UnpluggedPlay

Make 2017 the year of play with our brand-new line of play packed with possibilities, perfect for preschoolers. We’ve got smart toys, co-operative games, and real working scientific tools designed specifically little ones that support key developmental milestones while they play. Check out a few of our favorites, below: Wiggle Waggle Whiskers™ - You and your little one will take turns building fences to claim backyard space for your four-legged friends in this preschool strategy game for two, based on the classic game Dots and Boxes. Ages 4-7.Playfoam® Go! – Now your kiddo can get creative on the go! This set of squishy, squashy, Playfoam comes in a clear carrying case complete with built-in shape molds and color compartments. Perfect for the car, plane, waiting room, restaurant, Playfoam never dries out and won’t stick to carpet or clothing. Ages 3-6.Design & Drill® Robot – Engineer an afternoon of fun with this DIY building set! First, kids assemble and decorate their own robot; then, they play! Features snap-together pieces, a kid-friendly screwdriver, and colorful bolts, and more. Ages 3-6.Zoo Crew Puppet-on-a-Stick® - Little imaginations run wild with these adorable, zoo-themed Puppets-on-Sticks, perfect for pretend play, puppet shows, and more! Set includes a monkey, lion, giraffe, and elephant with movable mouths. Ages 3-6.Visit our Pinterest board  to see our all of our new ways to play, learn, and get silly in 2017!https://www.pinterest.com/edinsights/hottest-new-toys-and-games-for-2017-from-best-sell/ 

The holidays are upon us! At our house, we’re all looking forward to our favorite foods (well, okay, the two of us who eat more than corndogs and dino nuggets are looking forward to the food), meet ups with friends, a few days away, and lots (and lots!) of family time. But for those of us with pre-preschoolers or students with 2+ weeks out of school, filling the days without resorting to hours of YouTube, MineCraft, or Roblox can be a challenge. (On a total side note, do any of your kids watch the Eh Bee Family on YouTube? I totally don’t get it. My kid’s real-life family is right in front of her but she’d rather watch someone else’s? We must be doing something wrong.)Anyway. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for zoning out, especially after a long day at school. And I’m the first one to share those Facebook posts about how Minecraft builds STEM skills. But with days off school and no plans in sight, an hour easily slips into two or three and then? Bring on the Mom guilt.To combat the guilt and make the most of our time off together, I’ve compiled a list of five of our favorite unplugged play ideas. Give them a go this holiday break. Your kids might have so much fun that they’ll beg to unplug and play a little bit more. Just maybe.

1. Bring a Story to Life – Kids love being read to – even big kids. So pick a favorite story or hit the library and find a new one (ooh – library picnics are another of our favorite unplugged outings!). Read it together, then find a way to bring it to life. Act it out with puppets, draw a few scenes on paper, come up with alternate endings, rename the characters. The fun doesn’t have to end when the story does! Educational Insights’ Once Upon a Craft™ kits make it easy to extend story time, with book and craft sets that include all the materials you’ll need to bring each story to life and fun ideas for extending the story time fun.

2. Indoor Scavenger Hunt – I love scavenger hunts. Indoors, outdoors, wherever. If winter weather’s got you trapped inside, uplug your kids and get them moving with a list of things to find in the house. Get creative and sneak in some learning – use foreign language words for older kids, list objects of specific colors and shapes for little ones. Or tie the list to family history – the sweater mom wore to the last piano recital, Johnny’s favorite stuffed friend, etc. Timing your competitors is always a hit. And try having the kids take turn making the search list for each other!
3. Obstacle Course – My daughter loves an obstacle course. In fact, she’s been dying to try Parkour ever since that one episode of Adventure Time with Shelby… but I digress. If you’re willing to risk your furniture – particularly your couch pillows – you’re way ahead of the game, but you can also create a course out of other objects. Weave­ your way through a string of shoes, limbo under a yarn pole pinned to the sides of the door frame, hop on one foot around a baseball cap. Get creative and be sure to let your kids help plan the course – that’s half the fun! And, of course, don’t forget the timer. Challenging kids to beat their time can be extremely motivating. EI’s Pancake Pile-up Relay Race game is another way to get your kids up and moving, with a relay style challenge to race to and pile up pancakes and toppings in precisely the right order.
4. Bake Something – We’re big time bakers. Nothing too extreme, mind you. At our house it’s more about frequency. But kids love to measure, pour, and mix and, let’s face it, I’m not going to turn down a lick of the beater, either. Whether you choose a time-honored family recipe or a mix-in-a-box, baking is good, quality, unplugged time together. Share stories from when you were a kid, take turns licking the spoons, heck, you can even teach your kids how to wash the dishes while you wait for your creation to cook.

You can find more boredom busting unplugged play ideas here. And if you live in a warmer climate, be sure to check out our outdoor unplugged play idea post What are your unplugged play plans for the holiday break? Let me know in the comments below!Amy Opheim is a mom, wife, and freelance writer based in Southern California.

Why do we parents breathe a sigh of relief when our kids put down their tablets and pick up an action figure, dress up outfit, or hula hoop? Because we know balance is key! Tablet time isn’t tragic – it just needs to be balanced with reading, drawing, building, imagining, exploring, and exercising. But why? What is it that kids get out of #UnpluggedPlay that they don’t get anywhere else? Read on to find out.Pretend Play – There’s really nothing sweeter than listening to your kiddo act out a scenario using action figures, dolls, stuffed animals, or play props like kitchen and doctor sets. But pretend play isn’t just cute! Dramatic play helps kids explore the different roles they see in their lives, from parent to friend to baker to builder, developing not just an understanding of the world around them, but also building empathy skills. Pretend play with a friend helps kids learn to take turns, play cooperatively, and problem solve. Coming up with pretend story lines develops imagination and creative thinking skills. And “acting out” that pretend play scenario develops vocabulary and language skills.Arts & Crafts – It’s obvious that coloring, drawing, and crafting with tools like Playfoam® develop creativity and encourage self-expression. But creating also develops fine motor skills, the kind required to hold a pencil or paint brush, and bilateral coordination, the process of using both hands together, as in one to hold the paper and the other to cut it with scissors. Artistic creation also teaches trial and error, patience, and perseverance. And, best of all, creating is an incredible confidence booster – no right or wrong answer, just pure joy.Building – Be it with blocks or other, more advanced, construction sets, the benefits of building are nearly endless. The perfect STEM learning activity, building introduces key scientific principles including gravity and balance, engineering concepts like arches and towers, and mathematic concepts and academic vocabulary including grouping, sorting, counting, addition, and subtraction. And, of course, manipulating blocks develops motor skills and hand-eye coordination, too.Games & Puzzles – Games are great for getting your family laughing and playing together, but they’re good for more than fun! Playing games helps kids develop thinking and reasoning skills, strategic problem solving, spatial awareness, concentration, and focus. Word games develop language skills and vocabulary, while dice and math games like Even Steven’s Odd™ build and practice math concepts and facts. Game play also helps younger children develop social skills like turn taking and winning and losing gracefully.Outdoor Play – Aside from reaping the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and the great outdoors, kids who play outside are exploring and discovering, developing and quenching scientific curiosity, and gaining self-confidence and self-efficacy.We all need some down time and electronics are a great distraction. But the benefits to be gained from #UnpluggedPlay are not to be overlooked. Be sure to balance tablet time with some of the above ways to play each day!

#UnpluggedPlay – Outdoor Activity Ideas Your Kids Will LoveYou’ve seen the data. You’ve set the screen time limits. But getting your kids to turn it off and do something – anything! – else isn’t always easy. It’s likely going to take a little engagement on your part – so clear those calendars and get ready for an afternoon of #UnpluggedPlay for all! The experts at Educational Insights are here to help, with 10 awesome ideas for outdoor #UnpluggedPlay activities that will have your kids turning off their tablets and racing for the backdoor. Give them a go today!1. Invisible Basketball (Or Football or Soccer…) – You don’t need a hoop – or even a ball! – to tip off this terrific, imaginative play session! Just face off, arms up, and let the games begin, exercising both your body and your mind.2. Build a Backyard Obstacle Course – Transform your yard into an obstacle course, American Ninja Warrior style! You can go big by building everything from a balance beam, rock wall, and rope walk – together! – or you can use what you’ve got lying around. A hula hoop makes a great bean bag toss target and a 2x4 is the perfect balance challenge. Use your creativity – setting up is half the fun! And definitely don’t forget your timer.3. Make Pet Rocks – Hard and fast friends, pet rocks are a great way to spend some time at #UnpluggedPlay. Simply collect some specimens, paint them to look like the members of your family, aliens, farm animals, pets – whatever!, let them dry, and voila! Dig them a home in the dirt, collect pine needles for a mattress, build them a backyard see saw with a branch – the possibilities for pretend play are endless.4. Take a Listening Walk – Turn traditional scavenger hunts upside down with a listening walk! List 10 things you might hear in your neighborhood on a sheet of paper and set off to “hear” them, using your best listening skills. From an airplane overhead to a lawnmower, birds chirping, or dogs barking, you’ll be honing attention and focus while having fun.5. Get Dirty – Giving your kids the go ahead to play in the mud will make their day. Simply supply a bucket or hose, find an unused dirt patch in your yard (or dump some dirt on the grass), and watch them go wild. Adding water a little at a time teaches the scientific concepts of density and resistance. Watching mud pies dry introduces the power of heat and the magical concept of evaporation. And, from baked goods to entire villages, mud play easily slides into imaginative play. Now that’s worth the mess!6. Go Buggy – Nothing says “unplugged” like an afternoon of bug collecting! Surprise your kiddo with kid-cool tools, like the GeoSafari® Jr. BugWatch™ set, to capture and study the critters in your yard. A hands-on introduction to the incredible world of insects could spark a lifelong love of life science!7. Blow it Up (With Bubbles) – From bouncing bubbles to colorful Kool-Aid bubbles, bubbles have come a long way, baby! Mixing your own bubble solution is a great first chemistry lesson and what could be more fun than blowing bubbles! Try string, straws, and berry baskets as bubble wands – then build your own, big and small. Test different solutions and study which ones make the biggest, longest lasting, most colorful, or most catchable bubbles. You could even capture your data in a chart…8. Create a Monster Truck Track – Use parts you’ve got lying around your garage to set up a temporary monster truck track in your yard. From ramps and straightaways to curves and mud pools, you’ll also be giving your kids a glimpse into Newton’s Laws of Motion. Supplement your course with sidewalk chalk spectators for an added, creative, twist.9. Speaking of Sidewalk Chalk – Even older kids can get into artistic expression with sidewalk chalk! Trace their bodies and have them color a crazy outfit. Create your house, street, or town. Go wild with a graffiti-like design. Trace the shadows of plants or trees projected on your driveway. With a little encouragement, sidewalk chalk can turn into hours of unplugged, creative play.10. Make – and Fly – a Kite – Take advantage of the gusty fall weather to make and fly your own kite! It’s easy and all it takes is a piece of printer paper, a bamboo skewer (or a pencil!), and some string. Plus, you’ll be providing a crystal clear demonstration of the concept of lift.