Here are some of our past pumpkin play posts That might give you some ideas for Halloween 2020 Our Halloween at Home 7 NO CARVE WAYS WITH PUMPKINS 3 MORE WAYS TO PLAY WITH PUMPKINS BABY PLAY: PUMPKIN PLAY 4 … Continue reading
Category Archives: Learning Through Play
An Autumn Collection of Bookish Play
TIS THE SEASON FOR AUTUMN BOOKS AND PLAY HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVOURITES FROM THE EDSPIRE ARCHIVE WE HAVE LOTS OF LOVELY NEW BOOKS AND IDEAS TO SHARE WITH YOU SOON BUT FIRST, HERE ARE SOME OF OUR MUCH … Continue reading
Spring Flowers Playful Learning in Pictures
What a sunny week! The children have been playing outside a lot this week Making the most of the weather But we have also learned lots about flowers View this post on Instagram We have had a busy week learning … Continue reading
We Love Christmas Play
Some of our tried and tested Christmas play ideas GOLD AND SILVER STARS View this post on Instagram Set up a really quick play activity today. Gold and silver ribbon stars with tweezers, starry paper cups, Christmas plates and napkins … Continue reading
Advent Books and Festive Bookish Play
I have been sharing some of our advent books Along with our book inspired play Over on Instagram And thought I would share some of them here too We have, literally, hundreds of Christmas books That I have collected over … Continue reading
23 Messy and Sensory Play Ideas In Pictures
Life has been crazy lately One of the things that I have neglected Over the past couple of years Has been my blog I kind of lost my way with it a bit And I think the blog has lost … Continue reading
Five Fun Ways To Play with Little Brian Paint Sticks #ad
For the past few weeks we have been putting a selection of
Little Brian Paint Sticks through their paces
I wanted to share with you some of the products we have tested
And some of the projects we have used them for
This post does include review products from Little Brian Art
But we have been using this brand for a while now
And do genuinely and heartily recommend them
Little Brian Paint Sticks
Allow children to be arty
Without getting messy
Not that we have any concerns about mess in our house
But I know that many people do
If you are not naturally arty
Paint Sticks are for you
They are twist up sticks of paint
Just like glue sticks
They paint on to multiple surfaces
Including glass, wood, stones, cardboard, paper and whiteboards
They even wash off walls!
They come in a range of colours and sizes
Perfect for children of all ages to use
And hands of all sizes to get to grips with
Here are ways we have used Paint Sticks in the last couple of weeks
LAYERED PAINTING
The first set of paints that we tested
Were in the brand new Paint Sticks Assorted Bucket
The handy bucket can be used for storing and transporting up to 20 Paint Sticks
The bucket comes with 20 Paint Sticks inside: 12 Classic, 6 Day Glow and 2 Metallic colours
You can buy the bucket from Argos and Smyths
This would be a lovely little gift for a summer birthday
And the perfect present to take on holiday
I think we will use this most when we want to take art materials with us
On our home education adventures
One of the things that we love about Little Brian Paint Sticks
Is that they are quick drying
Meaning that you can layer patterns and colours
Without lots of waiting around for parts of pictures to dry
We also love the colour range and have been experimenting with Day Glow and Metallic sticks
These paint sticks are great to take out and about
But just as good as a staple in your art cupboard at school or at home
Being able to layer colours
Is great for young children
Who do not always have the patience to wait for a background to dry
Now they can just paint a rainbow straight on to their sky
Of fish straight into their sea!
PAINTING ON WINDOWS
How I would have loved being allowed to paint on the windows as a child!
It seems like such a naughty thing to do
My children could not believe their luck when I introduced this activity
Using a pack of 24 paint sticks; 12 classic colours, 6 day glow colours and 6 metallic colours
We all had a go at painting on the window
It was a wonderful sensory experience painting on the glass
I enjoyed this activity just as much as the children if not more
We created scenes on the windows
And then used them as small worlds for imaginative play
We populated the scenes using Stickabouts from Fiesta Crafts
These awesome stickers are indestructible and you can stick them just about anywhere
They work especially well on windows
We made a dinosaur world together
And then Esther went on to make a zoo
I am planning to turn our windows into stained glass scenes for Christmas
I am very excited for that!
The paints glide on to the glass
And are super easy to wash off
Perfect mess free messy creative fun!
BOX HOUSE DECORATING
With three birthdays in our house in the last two weeks
We have cardboard boxes galore
Today Daddy and the little rainbows made one of the boxes into a house
Tonight I have used the Paint Sticks to add some flowers to the house
I have left the paints out with the cardboard house
As an ‘Invitation to Create’ for the children to find tomorrow
They will be very excited to add colour and detail to their own little house
DREAM CATCHER MAKING
At the children’s Roald Dahl birthday party on Sunday
We invited guests to make BFG Dreamcatchers
The dreamcatchers were wooden kits from Baker Ross
And the Paint Sticks worked brilliantly on them
Giving bright vibrant colours that dried quickly so that our friends could take them home
Painting on to wood so effortlessly and drying so quickly
Makes Paint Sticks great for parties and home education workshops
For schools and art clubs too
So many uses!
BLACK AND WHITEBOARD PLAY
We have been lucky enough to review the brand new
Little Brian Paint Sticks Classic Art Station
This is a portable easel with blackboard and whiteboard
It also has a clip so that you can paint on to paper
The art station comes with 6 chalk sticks, 6 classic paint sticks, 10 sheets of paper and 1 duster
Edie and Bea have loved playing with this set
You can draw on both boards with the Chalk Sticks
And the Paint Sticks work well on the whiteboard and clean off easily
This is great for art
But also great for little ones learning to write
Using the art station for creatively practising mark making
Forming letters and copying words
There are so many ways to play with this set at home
And it is easy to take on holiday or out for the day
Making it great value for money
It is available in Argos for £30
One art activity that springs to mind
Is getting two children to draw each other
As they are sitting opposite one another
So many ways to create and play!
These are five fun things we have got up to with our Little Brian Paint Sticks
What do you like to do with yours?
If you have not yet tried Paint Sticks
Head over to my Edspire Facebook page where I will be giving away
An Assorted Paint Stick Bucket worth £12.99
We were sent the Paint Stick products in this post to review
All thoughts and opinions are my own
Festive Forecast: Top 10 Bath Toys For Babies and Toddlers
This year I am resurrecting the Edspire Festive Forecast I have not done this for years But this year I have some many wonderful Christmas ideas And Advent activities to share with you That I feel that the Festive Forecast … Continue reading
Autumn Sensory Storytelling Tray
At the start of autumn I made a Gruffalo storytelling basket for Edie It has been used lots and lots By all the children And has rekindled our love of all things Gruffalo Since then I have made a few … Continue reading
Home Education: Iggy Peck Play Day
On Thursday we hosted a Home Education Learning Through Play Day Inspired by the book Iggy Peck Architect We had 24 children here with their grown ups For 5 hours of construction themed activities I absolutely loved planning this day … Continue reading