhythms

• Environment as the third teacher

• Understanding Play

These three things underpin everything else. When it comes to outdoor play and extending durations of outdoor play, you really need to make it part of your regular daily rhythm.

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Fast-forward to today and I am 100% convinced that my daughter enjoys baking so much because we spent such a lot of time experimenting with playdough.

Easy Homemade Play Dough Recipe

When making play dough with your child at home, I recommend opting for the no-cook method. This allows them to be fully involved in the process - the alternative method (cooking play dough over the stove) wouldn't really be feasible with a very young child. You can find the exact recipe that we use at the end of this post.

Some benefits of making play dough WITH your child:

• Helps boost hand-eye coordination

• Early maths skills - weighing ingredients, counting measures

• Develops fine motor skills

• Fills their cup! It's a great way to spend time together

• Builds confidence and helps to foster independence

• Introduces new vocabulary and builds language skills.

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Age Recommendations

We usually start introducing play dough (and making it) at around the age of 2-2.5 years-old. You need to be extremely careful, particularly with homemade play dough because of the high quantities of salt used.

Our Easy Homemade Play Dough Recipe

This is the method we use for making homemade play dough every single time. I just want to point out a few things though:

• Exact measurements will differ according to the ingredients you use - that's why we add the water last AND pour it gradually. You don't need to use the full quantity of water if the play dough already feels soft and springy - you definitely don't want soggy dough

• Making play dough WITH your child is an experience. You wont end up with perfect dough but it WILL be a fantastic learning experience for them.

Download the recipe card:

Basic Playdough Recipe This Playful Home

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No-Salt Play Dough

If your child tends to put everything in their mouths, then try this no-salt homemade play dough recipe instead.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of plain flour

• 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil

• Water (cooled boiled water added gradually)

• Lemon juice

• Optional - Lemon rind / mint / rosemary

Method for salt free homemade play dough

1. Add the plain flour, rapeseed oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, then mix well. The mixture should look like breadcrumbs

2. Dribble water in gradually and stir until the mixture starts to combine.

3. Knead with your hands. If it is too wet, add more flour and if the mixture is too dry, add a little more water.

4. Grate orange / lemon rind on top

5. Chop rosemary / mint

6. Mix both in well by kneading again.

Recommended age: 12 months plus

This recipe will only last a day or two and you will need to store it in the fridge.

Homemade Play Dough Care Tips

Ingredients

After spending the first half of the year in Austria without being able to source cream of tartar, I can honestly say that it makes the biggest difference in the success of the play dough. We tried using lemon or lime juice instead but it just wasn't the same. I've since started ordering cream of tartar from Amazon (is that crazy?!) and it's made the biggest difference!

Without cream of tartar, the dough would get crumbly fast, but now we have lovely soft, smooth play dough again - yay!

Storage

You've gone to the effort of making the play dough, you need to store in correctly! We tend to wrap ours in ziplock bags (which we reuse for new batches) then we seal the dough inside a IKEA GLIS container.

Generally speaking, keeping the dough in a cool dry place will be enough to make it last for up to 4 weeks. However, in the summer we have occasionally kept the dough in the fridge to stop it from going sticky.

What to do with dry dough:

If your little one has been playing for some time with the play dough then it is likely to get dry. If needed at the end of a play session, we add a drop or two of water to the dough using a pipette to revive it. Works like a charm!

How to prevent sticky dough:

When making dough, the best thing we've found is to knead it by hand to get all of the stickiness out. If you're still finding the texture a little too much on the sticky side however, keep rolling into small amounts of flour until you get the right, 'springy' consistency.

I often think that attitudes towards playing outside depends entirely on your own experiences and cultural norms.

I grew up in the UK with predictable changes in season. Snow was rare enough to be a novelty and rain was frequent enough to require an umbrella at all times during Spring (especially when I lived in Swansea, a city which held the dubious accolade of Britain’s wettest city for a number of years).

When I moved to Canberra, Australia over 10 years ago, I became so accustomed to the warmer climate that I started to think of 25c (77f) as cold. In the UK, that is barbecue weather!

Whilst living in Austria, I got used to kitting the children out in coveralls and snow boots during the winter months so they could still play outside.

I’m sure that I’m showing my Britishness by talking about the weather so much. My point is, I’ve found that my attitudes towards weather have adapted each time we’ve moved countries.

I recently re-listened to ‘There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids’ by Linda Åkeson McGurk and I’m fascinated by the differences between US and Scandinavian countries when it comes to spending time outdoors.

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In newsletter 3 of the Outdoor Play series, we are going to be talking about attitudes towards weather and how we can adapt our outdoor play approach to the seasons.

What You’ll Learn in this article:

• 5 reasons why outdoor play is important, a reminder

• How long your child should spend outside each day

• 6 ways to make outdoor play easier, no matter the weather

• Adjusting your family rhythm for the season

• How to reframe your attitude towards outdoor play

• Dressing your child for the weather

A reminder: 5 Reasons Why Your Child Needs Outdoor Play No Matter The Weather*

In the first masterclass, we talked about the importance of outdoor play. Unfortunately, it doesn’t simply count in the warmer months. Your child also needs outdoor play when it’s cold too.

Is it harder to get outside when it’s cold? Yes of course!

Is it frustrating when you have to bundle your child up in millions of layers? It sure can be!

The truth is, there’s always a reason not to go outside. But unless the weather is extreme (e.g. storms or heatwaves), there’s always a way to spend a little time outside each day.

1. Getting outdoors Boosts your Mood: According to research conducted by Cambridge Health Alliance getting outside regularly into nature helps to reduce anxiety, stress and depression. It also has memory enhancing effects. This is not only great for your children, but you too.

2. Getting Outdoors Helps Kids engage in imaginative, independent play: with the natural world at their fingertips, it’s so much easier to play creatively without the distractions of TV and screen time.

3. Getting Outdoors is a fantastic ‘circuit breaker’ for when the kids are going crazy: tired of your child jumping off the couch and running indoors? It’s quite likely that they aren’t getting enough time outside. Running, jumping, climbing and playing outdoors will help your child calm down when they are indoors.

4. Getting Outdoors Helps keep children fit and healthy: Young children don’t really need after school sports clubs to keep fit – they just need time to play outside and explore what their body can do. It has also been found that outdoor time (even in winter) can help reduce illnesses. According to Harvard Health Online, it’s actually the indoors that makes children more likely to catch viruses. Outdoor time also means increased exposure to Vitamin D and melatonin which helps boost the immune system.

5. Getting Outdoors is Great for the brain: spending all day inside doing schoolwork isn’t actually good for children – they need to spend time outdoors exercising and playing as it helps the brain form connections between neurons. This helps children to concentrate when they are learning.

So We’re Agreed That Outdoor Play Is Crucial But How Long Should Children Be Spending Outside Each Day?

This might sound unbelievable but three quarters of children in the UK spend less time outside than prison inmates! As playtimes in schools decrease and parents have become busier (and worried about safety) outdoor play time has dwindled.

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There’s no denying the fact that children are EXPENSIVE and that’s before we get started on the temptation to buy every single Montessori inspired wooden toy going on Instagram!

With the current economic situation causing many of us to tighten our purse strings and cut back on unnecessary spending, buying toys is probably one of the first things on the list to go.

But aside from economical reasons, there’s also environmental considerations. Sometimes buying toys that are outgrown quickly can seem like a waste. Spending money on resources just to recreate that sensory play invitation you’ve seen on Instagram can result in having heaps of items that you don’t really need. They become something that you have to declutter at a later date.

To make play invitations easier (and save some money), it’s time to start saving some everyday resources that can be used in play.

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How To Get Started With A Collection Of Everyday Resources:

Collect nature treasures on your daily walks.

Nature treasures can make a brilliant addition to play. Items can be used in play invitations or for an outdoor mud kitchen. Look out for ideas on how to use nature treasures by viewing the 30 Days of Outdoor Play Challenge post.

Always do your research on natural items that you intend to use for play. Consider the needs of your child and avoid items that might pose a choking hazard risk.

Raid the Recycling!

Recycle bottle caps, wine corks and food pouch lids – they can be used in loose parts play or in crafts.

Save jars or bottles

Use glass jam or passata jars to store recycled materials. We tend to put ours through the dishwasher first to make sure they are thoroughly cleaned out.

Use an IKEA GLIS box to make play invitations easier

The IKEA GLIS box is an excellent resource for storing items by type. We have several of these boxes, which are used to store loose parts and play dough invitations.

Keep your old clothes and belongings for dramatic play

Keep old jewellery, handbags, purses and expired store cards as they are excellent for dramatic play.

Even items like an old calculator and gift bags (below) can be saved and reused for play - they are brilliant for dramatic play scenarios such as a café, grocery store or restaurant.

Save old pots and pans for a mud kitchen

Don’t be too hasty to send old pots and pans from the kitchen to the tip. You’ve got all of the makings of your own mud kitchen!

30 Items to Save for Play

Everyday Resources To Save For Play

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Having an understanding of why outdoor play is important is one step along the journey towards spending more time outside each day. But what about the things that can be off-putting when it comes to spending more time outside?

One of the biggest issues we face as parents is keeping our children safe. Our natural urge is to protect them and keep them away from danger. Sometimes, we can go too far with this and keep our children so safe that they don’t do anything remotely risky.

As a former helicopter parent myself, I know that finding the right balance between letting your child explore and keeping them safe can be hard.

Simply watching a short Reel can give off the wrong impression about what risky play is, so I wanted to explore what is is in more detail.

What You’ll Learn in this article:

• What risky play is

• Why risky play is important

• The difference between risk and hazard

• Health & safety considerations

• Creating an Outdoor ‘Yes Space’

• Why be careful doesn’t work

• When to interrupt play

• Dressing for play

• Following the Child

This newsletter is part of A Playful Year which is exclusive to paid subscribers. To access the content, including printable resources and guides, please click the link below. 

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First, what do I mean by risky play?

In some ways risky play is just play. It is just children doing what they're naturally inclined to do, taking things to the next level. So in some ways, I think of risky play as play that makes us adults nervous.

Rusty Keeler, play space designer and specialist in risky play, speaking at the 2021 Fairy Dust Teaching Conference

There are 6 main elements to risky play:

• Interaction with nature - e.g. building a den

• Speed + momentum - e.g. cycling downhill

• Height + elevation - e.g. climbing to the top of a tree

• Play with a chance of getting lost - e.g. hide and seek games or orienteering

• Rough + tumble play - e.g. play fighting

• Use of tools - e.g. using a hammer

Whilst the idea of risky play has gained in popularity in recent years with lots of outdoor experts espousing the benefits, it is of course nothing new. In fact, as children it’s likely that we simply considered it to be ‘play.’

My dad (now 82) often tells stories of rambling across the Welsh mountains with no adult supervision, and whilst my 80s childhood was tamer than that, I do remember using the rather precarious rope swing tied to a tree by the local canal.

Typically today, our children take fewer risks than we did as children. Or perhaps it’s fairer to say that those opportunities to engage in risky play has been taken away from them. There are many reasons for this such as both parents working, the promotion of organised sports, suing culture and the societal attitudes towards parenting (the fear of being judged as a ‘bad’ parent).

Play for the sake of play has become an endangered species. It’s now restricted to assigned areas where children must be “so tall” to enter. Playground floors have been replaced with rubber surfaces—because God forbid a grass stain. And heaven help our children if they play at the wrong scheduled time.

Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming the Wonder in Your Child's Education

All of the above means that we now need to make opportunities for risky play via weekend adventures or Forest School memberships, rather than it being part of daily life.

Why is Risky Play Important?

Risky play helps children to build resilience. Each time they play in a risky way, they are discovering their own abilities, building up their strength and honing their executive functioning skills.

Risky play enables children to do their own risk assessments, understanding what an appropriate level of risk is for them.

Ultimately, risky play is NOT about having no fear at all.

Children need to have an understanding of where their limits lie. They are not able to do this if they never have the opportunity to experiment.

Risky play also gives a huge boost to a child’s self-confidence. When they achieve something that they previously ‘failed’ at, it can put a real spring in their step.

The difference between risk and hazard

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Don’t miss out on 30 Days of Outdoor Play, which is available to all subscribers until the end of April.

Included in this round-up:

• 30 Days of Outdoor Play

• 5 Simple Ideas for the Easter Holidays

• Spring Nature Treasure Hunt

• 9 Pre-Writing activities

• Garden playdough

• A quick start guide to mud kitchens

• 4 reasons your child isn’t playing independently

• Spring Ideas for Families

• Frog themed sensory play

• Spring scavenger hunt

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The activities shared below are generally suitable for children aged 2 onwards. Most are pulled from the archives, but as you can see from the photos below my children (now aged 7 and 9) still love to get involved.

In this post:

• flower collage

• 3D portraits

• Spring scented playdough

• How to make rainbow chickpeas

• Spring themed scavenger hunts

Flower Collage

Use dried flowers and recycled cardboard to create this pretty flower collage.

In the past, I’ve used old Mother’s Day bouquets (since UK Mother’s Day falls before Easter). However, petals and herbs from the garden work just as well - we tend to use ones that have past their best.

I often save back flowers for play and crafts. I typically air dry them between sheets of paper towels. However there are a few other methods you can try, such as microwaving or using a dehydrator.

Resources:

• dried flowers or herbs

• pva glue

• cardboard

• scissors

Instructions

1. Cut out cardboard in the shape of Easter Eggs, bunnies and flowers

2. Place items out as an invitation to create (as shown above)

3. Invite your child to choose a shape - get crafting!

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For most of my life, I’ve taken the great outdoors for granted. Having lived the majority of my time in the countryside or suburbs, I (rather ironically) became more focused on outdoor play when we moved to central Vienna.

Up until that point, my children could go outside into their big Australian suburban backyard at any time they wished, they spent hours climbing the trees, building dens or running about.

City living meant an apartment (where we had to be mindful of our downstairs neighbours), a small terrace and having an excellent knowledge of the parks in the local area.

But moving to the city also came at a time when my youngest son was becoming really active. In fact, he thrives when he can spend the majority of time outdoors. He loves nothing more than climbing, exploring and kicking a ball as high as he can.

Unfortunately apartment living and a very active child did not go hand in hand, and so we actively changed our daily rhythm and weekly rhythm to focus on more outdoor time. It was possibly the best parenting decision for all of us.

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If you haven’t heard already, 30 Days of Outdoor Play is officially in full swing for the month of April. It’s not too late to get started. Just download your copy of the pdf below and join in with the adventures!

Our Spring outdoor play challenge, plus Thursday’s post about pre-writing activities, made me think of this OG This Playful Home playdough invitation.

Old adventures in a new place

At the end of 2024, I made the decision to rehome my blog on Substack. It’s turned out to be quite a labour intensive choice, as I’m now uploading old posts manually. Whilst some posts have made me internally cringe, they’ve also served as a lovely reminder of all of the activities the children did when they were small.

My children are now fully in the middle years of childhood. In fact, my youngest turns 7 very soon. But nevertheless, they still love to play.

In the Garden Playdough post below, I mention my daughter’s love for making play dough. She was 3 at the time and, fast-forward 6 years, she has turned into an avid baker.

I’d love to think that all of our playful adventures whilst she was younger helped to build her confidence to give cooking a go now.

I hope you’ll forgive me for not completely editing my original post to fit 2025. You can read about our invitation to make Garden Playdough below.

An Invitation to Make Garden Playdough

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that my daughter and I have been making play dough together for a while now. Not only is it a great early introduction to cooking, but there’s heaps of learning benefits too. Our basic recipe pretty much always stays the same – no need to look at a recipe, but we’re forever adapting and changing ingredients.

Read on to find out about our latest play dough session.1

Garden Play dough from start to finish…

My daughter helped me with every element of the play dough making process, from picking the herbs in the garden, to mixing and stirring it all up.

Whilst playing with play dough has heaps of benefits in its own right, here’s why I always choose to do the whole thing with my three year old daughter:

• One on one time: Z has two brothers (aged 10 and 1) and I try to carve out individual time for all of them. We like to create together and making play dough is one way we like to spend time together.

• Early introduction to mathematical skills: pouring and measuring, counting cups and even basic division featured. When she is older, I’ll introduce her to the measuring scales too.2

• Fine Motor skills: For this recipe, Z picked the herbs, used a spoon (and her hands) to mix, used a scissors to cut the herbs and finally, played with the dough!

• Hand Strength: Squeezing the lemon juice into the bowl and mixing ingredients with her hands all helps Z to strengthen her hands.

• It’s Fun! Put simply, this is a really fun activity for little ones. Mine love to get involved with practical activities with a purpose.

You will need:

• 2 cups of plain flour

• 1/2 cup salt

• Lemon / lime

• 1 cup of boiling water (obviously don’t your littles do this part) that has been cooled.

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tsp of cream of tartar

• Selection of herbs and flowers from the garden ( we used rosemary, rose petals, mint and sage)

• Wooden spoon

• Large bowl

• Cup for measuring

• Chopping board

• Scissors

Method

1. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir in well

2. Next squeeze in the lemon/ lime juice and the olive oil. The mixture should start to bind together

3. Gradually pour in the cooled boiled water. Then mix together – hands are best, but please check the temperature of the mix first before letting a little one do this!

4. Keep adding more water until you get the desired ‘play dough’ texture – it should be too crumbly or too sticky.

5. Add more water or more flour if needed.

6. Finally, chop the herbs with a scissors and roll into the dough

Pre-writing activities? Just what exactly are they?

Shouldn't writing be as simple as picking up a pencil and copying out the letters?

Well, no actually!

Development of fine motor skills is absolutely crucial in order to build up the hand strength and pincer grip needed to hold a pencil both comfortably and accurately.

The key here is don’t run before you can walk. Be patient, work on these pre-writing skills in a fun, playful way before trying to introduce writing. Throughout the years, my children did many pre-writing activities before moving on to letter formation - it certainly made the whole process smoother.

What are pre-writing activities?

As the name suggests, pre-writing activities work on the skills a child needs in order to write. This includes hand-eye coordination, crossing the midlines, fine motor skills, pincer grip, tracking and balance. In this post, we are going to be delving into pre-writing activity ideas specifically for fine motor skills.

Below this infographic, you will find some activity prompts that you can try at home with your children. Look out for further ideas by subscribing below or by following me on Instagram and Pinterest.

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1.Manipulating play dough

Play dough will ALWAYS be one of our favourite pre-writing activities. We make the dough from scratch every time, which is a great activity in itself, as is the play afterwards.

If you’re short on time to make play dough, the store-bought stuff is perfectly fine - we use it often. Get your child to roll the dough into a ball or make ‘sausages.’ My daughter loved to roll the dough flat – either with her hand or rolling pin in order to make a little small world.

2. Threading beads

Threading beads is an excellent way of using the pincer grip in order to develop pre-writing skills. Chenille sticks and pony beads are a great combination IF your child is used to such activities, but I would suggest starting with bigger objects first (such as food pouch lids or cheerios), then gradually use smaller items as your child gets more confident.

Below, you can see a simple set-up for children just learning to use pony beads. Taping down one end of the chenille stick with duct tape makes it easier to focus on the pre-writing skills development rather than the frustrating task of keeping all the beads on the stick!

3. Using tweezers to pick up objects

Tools such as tweezers and scoops can add extra challenge to activities as they require manipulation of the hands and fingers to work. I recommend the fine motor toolkit from Learning Resources as a simple addition to sensory play activities.

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4. Practising pincer grip with clothes pegs

Clothes pegs are such a fab everyday resource for early learning. We use them in so many ways, from name recognition , to number recognition and colour matches, too. You can even recreate a mini washing line with pegs to introduce so ‘real-world’ play into the proceedings.

5. Scissor Skills

It can seem like a terrifying prospect to allow your little learner to wield some scissors, but it’s another important pre-writing activity that helps to build strength in the hands and fingers. There’s plenty of activities you can try, from ‘haircuts’ to following lines on a printable however our personal favourite was always using scissors in a practical way.

6. Trace with index finger / paint brush

Salt trays are an excellent way of getting little ones to trace or copy shapes. The tray above was used with my daughter when she was practising high frequency words (HFW) however it can also be used with much younger children to copy pre-writing shapes.

7. Regular Gross Motor Activities

Does this one surprise you?

Regular gross motor activities, particularly ones which involve using balance, core strength development and finger grip, will help your child become more comfortable with writing in the future.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean enrolling in expensive sports clubs. Opportunities to play at the local playground on a regular basis will go a long way in helping your child to develop these skills.

It’s not too late to join in with 30 Days of Outdoor play, if you want to encourage more gross motor play outside:

8. Create art and crafts

Art can often get ignored at home for fear that it will cause a huge amount of mess but it needn’t be a stressful experience, especially when there are so many sensory benefits.

In many ways, art is the perfect pre-writing activity that also allows for creative outlet. Holding a paintbrush, squeezing a sponge or even using fingers during art sessions are all great ways for children to explore and experiment with their hands and fingers

9. Squeezing Pipettes

Pipettes (or turkey basters) are another fabulous resource for pre-writing activities in the early years. In fact, our pipettes seem to be a feature in most of the water play we do! From colour mixing to simple science experiments, they add a fun element to proceedings whilst still having all the benefits of boosting fine motor skills.

Is your child starting school soon?

Starting school is not just about the academics - whilst learning about pre-writing activities is really helpful, you need a holistic approach to the lead up to school.

In May, I will be hosting a starting school workshop as part of the This Playful Home membership.

Topics covered include:

• Building Independence

• Social-Emotional Readiness

• Foundational Academic Skills

• Your Readiness as a parent

One of my all-time favourite ways to encourage authentic, independent play is to get outside. Why? Because I can almost guarantee that my children will gravitate towards the 'mud kitchen' for a daily dose of imaginative play. Whether they are making a potion or 'food' there's always some way to get creative with play whilst outdoors.

For some perspective, my children are no longer toddlers. At the ages of 7 and 9, they still love nothing more than making up potions and recipes by picking a load of herbs and flowers from the garden, then mixing them with water, food dye and whatever else there is to hand.

Today marks the start of 30 Days of Outdoor Play and since mud pies and potion making are activities included in the challenge, I thought it was time to revisit our favourite mud kitchen resources.

But first, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check out our free challenge yet, you can do so here:

So what's the deal with a mud kitchen, is it expensive?

Short answer, yes it can be if you decide to order something bespoke, but it needn't be. If you're handy with tools, or know someone who is, then you can always DIY one. There are plenty of instructions to follow over on Pinterest.

I ordered our original mud kitchen via Amazon because of the nature of our own family life and the fact we tend to move countries every couple of years. Whilst it was reasonably priced, it also didn’t weather too well and we ended up sending it to the tip when it was time to leave Vienna.

Nowadays, we use our tuff spot tray and play tray to indulge in mud kitchen play. Although, I’ve almost persuaded my very handy teenage son to have a go at making one from old pallets - I will keep you informed on my progress with that one!

But bottom line, think about the cost per use. I’m sure a bespoke mud kitchen would be worth the cost if you intend to use it frequently.

How to get started?

To be honest, all you really need to get started with a mud kitchen is an old wooden table or bench (you could use outdoor varnish to preserve it) and a collection of old kitchen equipment. If your children love it and you feel like splurging on a bespoke mud kitchen later on down the line, then go for it!

When we replaced our ancient pots and pans with some shiny new ones, the older stuff made it's way into the mud kitchen instead of getting thrown away . The children love using the real deal and it helps add some authenticity to their play. It's also a good way to save money too.

Why is a mud kitchen beneficial?

The main benefit is that a mud kitchen will help to encourage authentic play. It's particularly great for when your children are entering the realm of make believe dramatic play.

Other benefits include:

• Easy 'sensory play' option. Sensory play is important and there's no better way to embrace it than to be outside engaging with natural resources!

• Language development - playing pretend, learning new vocabulary, playing with siblings /other children

• Early mathematical skills - counting ingredients, capacity, volume, weight etc

• Hand-eye coordination - pouring ingredients, adding water and so on

• Fine motor skills - stirring potions, using tongs, grating chalks.

• Learning about the world - children make sense of their everyday world by emulating what they see.

• Simply being outside! Ideally, children need at least 2 hours outside each day. Playing in a mud kitchen is an easy way to pass that time.

You can learn more about the benefits of being outdoors here.

20 of Our Favourite Mud Kitchen Resources

Okay, so have I convinced you to create a mud kitchen? If I have, then it's time to get collecting resources. Some of these are seasonal and it might also depend on what part of the world you live in.

1. Old (rust free) pots, pans and baking trays

2. Water dispenser

3. Kitchen utensils - wooden spoon, whisk, spatula, tongs

4. Cheese grater

5. Juicer

6. Flowers and herbs- fresh or dried

7. Old weighing scales

8. Pinecones

9. Conkers (you can soak these in vinegar and bake them to preserve - we've had ours for years!)

10. Leaves

11. Sticks

12. Pumpkins

13. Food colouring

14. Small watering cans

15. Dirt / mud (check that soil is 'child-friendly' and free of pesticides)

16. Tea pot & cups

17. Colander

18. Rocks

19. Sand

20. chalks

Please always use your best judgement when using everyday and natural resources in play. Small items that might pose a choking hazard risk should not be used with under 3's. Throw away any items that have gone rusty.

Spring is officially here and the clocks go forward this weekend. Although the prospect of an hour less in bed on Mother’s Day1 is a bit of a downer, it also brings with it the possibility of more time for outdoor adventures.

This is exactly why I’m bringing back the 30 Days of Outdoor Play challenge for April. Over the years, we’ve done several versions of this challenge. But this year is a little different, because my children have added their own ideas to the challenge.

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Today, we went on a family walk and decided to add a few more games. ‘Shadowlands’ was added after playing the game in real time - I’m fairly certain that Bluey was the major inspiration behind this one!

So why take the challenge?

There’s no denying the benefits of spending more time outdoors, but it feels undeniably hard at times, especially during the winter months. So spring is the perfect time to build new habits and spend more time outside.

I’m a huge believer in the ‘start where you’re at’ approach. Most of the ideas on the challenge grid take between 10 - 30 minutes, meaning it’s the perfect start for any family looking to spend more time outdoors.

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If you would like to learn more about outdoor play, I have a 5 part mini series which you can view here.

Download the Challenge here:

30 Day Outdoor Play Challenge Spring Edition This Playful Home

176KB ∙ PDF file

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How to take the challenge

1. Download the pdf version of the challenge (see above)

2. Share with a friend using the button below

3. The challenge can be completed in any order, so choose at random!

4. Colour (or tick) the challenge square once you’ve completed an activity

5. Tag me if you would like to share your progress or comment on this post

Leave a comment

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Any questions? Send me a message!

If you’re not sure about any of the challenge activities, or need some help with outdoor play, feel free to message me.

What to read next:

When it comes to play, one of the questions I get asked the most is, 'Why won't my child play independently?' It is a real source of anxiety and concern because it also adds to the parental load.

Before we begin, It's worth noting how incredibly short independent play times really are.

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On average, it's just 2-5 minutes per year of age:

Whilst it’s helpful to know how short independent playtime can be, it also doesn’t offer heaps of reassurance when all you really want to do is drink your coffee in peace.

So what helps and what hinders independent play?

1. Lack of open-ended toys in the play space

One of the reasons your child might not be playing independently is because they are a little bored by their toys! Try to ensure that at least 70% of the toys in the play area are open-ended. Simply put, this means toys that can be played with in multiple ways.

These are the toys that can grow with your child too - wooden blocks are a good example here as there are just so many possibilities for play!

Try setting up a play invitation with 2-3 of your child's toys to help prompt them to play. If your child isn't used to playing independently then this is a good way to show them new ways to play.

This can be as simple as adding some wooden blocks to an acrylic mirror or beginning a train track.

2. There isn't enough time dedicated to free-play

One of the common problems with modern parenting is the misconception that we have to turn ourselves into 24/7 child entertainers in order to be 'good' parents.

Instagram and Pinterest can certainly help us to get ideas and inspiration for our children, but it can also make us feel like we always have to be doing something WITH our children. In reality, playing independently (and without us) is crucial for a child’s development.

Establishing a simple daily rhythm with plenty of opportunities for free, independent play will help to get your child playing independently. This is because they will begin to understand that they will be able to really get into play instead of being interrupted to go and do a planned activity!

3. You give too many directions on how they should play

Is it good to sit down and play with your child? Yes, absolutely!

However, if you are constantly interrupting the flow of play and telling them how they should do it, they are going to be put off from playing independently.

A much better approach in the toddler years is to sit side-by-side. Grab some toys from the play space and do your own thing: they may join in, they might not!

Another easy switch you can make is to keep planned activities really simple and open-ended. I post daily activities over on Pinterest - come and follow me there.

4. There has been a change in routine and they need reassurance

Another reason that you child might not be playing independently could be as simple as a change of routine. This happened to us when my daughter went back to school after the end of lockdown. My youngest son (then three 3) struggled with the loss of his play buddy.

Here's what I did to get him playing independently again:

1. I made sure that they play space primarily catered to his interests and developmental stage

2. I adopted a new daily rhythm so he got used to the times I could play and when I needed to get on with other tasks

3. I set up play invitations and sat with him (side by side) before going to make a cup of tea. I then started to extend this to longer tasks - fast-forward a few weeks and I was able to work whilst he plays independently in the background!

4. Plenty of outdoor time. My youngest is a very active child, so we spend a lot of time running around at the park or in the garden.

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Spring is one of my favourite seasons. With the flowers blooming and signs of new life everywhere, it's the perfect time to get outside and spend more time in nature.

I have spoken on many occasions on the importance of getting outdoors (in all weathers), but Spring is truly the most perfect time to get started with this.

One of my favourite things to do is simply spend longer periods outside embracing nature. We adjust our daily rhythm so that play invitations, sensory play, art and independent play all happens outside - either in the garden or at the local park.

With that being said, sometimes it is nice to have a focus of your outdoor time, whether it be picking seasonal fruit at a local PYO, then making muffins or pies with the fruit you have collected or simply creating 'potions' using herbs and flowers in the garden.

I have compiled a Spring family list filled with simple activities and prompts for you to encourage longer periods of outdoor play.

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50 simple activities to do with young kids this Spring

1. go on a nature walk and search for spring flowers

2. go on a rainy walk and jump in muddy puddles!

3. take art projects outdoors

4. visit a wildflower meadow and take pictures

5. draw with sidewalk chalks in the garden or local park

6. plant some seeds and watch them grow

7. make a flower soup with old Mother's Day flowers

8. freeze flowers overnight to use in sensory play

9. take a picnic to the local park

10. make a simple mud kitchen in the garden - use old pots and pans

11. walk barefoot in your back garden

12. borrow spring-themed books from the library

13. make a homemade bird feeder

14. visit a butterfly house and learn about lifecycles

15. plant sunflower seeds ready for summer

16. go on a spring themed scavenger hunt

17. explore a playground that you haven't visited before

18. lie on a blanket and look for shapes in the clouds

19. play pooh sticks!

20. fly a kite on a windy day

21. create a fairy garden

22. visit a farm and see the baby animals

23. create an outdoor obstacle course

24. spring clean the play space and donate old toys

25. go camping in the garden

26. set up a hammock and read some books

27. roll down a hill

28. collect rocks and paint them, then hide for others to find

29. make a nature wand

30. go on a sound walk

31. build a fort

32. make homemade spring themed play dough

33. go on a bug hunt in your local forest or park

34. take story time outside

35. play tag

36. go on a rainy walk

37. watch the sunrise together

38. watch the sunset together

39. have breakfast outdoors

40. visit a Farmer's Market and try something new

41. blow some bubbles!

42. climb a tree

43. take a road trip to a new national park or adventure trail

44. decorate a terracotta flower pot

45. visit a local flower show

46. pick some seasonal fruit at a local 'pick your own' farm

47. learn a new skill - e.g. skipping or riding a bike

48. paddle in a stream

49. crush some herbs to make 'potions'

50. make a pie or muffins with seasonal fruits

Spring Printables

Coming Soon

April will mark the return of the ‘30 Days of Outdoor Play’ challenge

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The weather in the UK has been glorious recently, so I decided to create two more spring-themed nature treasure activities.

This time, I created ‘find and colour’ printables, designed to get the children thinking about the colours typically found in nature during spring.

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As a family, we go on plenty of nature walks and after school , we tested out this printable before sharing it with you.

I put the treasure hunts into a reusable plastic wallet and provided each child with a whiteboard pen. We walked around the village and down to the canal, to spot as many signs of nature as we could.

The treasure hunt was a lesson in really slowing down in order to properly spot the signs of spring. Some things would have been easy to miss, such as the only lamb in a field of sheep or the swans building a nest on the canal bank. We had to use most of our senses in order to find the items on the list.

When we returned home, the children (mostly) coloured in the treasure hunt items from memory. It was a great way to connect with nature, and really think about the signs of spring. The children noticed that many of the flowers that are currently in bloom are yellow and purple.

Educational Benefits

• Spending time outdoors and connecting with nature

• Using the senses to see, hear, touch and smell the signs of spring

• Learning about the world around us: what happens when nature starts to ‘wake-up’?

• Gaining new vocabulary: e.g. the names of flowers or the colours found in nature.

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I’m kind of obsessed with frogs. So when I was scrolling socials this morning and saw that it was World Frog Day, I knew I had to put a quick activity together for when the children finished school.

The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the importance of frogs and other amphibians. You can read more about it via worldfrogday.org

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For very young children, play is the best way to talk about, and celebrate frogs. Combine this with a non-fiction or fiction book about frogs.

Talk to your child about:

• habitats - where do frogs live and why?

• diet - what do frogs eat?

• lifecycle - what happens to frogs as they grow from a tadpole to a fully grown frog?

You can find plenty of frog facts on The National Geographic Kids.

A quick sensory invitation to play:

Since I hadn’t pre-planned this activity, I decided to make a green foam base for our frog pond. I then searched my resource cupboard for anything green or frog themed. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes to put together.

How to make foam:

• 1 cup of water

• 1 tablespoon of dish soap

• Food dye (optional)

Whizz all of the ingredients in a blender, or whisk by hand to get a foamy consistency.

Suggested resources:

• a tray

• green themed loose parts - e.g. cupcake cases, pompoms, buttons, lolly sticks

• frog figurines

• a frog themed book - e.g. The Tale of Jeremy Fisher

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Happy St Patrick’s Day to all who celebrate! ☘️

This post is a little later than I had originally anticipated but prepping St Patrick’s Day themed lessons for my students this week reminded me of some really simple themed activities I did with my children when they were younger.

I’ve recreated some of those today, ready for when my children get home. After all, play doesn’t have an age limit.

I haven’t bought anything specifically for these activities, instead choosing to use recycling, loose parts and open-ended toys.

Playdough

I used our basic playdough recipe, then added green food dye to make a St Patrick’s Day themed invitation to play.

This activity is a great way to work the fine motor skills, because picking up the pony beads is really quite tricky!

I like to present play dough invitations on a wooden platter so that the children can decide how they want to play with the materials.

Use the photo above as inspiration, but you can sub in other small loose parts such as sequins and pompoms.

Download our basic play dough recipe below:

Basic Playdough Recipe

437KB ∙ PDF file

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Sensory Play Tray

This photo is from three years ago, before my youngest even started school! For this sensory play activity, I used dyed chickpeas, buttons and magnetic rainbow chips1.

The idea was to collect all of the rainbow chips and add them to the golden treasure chest (in reality, an old ‘pirate’ craft from years before!)

Click on the button below to find out how to make the rainbow chickpeas, or alternatively, substitute for rainbow rice, lentils or cereals.

how to make rainbow chickpeas

Leprechaun Trap

The Leprechaun trap is such a fun activity because it can be used with a variety of age groups.

For pre-schoolers, present a variety of loose parts, open ended materials and recycling on a large tray, then invite them to create the Leprechaun ‘trap.’

For older students, invite them to view the materials first, then create a plan sharing their design. This also leads into a writing activity that encourages children to use adjectives to write about the trap.

More details on this activity for home educators and school students will be shared on my brand new page, shortly.

If you enjoyed these activities, please share with a friend and tap the ❤️

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Spring is officially here and with that, a real chance to explore the outdoors. Whilst it’s beneficial to get children outdoors in all weathers, Spring brings the opportunity to get outside for longer and (hopefully) without the need to wear layers and layers of waterproof clothing!

The This Playful Home Spring Scavenger Hunt is designed to help young children explore outdoors with their senses, providing opportunities to see, hear, smell and touch Spring!

The printable version of the Spring Scavenger Hunt is available to members. Find out more about becoming a member, by clicking the button below:

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It’s been something of a tumultuous year as we adjusted back to life in the UK after 9 years of expat life. However, we’re ending the year feeling settled and happy. Whilst I wouldn’t recommend an international house move, followed by home and garden renovations to anyone, I’m thankful that we are to start 2025 on a fresh page.

2024 has also brought changes to this Substack page and I now have a very clear path going forward. First and foremost, I made the decision to rename this page ‘This Playful Home’ to better reflect my social media pages. You might also notice that this website is now officially thisplayfulhome.com after I made the decision to fully close down my WordPress website. Over the coming months, I will be transferring all of my old play-based blogs onto this page.

If you missed the post about all of the changes to this page, you can read it below:

In real life, I’ve had increasing demand for my tutoring and educational consultancy services. My bespoke curriculums, which blend classical children’s literature with seasonal living and a playful hands-on approach, are becoming increasingly popular with local families - and it’s also something that brings me a great amount of joy - so I have decided to branch out and offer my tutoring services online too. To celebrate this, will be officially launching in January. I will be offering private tutoring, educational services and off-the-peg curriculums.

Family Rhythms at Christmas Time

A key part of my own philosophy is to use family rhythms as an anchor. When life gets crazy and stressful, our family rhythm helps to keep us focused. And every season, we hold a family meeting to decide on what we really want to do.

Whilst things don’t always work out as planned (like our cancelled trip to Blenheim Palace), part of the fun is writing out our bucket list. We’ve been able to fully embrace all things Christmas this year and it’s been so lovely to have some stability. Last year, we literally just moved into our house on the 21st of December which made Christmas feel like a bit of an after thought! So far we’ve baked sugar cookies, watched a load of Christmas movies, made Victorian-style orange garlands and possibly drank a few to many hot chocolates!

Christmas Ideas

I bet you’re busy enough already, without me adding Christmas activity ideas to your list. But if you’re looking for some playful ideas for the holidays, here are some of our favourites.

On Friday, I will be publishing a blog post brimming with activity ideas for the Winter Solstice.

Christmas is an exciting time, especially for young children but it can also be stressful for us as parents when we have a million things on our plates. The majority of these activities take less than 5 minutes to set up and most can be used more than once.

5 Benefits of Invitations to Play:

All play invitations have many benefits, but it can feel off putting when the play is messy! As well as being a great way to make connections to the world around them, here are some more reasons why you should try these play ideas:

1. Gives children the freedom to explore new materials which in turn fosters curiosity and imagination. There is no right or wrong outcome when it comes to sensory play.

2. Helps to develop fine motor skills and hand strength. This is crucial for learning to write later on down the line

3. Encourages communication and language development. Play invitations can be a social activity, particularly if you invite friends to join in!

4. Helps to develop spatial awareness as children begin to understand the environment around them via exploration of materials.

5. Boosts brain development which in turn helps ability to problem solve. Sensory play is a great introduction to STEAM learning.

You can read more about invitations to play here:

Age Recommendations

All of the Christmas invitations to play are suitable for children aged from 3 onwards and are intended to be done under supervision. If your child is at the stage where they put items into their mouths avoid small object that might pose a choking hazard – pompoms and small beads, for example.

10 Christmas Invitation to Play Ideas

Simply use these ideas as inspiration for play at home. You don’t need to use the exact same resources as I did, but here are some core materials that we use for play all year round.

• A tray – the IKEA Flisat table or a tuff spot tray are great purchase options for sensory play

• wooden serving platter

• Learning Resources fine motor set

• pipettes

• wooden scoops and tongs

• small craft resources – e.g. buttons, beads and pompoms

1. Create a Christmas tree with loose parts

If you have a set of magnetic tiles, invite your child to create a Christmas tree. Let them think about the shapes that would work best and provide some small loose parts and Christmas decorations.

Try to include some magnetic items (like jingle bells), to add a STEAM based element to play. Whilst it’s tempting to simple say – ‘use triangle to make the tree’. Allow your child the opportunity to explore for themselves too.

2. Explore Decorations

We all know that children love to explore the Christmas tree and decorations. One of the ways you can avoid getting the tree pulled down is to provide a small selection of Christmas ornaments for them to explore.

When you add in mirrors to this exploration, they – quite literally – add a new dimension to the play invitation.

3. Washi Tape

Make a basic triangle shape from washi tape, then invite your toddler or pre-schooler to decorate it. You can use loose parts from your toy collection, Christmas decorations or recycling to make this work.

4. Tuff Spot Tray

For this invitation to play, I drew a large Christmas tree onto a tuff spot tray by using a paint stick. Then I provided a selection of Christmas decorations and loose parts so that my children could decorate it.

5. Sensory Play with real snow

Over the Winter months, I often leave an empty IKEA Trofast tray outside in the garden when snow is predicted. Once we have a full tray of snow, I add a selection of liquid food colouring into the Flisat table so the children can explore colour mixing. An even easier and less messy version of this is featured below.

Even in the Winter months, we try to get outside as much as possible - and having the right clothes certainly helps with this goal. Below, my daughter had a joy-filled morning playing with snow and leftover pumpkins in the mud kitchen.

6. Polar Express Sensory Bin

Polar Express is a classic Christmas story which makes it ideal for bookish play too. For this Christmas Invitation to play, we simply added some expired chocolate pops to a Flisat table along with scoops and cups.

7. Starbucks ‘Red Cups’ Sensory Bin

If you’re a Starbucks fan, Christmas time is also synonymous with red cups. Whilst we try our best to take along our Keep Cups, sometimes we end up with a takeaway coffee cup or two! When this happens, we simply wash out the cups and reuse them for play.

To make the bubble foam:

This is so simple to make and looks really pretty too! All you need is:

• 2 tbsp of dish soap

• 2/3 cup of water

• splash of food colouring

We made this batch in a food processor, but whisking by hand works just as well.

8. Christmas Themed Play Dough Box

Every season, we tend to make at least one batch of homemade playdough. Featured below is vanilla and cinnamon playdough that smelt absolutely divine!

Storing playdough in an IKEA Glis box is also a great way to set up an easy invitation to play that can be brought out repeatedly.

9. Letters to Santa

This really simple Christmas Invitation to play is great for children who are just starting to learn how to write. ‘Letters to Santa’ will help your child to make marks on the paper, then use stickers and stampers to personalise it.

At this stage, don’t worry about the writing – it’s very likely there will just be a few scribbles on the paper! The point is, your child will start to make connections between what their hand is doing and what happens on the paper.

10. Hot Chocolate Playdough Box

Chocolate playdough is one of our favourite playdough options for the winter months. Not only does it smell gorgeous, but it really evokes the rich scents of Christmas-time hot chocolate.

Find out More about Sensory Play

Coming Soon

Over the next few months I’ll be transferring all of my website posts onto Substack. These will be free for everyone to view so I’ve also made the decision to turn off the paywall for archived posts.

Due to the sheer volume of posts that I will be transferring, I won’t bombard you with them in email form. I will however do a weekly round-up email so you can browse the content that appeals.

I will be transferring my domain name www.thisplayfulhome.com over to Substack. This means that the people who discover me via Pinterest and Instagram will still be able to see my content.