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Leaves are changing and falling, the weather is getting colder…yep! It’s time for fall and winter, which means we’ve put together some seasonal activities that will take advantage of those last nature walks and keep you busy when you’re stuck indoors! Check them out:
Document
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
Fall Leaf Safari- Your curious kiddo has probably noticed that leaves come in all shapes, sizes, and colors (and they change color too!). This free, downloadable activity from Spark More Play has four fun parts to it: Leaf Hunting, Leaf Identification, Leaf Observation, and a Leaf Rubbing art activity! Kids will get to collect leaves on a nature walk, learn to identify different characteristics of the leaves they found, and create beautiful leaf art! Plus, get an up-close look at your leaves with GeoSafari® Jr. My First Microscope!
DIY Binoculars- a few household items to create your very own, customizable binoculars! Once you're done, take them on a backyard adventure or play I Spy!
Supplies:
Two empty toilet paper tubes
String
Paper
Markers
Stapler
Tape or Glue Stick
Strickers, beads, or glitter for decoration
Directions:
Place the toilet paper tubes next to each other. Staple them together at the top and bottom.
Cut about 12-16” of string. Use a pen to poke a hole in one side of each toilet paper tube. Insert the string and tie a knot so it's secure.
Wrap the piece of paper around your binoculars and mark where the ends of the paper meet. Also mark the bottom of the binoculars.
Cut the paper along the lines you marked.
Decorate the paper and make it unique! Add your own personal touches like your name, a cool pattern, or a fun picture. Go exploring!
Fold the template in half and then fold it in half again. Next, fold along the diagonal edge, making sure to keep the puppet shape exposed…now you're ready to cut!
Cut out the shapes…the grey portion is the part that is discarded.
Unfold your creation carefully.
6. Put on the finishing touches by drawing in the eyes of the puppets (and the mouths if you didn't cut them out in the previous step). You're done! Tape the snowflake to your window, your notebook, etc. Enjoy!
INDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
DIY Clock- This is a useful tool to show children what time their next activity will begin, help teach how to tell time, and help understand concept of elapsed time.
Supplies
Two pieces of construction paper (two different colors)
Scissors
One brad (a paper fastener)
Marker or crayon
Directions
Trace a circle onto a piece of construction paper to create the clock face. You can do this freehand or trace a large coffee can, tea kettle, or pot.
Cut out the circle-this will be your clock's face.
Using the second piece of construction paper, trace and cut out arrow shapes for the clock hands. Be sure to make a smaller hand for the hour hand and a larger hand for the minute hand.
Place the hour hand on top of the minute hand and push the brad through both arrows. Then push it through the clock face and open the brad arms on the back.
Have your child write the numbers on the clock face with a marker or crayon.
INDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
Make a Balancing Ball Maze- This DIY game uses things you already have around the house and practices balance, coordination, and fine motor skills!
Watch a quick video to see a demonstration of the gameplay!
Supplies
Cardboard box
Ping pong ball or marble (smaller is more difficult)
Construction paper
Marker
Scissors
Directions
Cut the sides off of a cardboard box. Use a box that is at least 12” x 12” if possible.
Cut the side pieces into ten strips, each about 2” wide.
Tape or glue construction paper to the bottom of the box to make a flat surface.
Write the numbers 1-10 (one number per strip) on the center of the cardboard strips.
Fold the cardboard strips into a U shape and tape or hot glue the ends to the construction paper all around the inside of the box. Place them at random, number-wise and orientation-wise. Make sure your ball fits through each U shape before attaching it to the bottom of the box.
Hold the box flat on your lap (or over a table). Start with the ball in the center of the box and tilt it all around to get the ball to pass through each number. The goal is to tilt the ball through the numbers in order from 1-10 as fast as possible.
Start a tournament with a sibling or parent to see who can get through the entire course fastest.
OTHER IDEAS FOR INDOOR PLAY
Teach your kids to cook or bake—Spend some quality time together, learn measurements and basic math, and get a yummy treat or snack out of it!
Classic Card Games—From Go Fish and Old Maid to Concentration or even Spoons, card games are a great way to spend time together, as a family. And all you need is a deck of cards (and some spoons)!
Sardines-You may have forgotten but you'll soon remember what fun it is to hide and seek! One person hides while the rest cover their eyes and count to 30, then let the hunt begin! Find the hidden one and join them until everyone's hiding - together! Then choose a new hider and start all over again.
Sculptapalooza™-Add a bit of creativity to your together time with Sculptalooza™ the fast-paced, laugh-out-loud family game! Work together to guess what your teammate has sculpted out of squishy, squashy, Playfoam® before time runs out. No one likes reading directions, so watch this super fun tutorial on how to play!
Storytelling Circle-Sit in a circle. Someone starts a story with a single word, the next person adds another, and so on, until a silly story begins to take shape. Guaranteed to get you giggling, this game encourages creativity and teaches flexibility and thinking on your toes!
OTHER IDEAS FOR INDOOR PLAY (CONT)
Make a Fort and Read-Gather your pillows, blankets, and chairs (tip-chip clips are a great way to keep things in place) and design your own family fort! Then climb on in with your favorite book and a flashlight.
Board Games-Board games bring families together and, with Educational Insights' squeezer games, even preschoolers can get in on the game! Adorable fun for everyone, little ones can practice colors with Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game®, learn their letters with Frida's Fruit Fiesta™, and master numbers and counting with Shelby's Snack Shack Game®.
Treasure Hunt-Take turns hiding something in your house and racing each other to find it. Give one-word hints to guide your family closer and closer until you have a winner, who gets to hide the object next!
Charades-Get ready to giggle with a simple game of charades! Everyone writes an act-it-out challenge down on a slip of paper, folds it, and drops it in a bowl. Then, take turns drawing a clue from the bowl, set a timer, and act it out! So let it rain, or snow, or gusty winds blow - you'll be too busy having fun inside to notice!
VALENTINES DAY FREE ACTIVITIES
Counting Love Bugs Valentine's Day Worksheet—Download this four page Valentine's counting activity, courtesy of Spark More Play! Simply download, print, and then use Playfoam®, dough, or any other non-toxic molding compound to practice counting and numbers, build fine motor skills, and encourage creativity.
Valentine's Day Cookies Activity—Download and print this tasty activity to practice fine motor skills, shape and color learning, and more! Simply use Playfoam, dough, or any other non-toxic molding compound to decorate each shaped cookie.
Playfoam Valentine's Day Cards—Kids can create a custom, three-dimensional Valentine's Day card, complete with envelope, using this free template! Just squish, squash, squeeze and smash Playfoam or any other molding compound onto the paper to make a one-of-a-kind Valentine's masterpiece, then share with friends and family!
Sorting Hearts Worksheet—Download and print this sweet candy hearts worksheet to help little ones practice sorting and matching (critical pre-math skills) as well as counting and addition! When you're done, celebrate with some sweet Valentine's treats of your own.
Frankie's Food Truck Fiasco Color-In Valentine—Have some fun with everyone's favorite feline, Frankie! Download this adorable coloring page and let your little one get creative - coloring is a great way to build fine motor strength and coordination as well as creativity and imagination!
Frankie's Food Truck Fiasco Valentine's Cards—Skip the store and download four fun Frankie Valentines for your child to hand out instead! Simply download, print, complete the to and from.
CANDY ALTERNATIVES
Skip the sugar this year and gift your loved ones a unique and special treat for Valentine's Day!
New Jammies—Spring is right around the corner, calling for a lighter-weight pajama. Make it a tradition to gift a new set of jammies on Valentine's Day! Make things special by throwing in some matching slippers!
Color by Playfoam®—Your kids can create squishy, squashy works of art, using the included tool to smoosh different Playfoam colors into each section of the canvas. When they're done, scoop it out and start all over again! Choose from a Unicorn or a Dragon.
A Journal—What better place to write about your Valentine's crush than in a brand-new journal? With so many themes to choose from, there's sure to be one your child will love.
Kidnoculars®—Encourage your kiddo's love of nature with GeoSafari® Jr. Kidnoculars! With enlarged, focus-free eyepieces and perfect-fit goggles, even toddlers can get an up-close, magnified view of the world! And now, Kidnoculars come in pink!
CANDY ALTERNATIVES (CONT)
Crayons—Who doesn't love a brand-new box of Crayons? Perfect for coloring hearts and kisses, maybe you'll even inspire your kids to make you a homemade Valentine. Add a special coloring book or download one of our free and watch your kids get creative.
Pluffle™—The Squishologists at the Playfoam Wacky Workshop have formulated a totally mesmerizing, completely color-mixable, can't resistible substance! Best of all, this feel-good fluffy stuff never dries out so the sensory fun never ends.
Stickers—Stick it to your sweetie with some Valentine's stickers! Make a sticker book, use them as drawing prompts, design your own matching games-stickers are good for hours of fun!
Kanoodle®—Give the gift of together time with a great game! Challenge your children to a brain-building puzzle game from the Kanoodle line!
Have fun, stay warm, and have a very Happy Holidays—from our family at Educational Insights to yours!
Leaves are changing and falling, the weather is getting colder…yep! It’s time for fall and winter, which means we’ve put together some seasonal activities that will take advantage of those last nature walks and keep you busy when you’re stuck indoors! Check them out:
Document
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
Fall Leaf Safari- Your curious kiddo has probably noticed that leaves come in all shapes, sizes, and colors (and they change color too!). This free, downloadable activity from Spark More Play has four fun parts to it: Leaf Hunting, Leaf Identification, Leaf Observation, and a Leaf Rubbing art activity! Kids will get to collect leaves on a nature walk, learn to identify different characteristics of the leaves they found, and create beautiful leaf art! Plus, get an up-close look at your leaves with GeoSafari® Jr. My First Microscope!
DIY Binoculars- a few household items to create your very own, customizable binoculars! Once you're done, take them on a backyard adventure or play I Spy!
Supplies:
Two empty toilet paper tubes
String
Paper
Markers
Stapler
Tape or Glue Stick
Strickers, beads, or glitter for decoration
Directions:
Place the toilet paper tubes next to each other. Staple them together at the top and bottom.
Cut about 12-16” of string. Use a pen to poke a hole in one side of each toilet paper tube. Insert the string and tie a knot so it's secure.
Wrap the piece of paper around your binoculars and mark where the ends of the paper meet. Also mark the bottom of the binoculars.
Cut the paper along the lines you marked.
Decorate the paper and make it unique! Add your own personal touches like your name, a cool pattern, or a fun picture. Go exploring!
Fold the template in half and then fold it in half again. Next, fold along the diagonal edge, making sure to keep the puppet shape exposed…now you're ready to cut!
Cut out the shapes…the grey portion is the part that is discarded.
Unfold your creation carefully.
6. Put on the finishing touches by drawing in the eyes of the puppets (and the mouths if you didn't cut them out in the previous step). You're done! Tape the snowflake to your window, your notebook, etc. Enjoy!
INDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
DIY Clock- This is a useful tool to show children what time their next activity will begin, help teach how to tell time, and help understand concept of elapsed time.
Supplies
Two pieces of construction paper (two different colors)
Scissors
One brad (a paper fastener)
Marker or crayon
Directions
Trace a circle onto a piece of construction paper to create the clock face. You can do this freehand or trace a large coffee can, tea kettle, or pot.
Cut out the circle-this will be your clock's face.
Using the second piece of construction paper, trace and cut out arrow shapes for the clock hands. Be sure to make a smaller hand for the hour hand and a larger hand for the minute hand.
Place the hour hand on top of the minute hand and push the brad through both arrows. Then push it through the clock face and open the brad arms on the back.
Have your child write the numbers on the clock face with a marker or crayon.
INDOOR ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS
Make a Balancing Ball Maze- This DIY game uses things you already have around the house and practices balance, coordination, and fine motor skills!
Watch a quick video to see a demonstration of the gameplay!
Supplies
Cardboard box
Ping pong ball or marble (smaller is more difficult)
Construction paper
Marker
Scissors
Directions
Cut the sides off of a cardboard box. Use a box that is at least 12” x 12” if possible.
Cut the side pieces into ten strips, each about 2” wide.
Tape or glue construction paper to the bottom of the box to make a flat surface.
Write the numbers 1-10 (one number per strip) on the center of the cardboard strips.
Fold the cardboard strips into a U shape and tape or hot glue the ends to the construction paper all around the inside of the box. Place them at random, number-wise and orientation-wise. Make sure your ball fits through each U shape before attaching it to the bottom of the box.
Hold the box flat on your lap (or over a table). Start with the ball in the center of the box and tilt it all around to get the ball to pass through each number. The goal is to tilt the ball through the numbers in order from 1-10 as fast as possible.
Start a tournament with a sibling or parent to see who can get through the entire course fastest.
OTHER IDEAS FOR INDOOR PLAY
Teach your kids to cook or bake—Spend some quality time together, learn measurements and basic math, and get a yummy treat or snack out of it!
Classic Card Games—From Go Fish and Old Maid to Concentration or even Spoons, card games are a great way to spend time together, as a family. And all you need is a deck of cards (and some spoons)!
Sardines-You may have forgotten but you'll soon remember what fun it is to hide and seek! One person hides while the rest cover their eyes and count to 30, then let the hunt begin! Find the hidden one and join them until everyone's hiding - together! Then choose a new hider and start all over again.
Sculptapalooza™-Add a bit of creativity to your together time with Sculptalooza™ the fast-paced, laugh-out-loud family game! Work together to guess what your teammate has sculpted out of squishy, squashy, Playfoam® before time runs out. No one likes reading directions, so watch this super fun tutorial on how to play!
Storytelling Circle-Sit in a circle. Someone starts a story with a single word, the next person adds another, and so on, until a silly story begins to take shape. Guaranteed to get you giggling, this game encourages creativity and teaches flexibility and thinking on your toes!
OTHER IDEAS FOR INDOOR PLAY (CONT)
Make a Fort and Read-Gather your pillows, blankets, and chairs (tip-chip clips are a great way to keep things in place) and design your own family fort! Then climb on in with your favorite book and a flashlight.
Board Games-Board games bring families together and, with Educational Insights' squeezer games, even preschoolers can get in on the game! Adorable fun for everyone, little ones can practice colors with Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game®, learn their letters with Frida's Fruit Fiesta™, and master numbers and counting with Shelby's Snack Shack Game®.
Treasure Hunt-Take turns hiding something in your house and racing each other to find it. Give one-word hints to guide your family closer and closer until you have a winner, who gets to hide the object next!
Charades-Get ready to giggle with a simple game of charades! Everyone writes an act-it-out challenge down on a slip of paper, folds it, and drops it in a bowl. Then, take turns drawing a clue from the bowl, set a timer, and act it out! So let it rain, or snow, or gusty winds blow - you'll be too busy having fun inside to notice!
VALENTINES DAY FREE ACTIVITIES
Counting Love Bugs Valentine's Day Worksheet—Download this four page Valentine's counting activity, courtesy of Spark More Play! Simply download, print, and then use Playfoam®, dough, or any other non-toxic molding compound to practice counting and numbers, build fine motor skills, and encourage creativity.
Valentine's Day Cookies Activity—Download and print this tasty activity to practice fine motor skills, shape and color learning, and more! Simply use Playfoam, dough, or any other non-toxic molding compound to decorate each shaped cookie.
Playfoam Valentine's Day Cards—Kids can create a custom, three-dimensional Valentine's Day card, complete with envelope, using this free template! Just squish, squash, squeeze and smash Playfoam or any other molding compound onto the paper to make a one-of-a-kind Valentine's masterpiece, then share with friends and family!
Sorting Hearts Worksheet—Download and print this sweet candy hearts worksheet to help little ones practice sorting and matching (critical pre-math skills) as well as counting and addition! When you're done, celebrate with some sweet Valentine's treats of your own.
Frankie's Food Truck Fiasco Color-In Valentine—Have some fun with everyone's favorite feline, Frankie! Download this adorable coloring page and let your little one get creative - coloring is a great way to build fine motor strength and coordination as well as creativity and imagination!
Frankie's Food Truck Fiasco Valentine's Cards—Skip the store and download four fun Frankie Valentines for your child to hand out instead! Simply download, print, complete the to and from.
CANDY ALTERNATIVES
Skip the sugar this year and gift your loved ones a unique and special treat for Valentine's Day!
New Jammies—Spring is right around the corner, calling for a lighter-weight pajama. Make it a tradition to gift a new set of jammies on Valentine's Day! Make things special by throwing in some matching slippers!
Color by Playfoam®—Your kids can create squishy, squashy works of art, using the included tool to smoosh different Playfoam colors into each section of the canvas. When they're done, scoop it out and start all over again! Choose from a Unicorn or a Dragon.
A Journal—What better place to write about your Valentine's crush than in a brand-new journal? With so many themes to choose from, there's sure to be one your child will love.
Kidnoculars®—Encourage your kiddo's love of nature with GeoSafari® Jr. Kidnoculars! With enlarged, focus-free eyepieces and perfect-fit goggles, even toddlers can get an up-close, magnified view of the world! And now, Kidnoculars come in pink!
CANDY ALTERNATIVES (CONT)
Crayons—Who doesn't love a brand-new box of Crayons? Perfect for coloring hearts and kisses, maybe you'll even inspire your kids to make you a homemade Valentine. Add a special coloring book or download one of our free and watch your kids get creative.
Pluffle™—The Squishologists at the Playfoam Wacky Workshop have formulated a totally mesmerizing, completely color-mixable, can't resistible substance! Best of all, this feel-good fluffy stuff never dries out so the sensory fun never ends.
Stickers—Stick it to your sweetie with some Valentine's stickers! Make a sticker book, use them as drawing prompts, design your own matching games-stickers are good for hours of fun!
Kanoodle®—Give the gift of together time with a great game! Challenge your children to a brain-building puzzle game from the Kanoodle line!
Have fun, stay warm, and have a very Happy Holidays—from our family at Educational Insights to yours!
Easter is an egg-citing day, full of family traditions! Your family may attend a church service, host a family breakfast, have a backyard egg hunt, take a walk together, or play at the park.
Easter is an egg-citing day, full of family traditions! Your family may attend a church service, host a family breakfast, have a backyard egg hunt, take a walk together, or play at the park.
It’s springtime! Whether or not it’s starting to warm up around you, we’ve compiled some awesome activities for at-home learning that you can do inside or outside!
It’s springtime! Whether or not it’s starting to warm up around you, we’ve compiled some awesome activities for at-home learning that you can do inside or outside!
Kids love Pete the Cat®! If you're a preschool parent, you probably know Pete. Pete the Cat is the star of more than 20 New York Times best-selling books, developed by celebrated author and artist, James Dean.
Kids love Pete the Cat®! If you're a preschool parent, you probably know Pete. Pete the Cat is the star of more than 20 New York Times best-selling books, developed by celebrated author and artist, James Dean.
Happy Spring! While Spring Break means a little time off from school for kids, it sometimes leaves parents scrambling to find activities to fill the time!
Happy Spring! While Spring Break means a little time off from school for kids, it sometimes leaves parents scrambling to find activities to fill the time!
Cut a hole in the top of your box using a utility knife or scissors, big enough to fit your average candy grams (help your kids with this and be careful!).
Using your construction paper (save some for the DIY heart chain!), markers, and art supplies, decorate the box to your heart’s content! Make sure it has your kid’s name on it.
Time for the heart chain! Accordian fold your construction paper, then trace a heart on one side of the fold. You can trace a half heart against one of the edges of the fold OR a full heart. If doing the full heart, make sure each side of the heart bleeds off the page (this is where the heart chain will connect). Watch the video for visual instructions.
Now, cut along the lines you just drew so you cut through each layer of the folded paper. Make sure not to cut the folds themselves, where the heart will connect
Unfold your heart to reveal your heart chain! Now you can glue or tape it to your box as an extra-cool decoration.
Once your box is looking festive and snazzy, it’s ready to receive some Valentine grams! If you’re looking for a sugar-free Valentine’s treat for your kid’s classroom party, try Valentine's Day Playfoam & Sticker 20-Pack! Each pod contains sensory-stimulating Playfoam in festive shapes and colors and come with “To” and “From” stickers for easy classroom gifting.
Cut a hole in the top of your box using a utility knife or scissors, big enough to fit your average candy grams (help your kids with this and be careful!).
Using your construction paper (save some for the DIY heart chain!), markers, and art supplies, decorate the box to your heart’s content! Make sure it has your kid’s name on it.
Time for the heart chain! Accordian fold your construction paper, then trace a heart on one side of the fold. You can trace a half heart against one of the edges of the fold OR a full heart. If doing the full heart, make sure each side of the heart bleeds off the page (this is where the heart chain will connect). Watch the video for visual instructions.
Now, cut along the lines you just drew so you cut through each layer of the folded paper. Make sure not to cut the folds themselves, where the heart will connect
Unfold your heart to reveal your heart chain! Now you can glue or tape it to your box as an extra-cool decoration.
Once your box is looking festive and snazzy, it’s ready to receive some Valentine grams! If you’re looking for a sugar-free Valentine’s treat for your kid’s classroom party, try Valentine's Day Playfoam & Sticker 20-Pack! Each pod contains sensory-stimulating Playfoam in festive shapes and colors and come with “To” and “From” stickers for easy classroom gifting.
Who’s ready to craft? We are always prepared for a quick craft, art project, or hands-on DIY activity. To help you get crafty, we’ve put together a list of the essential craft supplies you need for your next craft emergency. Plus, we’re sharing some of our favorite ideas for quick, simple, at-home craft activities for when the inspiration strikes! Check them out:
Document
Scratch Paper—If your kids are just looking to scribble or draw, give your single-sided junk mail or home printer mistakes a second life as scratch paper.
Construction Paper—A crafting staple, you’ll want to stock a variety of colors and sizes and save the cut-off scraps for future projects.
Card Stock—Heavier card stock paper is perfect for making stick puppets and other sturdy crafts. Go for matte versus gloss, as markers smear on glossy surfaces.
Foam Sheets—Soft and squishy, use cut-out foam shapes to give your 2D projects some dimension, attach them to magnet packs, or hang them from homemade mobiles.
Crayons—The cornerstone of every craft closet! Keep your broken bits to melt into multi-colored circle crayons in a muffin tin—just follow these instructions from our friends at MakeandTakes.com!
Markers—If you can count on your kids to recap the markers, this is one place you might want to splurge, as cheap markers can run out of ink quickly and often leave uneven strokes.Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Broad Line Markers are a great choice for younger kids; older artists might like the variety of Dual Tip Art Markers.
Kid-Safe Scissors—Another splurge item, higher-quality scissors will open and close smoothly and easily and fit little fingers without pinching.
Craft Sticks—Purchase a pack or save your Popsicle sticks—these are great for spreading glue and perfect for supporting puppets and making DIY picture frames.
Acrylic Paint—Acrylics work well on paper, wood, and canvas (and can be thinned with water if need be). Make sure to purchase a non-toxic paint that complies with U.S. government safety standard ASTM D-4236.
Quick Dry Clay—Sculpting with kids can be so much fun and a great tactile experience! Quick-dry clay allows kids to keep their creations and paint them when they’re dry.
Playfoam®—For non-permanent masterpieces, Playfoam is the perfect choice. Unlike dough, this squishy, squashy sculpting substance holds its shape, but never dries out, so you never have to replace it!
Washi Tape—Available in a huge variety of colors and patterns, the decorative tape is an easy way to add embellishments to a project without using glue.
Ribbon—Save those last pieces of holiday ribbon! They're perfect for weaving crafts, garlands, magic wands, and so much more.
Yarn—See some yarn in the sale bin? Grab it! Your kids can use it to add “hair” to their puppets and drawings of people or manes and tails to horses…whatever their creativity inspires!
Beads—Plastic beads are perfect for stringing, gluing, or even melting into suncatchers (break out your muffin tins and follow these instructions from HappinessIsHomemade.net).
Pipe Cleaners—String them with beads, use them to make butterflies, or add them as antennae to your kiddo's crazy creatures.
Pompoms—These fluff balls are perfect for making everything from caterpillars to gumball machines. Just make sure you've got enough glue and are sticking them to a heavier stock paper.
Stencils—Tracing and cutting around stencils are great ways to exercise those fine motor skills, so stock up on different shapes as you see them on sale.
Cardboard Boxes—Save those delivery and shoeboxes! They’re perfect for making dioramas. (Pizza boxes also make great easels.)
Cardboard Tubes—You can always have more of these! Save your TP and paper towel tubes and turn them into everything from telescopes to 3D self-portraits.
Egg Cartons—What do snails, jellyfish, spring chicks, turtles, and dragons have in common? They all started out as egg cartons—just snip, paint, and embellish!
Googly Eyes—As silly as they are, googly eyes bring every project to life.
DRILL DRAWINGS
Make awesome art for ages 3-5 using the kid-friendly drill and art supplies you already have!
Choose a marker and use your tape to secure it to the drill bit.
Attach the drill bit to the drill.
Turn the drill on and get ready to draw!
We're drawing a lion, so let's start with the mane. Set the marker down on the paper and activate the drill, creating a large, spiraled circle.
Next, switch to a different color. Let's try green so we can draw some trees.
Use your yellow marker to draw the outline of your lion's head, then color it in.
Use a brown marker to draw trunks for the trees
Use a black marker to add the lion's nose, mouth, and whiskers.
Add googly eyes to finish!
Make Your Own Cardboard Ring Toss
Recycle those boxes into a DIY game! Michael Sheridan, another one of our Product Managers and spearhead of sustainability, came up with this recycled-materials ring toss game (that also practices math skills) for ages 4 and up!
Supplies: Cardboard box, scissors, marker, tape.
Cut the short flap off a cardboard box.
Mark five even lines about 3/4 inch wide and cut them out.
Mark each cardboard strip with a number from 1-5. These will be the points for each peg.
Fold the strips in different lengths so that 5 is the shortest and most difficult. 1 should be the easiest. You can skip this step if you have little ones who might have difficulty getting the ring on a peg.
Tape the strips to the inside of the box at different locations. For example, two in the top row, one in the very center, and two on the bottom row.
From the remaining piece of cardboard, cut out two rings. If you have more than two players, use the flap from the opposite side of the box to make more.
Let the games begin!
Game ideas: throw the ring around the pegs. Play first to 10 or 20 to build their math skills while they play. You can also play where only odd or even numbers count.
Beautiful Bubble Art
This simple activity requires a few simple ingredients and will have you and the kids creating beautiful art in no time. It's truly fun for all ages to create your own masterpiece!
Supplies: Cup or jar, water, straw(s), food coloring (tempera paint or watercolor paint are alternatives) liquid dish soap, card stock or construction paper
Directions:
Fill a cup or jar about 1/3 full of water.
Add a few drops of food coloring and stir. If you choose to use tempera paint, it may take some trial and error to get the right color saturation. My first attempt did not use nearly enough food coloring. I used watercolor paint on the second attempt and that gave much better results (see the final photo with blue bubbles).
Once the color is mixed evenly, insert the straw, and gently blow bubbles. Be careful not to send bubbles flying all over the table!
Bubbles should rise over the edge of the cup. Take your construction paper and press it to the top of the cup. This will leave a cool imprint on the paper.
Repeat blowing bubbles and pressing paper with other colors (or the same color!) for a fun pattern!
Try combining bubbles of different colors and see how the colors blend.
Rainbow Prancer Unicorn Horn Craft
Make a wear-with-flair Rainbow Prancer Unicorn Horn! What kind of unicorn are you? Show off your Prancer style in minutes, and be sure to share your dazzling creations with us on Facebook or Instagram!
Supplies: Fancy paper of your choosing (glitter paper, construction paper, or cardstock), washi tape or ribbon elastic cording, hole puncher, sticker gems, pom poms or other methods of bedazzlement, scissors, glue or double-sided tape, markers or crayons, our printable rainbow prancer horn template.
Download the Rainbow Prancer horn template. Print out on your favorite fancy paper, color to best reflect your unicorn style, and cut out the shape along the dotted lines. Fold into a cone, then secure with glue or double-sided tape.
Punch holes on either side of the cone as marked. Thread the elastic cording through and secure with knots.
Embellish your Rainbow Prancer horn with washi tape or by gluing colorful ribbon around the horn.
Bedazzle with sticky gems, pom poms, or glitter!
Wear your newly bedazzled horn with flair, and proudly prance with a fellow Rainbow Prancer.
Stock up on your craft essentials and get crafting!
Who’s ready to craft? We are always prepared for a quick craft, art project, or hands-on DIY activity. To help you get crafty, we’ve put together a list of the essential craft supplies you need for your next craft emergency. Plus, we’re sharing some of our favorite ideas for quick, simple, at-home craft activities for when the inspiration strikes! Check them out:
Document
Scratch Paper—If your kids are just looking to scribble or draw, give your single-sided junk mail or home printer mistakes a second life as scratch paper.
Construction Paper—A crafting staple, you’ll want to stock a variety of colors and sizes and save the cut-off scraps for future projects.
Card Stock—Heavier card stock paper is perfect for making stick puppets and other sturdy crafts. Go for matte versus gloss, as markers smear on glossy surfaces.
Foam Sheets—Soft and squishy, use cut-out foam shapes to give your 2D projects some dimension, attach them to magnet packs, or hang them from homemade mobiles.
Crayons—The cornerstone of every craft closet! Keep your broken bits to melt into multi-colored circle crayons in a muffin tin—just follow these instructions from our friends at MakeandTakes.com!
Markers—If you can count on your kids to recap the markers, this is one place you might want to splurge, as cheap markers can run out of ink quickly and often leave uneven strokes.Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Broad Line Markers are a great choice for younger kids; older artists might like the variety of Dual Tip Art Markers.
Kid-Safe Scissors—Another splurge item, higher-quality scissors will open and close smoothly and easily and fit little fingers without pinching.
Craft Sticks—Purchase a pack or save your Popsicle sticks—these are great for spreading glue and perfect for supporting puppets and making DIY picture frames.
Acrylic Paint—Acrylics work well on paper, wood, and canvas (and can be thinned with water if need be). Make sure to purchase a non-toxic paint that complies with U.S. government safety standard ASTM D-4236.
Quick Dry Clay—Sculpting with kids can be so much fun and a great tactile experience! Quick-dry clay allows kids to keep their creations and paint them when they’re dry.
Playfoam®—For non-permanent masterpieces, Playfoam is the perfect choice. Unlike dough, this squishy, squashy sculpting substance holds its shape, but never dries out, so you never have to replace it!
Washi Tape—Available in a huge variety of colors and patterns, the decorative tape is an easy way to add embellishments to a project without using glue.
Ribbon—Save those last pieces of holiday ribbon! They're perfect for weaving crafts, garlands, magic wands, and so much more.
Yarn—See some yarn in the sale bin? Grab it! Your kids can use it to add “hair” to their puppets and drawings of people or manes and tails to horses…whatever their creativity inspires!
Beads—Plastic beads are perfect for stringing, gluing, or even melting into suncatchers (break out your muffin tins and follow these instructions from HappinessIsHomemade.net).
Pipe Cleaners—String them with beads, use them to make butterflies, or add them as antennae to your kiddo's crazy creatures.
Pompoms—These fluff balls are perfect for making everything from caterpillars to gumball machines. Just make sure you've got enough glue and are sticking them to a heavier stock paper.
Stencils—Tracing and cutting around stencils are great ways to exercise those fine motor skills, so stock up on different shapes as you see them on sale.
Cardboard Boxes—Save those delivery and shoeboxes! They’re perfect for making dioramas. (Pizza boxes also make great easels.)
Cardboard Tubes—You can always have more of these! Save your TP and paper towel tubes and turn them into everything from telescopes to 3D self-portraits.
Egg Cartons—What do snails, jellyfish, spring chicks, turtles, and dragons have in common? They all started out as egg cartons—just snip, paint, and embellish!
Googly Eyes—As silly as they are, googly eyes bring every project to life.
DRILL DRAWINGS
Make awesome art for ages 3-5 using the kid-friendly drill and art supplies you already have!
Choose a marker and use your tape to secure it to the drill bit.
Attach the drill bit to the drill.
Turn the drill on and get ready to draw!
We're drawing a lion, so let's start with the mane. Set the marker down on the paper and activate the drill, creating a large, spiraled circle.
Next, switch to a different color. Let's try green so we can draw some trees.
Use your yellow marker to draw the outline of your lion's head, then color it in.
Use a brown marker to draw trunks for the trees
Use a black marker to add the lion's nose, mouth, and whiskers.
Add googly eyes to finish!
Make Your Own Cardboard Ring Toss
Recycle those boxes into a DIY game! Michael Sheridan, another one of our Product Managers and spearhead of sustainability, came up with this recycled-materials ring toss game (that also practices math skills) for ages 4 and up!
Supplies: Cardboard box, scissors, marker, tape.
Cut the short flap off a cardboard box.
Mark five even lines about 3/4 inch wide and cut them out.
Mark each cardboard strip with a number from 1-5. These will be the points for each peg.
Fold the strips in different lengths so that 5 is the shortest and most difficult. 1 should be the easiest. You can skip this step if you have little ones who might have difficulty getting the ring on a peg.
Tape the strips to the inside of the box at different locations. For example, two in the top row, one in the very center, and two on the bottom row.
From the remaining piece of cardboard, cut out two rings. If you have more than two players, use the flap from the opposite side of the box to make more.
Let the games begin!
Game ideas: throw the ring around the pegs. Play first to 10 or 20 to build their math skills while they play. You can also play where only odd or even numbers count.
Beautiful Bubble Art
This simple activity requires a few simple ingredients and will have you and the kids creating beautiful art in no time. It's truly fun for all ages to create your own masterpiece!
Supplies: Cup or jar, water, straw(s), food coloring (tempera paint or watercolor paint are alternatives) liquid dish soap, card stock or construction paper
Directions:
Fill a cup or jar about 1/3 full of water.
Add a few drops of food coloring and stir. If you choose to use tempera paint, it may take some trial and error to get the right color saturation. My first attempt did not use nearly enough food coloring. I used watercolor paint on the second attempt and that gave much better results (see the final photo with blue bubbles).
Once the color is mixed evenly, insert the straw, and gently blow bubbles. Be careful not to send bubbles flying all over the table!
Bubbles should rise over the edge of the cup. Take your construction paper and press it to the top of the cup. This will leave a cool imprint on the paper.
Repeat blowing bubbles and pressing paper with other colors (or the same color!) for a fun pattern!
Try combining bubbles of different colors and see how the colors blend.
Rainbow Prancer Unicorn Horn Craft
Make a wear-with-flair Rainbow Prancer Unicorn Horn! What kind of unicorn are you? Show off your Prancer style in minutes, and be sure to share your dazzling creations with us on Facebook or Instagram!
Supplies: Fancy paper of your choosing (glitter paper, construction paper, or cardstock), washi tape or ribbon elastic cording, hole puncher, sticker gems, pom poms or other methods of bedazzlement, scissors, glue or double-sided tape, markers or crayons, our printable rainbow prancer horn template.
Download the Rainbow Prancer horn template. Print out on your favorite fancy paper, color to best reflect your unicorn style, and cut out the shape along the dotted lines. Fold into a cone, then secure with glue or double-sided tape.
Punch holes on either side of the cone as marked. Thread the elastic cording through and secure with knots.
Embellish your Rainbow Prancer horn with washi tape or by gluing colorful ribbon around the horn.
Bedazzle with sticky gems, pom poms, or glitter!
Wear your newly bedazzled horn with flair, and proudly prance with a fellow Rainbow Prancer.
Stock up on your craft essentials and get crafting!
It’s no secret that we LOVE to play with Playfoam. Not only is it super squishy, squashy, mesmerizing, and sensory stimulating, it’s also a tactile learning compound that helps kids build school readiness skills! We put together some of our favorite ways to play with Playfoam so you can play at-home, in the classroom, on the go, and build those skills.
Playfoam® is specifically designed to help kids learn and grow while they squish, squash, and sculpt. Here are the top ten skills that Playfoam builds during playtime:
Document
Fine Motor Skills—Pinching, scooping, squeezing, pressing, and rolling Playfoam helps your kids build the fine motor skills and manual dexterity they need to button their shirts, hold a crayon, and eat with a fork.
Hand Eye Coordination—Crafting generally requires the use of both hands, working in tandem, building bilateral and hand eye coordination.
Shape, Color, and Texture Identification—Crafting provides hands-on experience with different shapes, colors, and textures—press your Playfoam into a square or make a rainbow with multiple colors! Older kids can squish the Playfoam into letters and numbers or even sculpt their names!
Vocabulary—Talk to your kids while you craft together. What are they making? What colors are they using? How does the Playfoam feel in their fingers? All that chit chat introduces new words and provides exposure to the overall flow of language.
Risk-Free Exploration—Experimenting with different shapes, colors, structures, and techniques during craft time is a great way to encourage your kids to try new things without risk of failure or judgement.
Problem Solving—What shapes do you need to make a Playfoam snowman? Should they be the same size? Which shape goes on the bottom and which on the top? Figuring out what needs to happen to craft the creation kids envision helps builds strategic thinking skills.
Creativity—Arts and crafts are a wonderful way to encourage creativity and imagination! With no instructions to follow, the sky’s the limit—kids can craft whatever they feel. Offer a variety of materials, allowing kids to choose what they like and assemble their way.
Self-Expression—Crafting allows kids to express their feelings even when they don’t have the experience to identify them or the words to communicate them. Look closely at your kiddo’s creations, including their choice of colors, and ask them about what you’re seeing.
Confidence and Self-Esteem—The feedback kids get when creating arts and crafts is a definite confidence booster! Compliment everything from the effort your child put into their masterpiece to their choice of colors and unique construction.
Stress Reduction—Arts and crafts are proven to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety in both adults and children. Squeezing, pressing, pulling, and flattening sensory-soothing Playfoam—particularly when your kids are feeling overstimulated—can be especially relaxing.
40 At-Home Playfoam Activities
Shape Animals—Use your imagination to shape your pet, a zoo animal, or even an imaginary animal! Try making a sea creature and watch it float in the bath.
Make Stop Motion Animation—Pose your Playfoam, take a picture, repeat! Tell a story, make a movie, or creative a moving picture.
Hide and Unbox Toys—Hide a small toy or figurine inside of a ball of Playfoam. Have a parent or sibling peel away the Playfoam and find the hidden treasure!
Play Your Own Sculptapalooza/Playfoam Game—Write clues on cards that you will need to sculpt for a partner (example: apple, dog, butterfly). Take turns—one player sculpts and the other guesses what they’ve made.
Play Hot Potato—Make a ball of Playfoam and take turns passing back and forth. Whoever has the hot potato when the music stops are out!
Create Icebergs—Add a Playfoam iceberg to your water tray. Include aquatic animal figures for extra fun!
Build a Snowman—ACreate a colorful Playfoam snowman, indoors!
Create 3D Art—Draw a picture and color it in—or print a color picture—then shape matching-colored Playfoam over each section for a 3D masterpiece!
Create a Creature—Sculpt a creature straight from your imagination! Use feathers, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, or popsicle sticks to accessorize.
Doll Fashion-Create a fun, fashionable wardrobe for your dolls using Playfoam.
Create a Seashore Sensory Bin—Squish seashells and animal figures into a large bin of Playfoam and see if your kiddo can find them all. Take the bin outside for some simulated-seashore fun in the sun!
Squishy Squashy Name Game—Try to shape all the letters in your name. Now try a friend’s name!
Make a Magical Sensory Substance—If you are making slime, add some Playfoam to the mix for a little added texture. Just remember—Playfoam never dries out, but slime will!
Playfoam Color Smash—Squish together different colors of Playfoam make your own custom color blend.
Glow Statues—Use glow in the dark Playfoam to create your own glow in the dark statue. Turn the lights out and let it glow!
Fun Food—Make a Playfoam cake, hamburger, or fruit basket.
Playfoam Photo Frame—Use popsicle sticks to create a photo frame and cover it in Playfoam to decorate it. Don't forget to add a big squish of Playfoam for a base!
Playfoam Checkers—Play checkers with your very own handmade pieces! Use a different color Playfoam for each player. When it’s time to make a “king,” squish two Playfoam checkers together.
Playfoam Baseball—Batter up! Play indoor baseball using an old paper towel tube as a bat and a Playfoam baseball. Use pillows or other items from around the house for the bases. Set up a boundary in the outfield so you can “hit one over the fence.”
DIY Stress Ball-Stretch open a balloon (or use a piece of fabric) and fill it with Playfoam. Tie off the balloon (or fabric piece), then squish and squash the Playfoam inside. Or use a surgical glove to make a squishy high five!
Playfoam Frisbee Golf—Make a Playfoam flying disc and set up targets around the house to hit with your disc! You can experiment with different locations around the house as well as “par” difficulties. Whoever can hit the target in the least number of attempts is the winner.
Playfoam Flower Garden—UUse different colors of Playfoam to create a beautiful flower garden. Don’t forget to make different flower shapes!
Egg and Spoon Race—Make a Playfoam egg, rest it in a spoon, and challenge a partner to race across the room without dropping the “egg”! You can even try holding the spoon in your mouth or with your opposite hand for an “egg-stra” challenge.
Playfoam Indoor Snowball Fight—Make colorful Playfoam snowballs that will never melt or make a mess!
Playfoam Indoor Dodgeball-Dodgeball is soft and safe—even inside!—when you’re playing with a Playfoam ball!
Playfoam Soccer—Make your own soccer ball and balance it on your foot—now try scoring a goal! You can use a box or a laundry basket as a goal.
Playfoam Balance—Balance a ball of Playfoam on your head and walk around the room without dropping it. Now try balancing it on your shoulder.
Playfoam Basketball—Make a Playfoam basketball and try shooting it into a wastebasket as your hoop! Set the wastebasket up against the wall for the backboard or set it up super high for tougher challenge.
Playfoam Catapult—Make your own catapult by experimenting with spoons, spatulas and “found objects” to launch your Playfoam across the room.
Trick Shot Playfoam—Make a cool “trick shot” with Playfoam. Bounce it, bank it, ricochet it! Challenge an opponent to see who can make the best shot. Take a video of your best shot and upload to YouTube to show the world your Playfoam trick shot skills.
Color Matching—Playfoam is the perfect way for kids to practice their colors! Choose a few items from around the house and place them on a table. Ask your kiddo to make balls of Playfoam that match the color of each object, then show them to you.
Turtley Awesome Gifts—Your kids can create personalized mini turtle-grams using Playfoam pods and a little creativity. What a sweet special delivery for friends and family! All you need is green construction paper, scissors, marker, tape, Playfoam pod, and google eyes! !
Shapes—Challenge your children to squish their Playfoam into a few simple shapes—a circle, square, and triangle—then check back and see how they did. Or grab some cookie cutters and kitchen utensils to help inspire all kinds of colorful creations!
Patterns—Print out some simple images in a few different colors or draw your own, like this colorful caterpillar. Challenge your kiddo to create matching balls of Playfoam and place them in the same order.
Letters and Numbers-Write a set of letters or numbers for your child to copy, then show them how to roll their Playfoam and sculpt it to match. Or use the pre-printed cards and corresponding images in the Playfoam Shape & Learn Alphabet Set and Playfoam Shape & Learn Numbers Set to practice letter formation and alphabet mastery.
Quantities and Counting—Use sticky notes to label each cup of a muffin tin with a numeral, 1-10. Then see if your child can roll and place the quantity of Playfoam balls that corresponds with the numeral on each cup.
Simple Addition and Subtraction—Use the labeled muffin tin to introduce simple addition and subtraction by moving the balls of Playfoam from the cups labeled “1” and “2” into the empty “3” cup, counting along the way.
Solar System—Launch your child’s imagination into outer space! Provide a scaled, color printout of the planets and leave your little one to recreate each planet out of Playfoam.
Words—Playfoam is perfect for practicing simple C-V-C words! Kiddos can use Playfoam to construct the letters in their names or the words “mom” and “dad”. Or have them squish out the words “cat” and “dog” and create Playfoam sculptures to match.
Coloring & Creative Design—Use coloring pages or a homemade drawing, and allow your kiddo to create their very own work of art. May their creative minds run wild! For more details, click here.
Classroom Activities
Playfoam® is the perfect addition to any preschool, Kindergarten, or elementary classroom. This squishy sensation is totally non-toxic and comes in an array of cool colors that never dries out—no special storage needed—so your students can use it again and again and you can save your budget for other things! The teachers-turned-product-developers at Educational Insights share five of their favorite ways to use Playfoam in the classroom below:
Letter/Number Practice—Playfoam is the perfect, reusable material for practicing shapes, letters, and numbers. Great for the whole class or as a center activity, challenge your students to sculpt specific shapes out of Playfoam or roll the Playfoam into a tube and bend to form specific letters and numbers. Students can even use Playfoam to spell simple C-V-C words or their names. For many students, tactile, hands-on learning enhances the learning process, making your lessons even more effective (and way more fun). When you’re done for the day, collect the Playfoam in a bowl or bin and set it aside for next time.
Creativity/Art Time—Whether you’re providing an array of materials for open-ended art experiences or teaching a specific lesson, Playfoam is perfect for classroom crafts. Include Playfoam alongside the crayons, paints, craft sticks, and pipe cleaners at your free time art station. Or provide a variety of Playfoam colors in lieu of crayons, paints, or clay and guide your students to create tropical fish to support a lesson on habitats or self-portraits for social-emotional learning lessons.
Focus Tool—For many students, particularly those with ADHD, small movements can burn off the excess energy that prevents them from being fully present during your lessons. Fidget tools can help—and so can Playfoam! Place a pod at each student’s desk and let them squish and squash while they listen and learn. You’ll be amazed at their increased ability to focus and concentrate.
Calming Corner—Little kids have big feelings and sometimes they need a bit of space to sort them out. In addition to a comfy place to sit and cozy comforts like throw pillows and stuffed animals, you might include books on managing feelings, noise-cancelling headphones, and a few fidget toys to help kids calm and recenter themselves. Playfoam is perfect for your calming corner, providing relief from stress and anxiety through tactile stimulation. A sealed calming tube filled with slow-moving, totally mesmerizing Playfoam Pluffle™ is another great addition.
Rainy Day Fun—Kids hanging out in your classroom because of a rainy recess or lunch? Offer Playfoam as an at-desk activity and see which students can sculpt a raindrop, puffy cloud, rainbow, or duckling. Then sing a round of “Rain, Rain Go Away” and shift your sculpting to suns, birds, and beach umbrellas.
Sensory Bins for Home and the Classroom
Sensory bins promote exploration and discovery through totally engaging tactile play. Also known as the feel-good fluffy stuff, calming and soothing Playfoam Pluffle™ is a great multisensory material for your classroom sensory bins! Little kids love to dig, smash, sift and scoop the Pluffle, building those fine motor skills, and older kids can use Pluffle-filled bins to work on sorting, matching, and color, letter, and number identification activities as Pluffle is perfect for hiding magnetic letters and numbers or colored counters! Here are 6 ways to make sensational sensory bins for your home or the classroom:
Playfoam Pluffle Patterns—Fill two mixing bowls with two different colors of Playfoam Pluffle. Using a spoon and a muffin tin, show your little one how to spoon the first color of Playfoam Pluffle out of one bowl and into the first muffin hole, then swap to the other bowl and hole, repeating to form an A/B color pattern.
Playfoam Pluffle Fishing—Hide small objects, such as the acorns from The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!®, the bones from Shelby's Snack Shack Game® or colorful buttons in a bin full of Playfoam Pluffle, then use the squeezers, a pair of child-safe tweezers or a scoop to pull them out. The Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™, is a fantastic set for little hands. Practice sorting the objects by color or size to squeeze in some early math skills.
Playfoam Pluffle-bet—Hide plastic or magnetic letters or numbers in a large plastic bin full of Playfoam Pluffle. Little ones can use their hands or a magnet to dig out a letter and show it to you—you can say its name and the sound it makes. Help older kiddos find the letters in their names, think of words that start with that letter, or set the letters out on the floor in alphabetical order as they find them.
Playfoam Pluffle Tubes—Remove about ¼ of the Playfoam Pluffle from its tube, then add plastic toys like insects or fish, buttons, bells, etc. We added acorns from Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game . Shake the tube to mix them in, then have your little one roll and twist the tube to find as many hidden objects as they can. Talk about what they’ve found using descriptive vocabulary and try counting them as the objects are discovered. Great for on-the-go fun!
Playfoam Pluffle Funds—Bury some cash (use plastic coins and paper money if you’d prefer, like those from our Play Money Coins and Bills set) in a bin of Playfoam Pluffle. Then, let your kids use their fingers, child-safe tweezers, or our preschool game squeezers to make it a little trickier, to extract the money. Younger kids can count the number of coins they have; older kids can add up their value. Play against a sibling or friend to see who has more and who has less.
Playfoam Pluffle Excavation—Hide different types of rocks, minerals, and fossils, like those found in our Complete Rock and Mineral Set, in a bin of Playfoam Pluffle. Use plastic tongs or tweezers to excavate each item from the Pluffle and a paintbrush or basting brush to clean them off. Can your kids identify the specimen? As a bonus, they may want to inspect their findings under a microscope.
Now that you’re brimming with Playfoam creativity, start playing! Roll, squish, squash, cut, smash, sculpt, and more to develop those school-readiness skills and spark more creativity. Plus, check out some bonus activity sheets below for more Playfoam fun:
It’s no secret that we LOVE to play with Playfoam. Not only is it super squishy, squashy, mesmerizing, and sensory stimulating, it’s also a tactile learning compound that helps kids build school readiness skills! We put together some of our favorite ways to play with Playfoam so you can play at-home, in the classroom, on the go, and build those skills.
Playfoam® is specifically designed to help kids learn and grow while they squish, squash, and sculpt. Here are the top ten skills that Playfoam builds during playtime:
Document
Fine Motor Skills—Pinching, scooping, squeezing, pressing, and rolling Playfoam helps your kids build the fine motor skills and manual dexterity they need to button their shirts, hold a crayon, and eat with a fork.
Hand Eye Coordination—Crafting generally requires the use of both hands, working in tandem, building bilateral and hand eye coordination.
Shape, Color, and Texture Identification—Crafting provides hands-on experience with different shapes, colors, and textures—press your Playfoam into a square or make a rainbow with multiple colors! Older kids can squish the Playfoam into letters and numbers or even sculpt their names!
Vocabulary—Talk to your kids while you craft together. What are they making? What colors are they using? How does the Playfoam feel in their fingers? All that chit chat introduces new words and provides exposure to the overall flow of language.
Risk-Free Exploration—Experimenting with different shapes, colors, structures, and techniques during craft time is a great way to encourage your kids to try new things without risk of failure or judgement.
Problem Solving—What shapes do you need to make a Playfoam snowman? Should they be the same size? Which shape goes on the bottom and which on the top? Figuring out what needs to happen to craft the creation kids envision helps builds strategic thinking skills.
Creativity—Arts and crafts are a wonderful way to encourage creativity and imagination! With no instructions to follow, the sky’s the limit—kids can craft whatever they feel. Offer a variety of materials, allowing kids to choose what they like and assemble their way.
Self-Expression—Crafting allows kids to express their feelings even when they don’t have the experience to identify them or the words to communicate them. Look closely at your kiddo’s creations, including their choice of colors, and ask them about what you’re seeing.
Confidence and Self-Esteem—The feedback kids get when creating arts and crafts is a definite confidence booster! Compliment everything from the effort your child put into their masterpiece to their choice of colors and unique construction.
Stress Reduction—Arts and crafts are proven to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety in both adults and children. Squeezing, pressing, pulling, and flattening sensory-soothing Playfoam—particularly when your kids are feeling overstimulated—can be especially relaxing.
40 At-Home Playfoam Activities
Shape Animals—Use your imagination to shape your pet, a zoo animal, or even an imaginary animal! Try making a sea creature and watch it float in the bath.
Make Stop Motion Animation—Pose your Playfoam, take a picture, repeat! Tell a story, make a movie, or creative a moving picture.
Hide and Unbox Toys—Hide a small toy or figurine inside of a ball of Playfoam. Have a parent or sibling peel away the Playfoam and find the hidden treasure!
Play Your Own Sculptapalooza/Playfoam Game—Write clues on cards that you will need to sculpt for a partner (example: apple, dog, butterfly). Take turns—one player sculpts and the other guesses what they’ve made.
Play Hot Potato—Make a ball of Playfoam and take turns passing back and forth. Whoever has the hot potato when the music stops are out!
Create Icebergs—Add a Playfoam iceberg to your water tray. Include aquatic animal figures for extra fun!
Build a Snowman—ACreate a colorful Playfoam snowman, indoors!
Create 3D Art—Draw a picture and color it in—or print a color picture—then shape matching-colored Playfoam over each section for a 3D masterpiece!
Create a Creature—Sculpt a creature straight from your imagination! Use feathers, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, or popsicle sticks to accessorize.
Doll Fashion-Create a fun, fashionable wardrobe for your dolls using Playfoam.
Create a Seashore Sensory Bin—Squish seashells and animal figures into a large bin of Playfoam and see if your kiddo can find them all. Take the bin outside for some simulated-seashore fun in the sun!
Squishy Squashy Name Game—Try to shape all the letters in your name. Now try a friend’s name!
Make a Magical Sensory Substance—If you are making slime, add some Playfoam to the mix for a little added texture. Just remember—Playfoam never dries out, but slime will!
Playfoam Color Smash—Squish together different colors of Playfoam make your own custom color blend.
Glow Statues—Use glow in the dark Playfoam to create your own glow in the dark statue. Turn the lights out and let it glow!
Fun Food—Make a Playfoam cake, hamburger, or fruit basket.
Playfoam Photo Frame—Use popsicle sticks to create a photo frame and cover it in Playfoam to decorate it. Don't forget to add a big squish of Playfoam for a base!
Playfoam Checkers—Play checkers with your very own handmade pieces! Use a different color Playfoam for each player. When it’s time to make a “king,” squish two Playfoam checkers together.
Playfoam Baseball—Batter up! Play indoor baseball using an old paper towel tube as a bat and a Playfoam baseball. Use pillows or other items from around the house for the bases. Set up a boundary in the outfield so you can “hit one over the fence.”
DIY Stress Ball-Stretch open a balloon (or use a piece of fabric) and fill it with Playfoam. Tie off the balloon (or fabric piece), then squish and squash the Playfoam inside. Or use a surgical glove to make a squishy high five!
Playfoam Frisbee Golf—Make a Playfoam flying disc and set up targets around the house to hit with your disc! You can experiment with different locations around the house as well as “par” difficulties. Whoever can hit the target in the least number of attempts is the winner.
Playfoam Flower Garden—UUse different colors of Playfoam to create a beautiful flower garden. Don’t forget to make different flower shapes!
Egg and Spoon Race—Make a Playfoam egg, rest it in a spoon, and challenge a partner to race across the room without dropping the “egg”! You can even try holding the spoon in your mouth or with your opposite hand for an “egg-stra” challenge.
Playfoam Indoor Snowball Fight—Make colorful Playfoam snowballs that will never melt or make a mess!
Playfoam Indoor Dodgeball-Dodgeball is soft and safe—even inside!—when you’re playing with a Playfoam ball!
Playfoam Soccer—Make your own soccer ball and balance it on your foot—now try scoring a goal! You can use a box or a laundry basket as a goal.
Playfoam Balance—Balance a ball of Playfoam on your head and walk around the room without dropping it. Now try balancing it on your shoulder.
Playfoam Basketball—Make a Playfoam basketball and try shooting it into a wastebasket as your hoop! Set the wastebasket up against the wall for the backboard or set it up super high for tougher challenge.
Playfoam Catapult—Make your own catapult by experimenting with spoons, spatulas and “found objects” to launch your Playfoam across the room.
Trick Shot Playfoam—Make a cool “trick shot” with Playfoam. Bounce it, bank it, ricochet it! Challenge an opponent to see who can make the best shot. Take a video of your best shot and upload to YouTube to show the world your Playfoam trick shot skills.
Color Matching—Playfoam is the perfect way for kids to practice their colors! Choose a few items from around the house and place them on a table. Ask your kiddo to make balls of Playfoam that match the color of each object, then show them to you.
Turtley Awesome Gifts—Your kids can create personalized mini turtle-grams using Playfoam pods and a little creativity. What a sweet special delivery for friends and family! All you need is green construction paper, scissors, marker, tape, Playfoam pod, and google eyes! !
Shapes—Challenge your children to squish their Playfoam into a few simple shapes—a circle, square, and triangle—then check back and see how they did. Or grab some cookie cutters and kitchen utensils to help inspire all kinds of colorful creations!
Patterns—Print out some simple images in a few different colors or draw your own, like this colorful caterpillar. Challenge your kiddo to create matching balls of Playfoam and place them in the same order.
Letters and Numbers-Write a set of letters or numbers for your child to copy, then show them how to roll their Playfoam and sculpt it to match. Or use the pre-printed cards and corresponding images in the Playfoam Shape & Learn Alphabet Set and Playfoam Shape & Learn Numbers Set to practice letter formation and alphabet mastery.
Quantities and Counting—Use sticky notes to label each cup of a muffin tin with a numeral, 1-10. Then see if your child can roll and place the quantity of Playfoam balls that corresponds with the numeral on each cup.
Simple Addition and Subtraction—Use the labeled muffin tin to introduce simple addition and subtraction by moving the balls of Playfoam from the cups labeled “1” and “2” into the empty “3” cup, counting along the way.
Solar System—Launch your child’s imagination into outer space! Provide a scaled, color printout of the planets and leave your little one to recreate each planet out of Playfoam.
Words—Playfoam is perfect for practicing simple C-V-C words! Kiddos can use Playfoam to construct the letters in their names or the words “mom” and “dad”. Or have them squish out the words “cat” and “dog” and create Playfoam sculptures to match.
Coloring & Creative Design—Use coloring pages or a homemade drawing, and allow your kiddo to create their very own work of art. May their creative minds run wild! For more details, click here.
Classroom Activities
Playfoam® is the perfect addition to any preschool, Kindergarten, or elementary classroom. This squishy sensation is totally non-toxic and comes in an array of cool colors that never dries out—no special storage needed—so your students can use it again and again and you can save your budget for other things! The teachers-turned-product-developers at Educational Insights share five of their favorite ways to use Playfoam in the classroom below:
Letter/Number Practice—Playfoam is the perfect, reusable material for practicing shapes, letters, and numbers. Great for the whole class or as a center activity, challenge your students to sculpt specific shapes out of Playfoam or roll the Playfoam into a tube and bend to form specific letters and numbers. Students can even use Playfoam to spell simple C-V-C words or their names. For many students, tactile, hands-on learning enhances the learning process, making your lessons even more effective (and way more fun). When you’re done for the day, collect the Playfoam in a bowl or bin and set it aside for next time.
Creativity/Art Time—Whether you’re providing an array of materials for open-ended art experiences or teaching a specific lesson, Playfoam is perfect for classroom crafts. Include Playfoam alongside the crayons, paints, craft sticks, and pipe cleaners at your free time art station. Or provide a variety of Playfoam colors in lieu of crayons, paints, or clay and guide your students to create tropical fish to support a lesson on habitats or self-portraits for social-emotional learning lessons.
Focus Tool—For many students, particularly those with ADHD, small movements can burn off the excess energy that prevents them from being fully present during your lessons. Fidget tools can help—and so can Playfoam! Place a pod at each student’s desk and let them squish and squash while they listen and learn. You’ll be amazed at their increased ability to focus and concentrate.
Calming Corner—Little kids have big feelings and sometimes they need a bit of space to sort them out. In addition to a comfy place to sit and cozy comforts like throw pillows and stuffed animals, you might include books on managing feelings, noise-cancelling headphones, and a few fidget toys to help kids calm and recenter themselves. Playfoam is perfect for your calming corner, providing relief from stress and anxiety through tactile stimulation. A sealed calming tube filled with slow-moving, totally mesmerizing Playfoam Pluffle™ is another great addition.
Rainy Day Fun—Kids hanging out in your classroom because of a rainy recess or lunch? Offer Playfoam as an at-desk activity and see which students can sculpt a raindrop, puffy cloud, rainbow, or duckling. Then sing a round of “Rain, Rain Go Away” and shift your sculpting to suns, birds, and beach umbrellas.
Sensory Bins for Home and the Classroom
Sensory bins promote exploration and discovery through totally engaging tactile play. Also known as the feel-good fluffy stuff, calming and soothing Playfoam Pluffle™ is a great multisensory material for your classroom sensory bins! Little kids love to dig, smash, sift and scoop the Pluffle, building those fine motor skills, and older kids can use Pluffle-filled bins to work on sorting, matching, and color, letter, and number identification activities as Pluffle is perfect for hiding magnetic letters and numbers or colored counters! Here are 6 ways to make sensational sensory bins for your home or the classroom:
Playfoam Pluffle Patterns—Fill two mixing bowls with two different colors of Playfoam Pluffle. Using a spoon and a muffin tin, show your little one how to spoon the first color of Playfoam Pluffle out of one bowl and into the first muffin hole, then swap to the other bowl and hole, repeating to form an A/B color pattern.
Playfoam Pluffle Fishing—Hide small objects, such as the acorns from The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!®, the bones from Shelby's Snack Shack Game® or colorful buttons in a bin full of Playfoam Pluffle, then use the squeezers, a pair of child-safe tweezers or a scoop to pull them out. The Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set™, is a fantastic set for little hands. Practice sorting the objects by color or size to squeeze in some early math skills.
Playfoam Pluffle-bet—Hide plastic or magnetic letters or numbers in a large plastic bin full of Playfoam Pluffle. Little ones can use their hands or a magnet to dig out a letter and show it to you—you can say its name and the sound it makes. Help older kiddos find the letters in their names, think of words that start with that letter, or set the letters out on the floor in alphabetical order as they find them.
Playfoam Pluffle Tubes—Remove about ¼ of the Playfoam Pluffle from its tube, then add plastic toys like insects or fish, buttons, bells, etc. We added acorns from Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game . Shake the tube to mix them in, then have your little one roll and twist the tube to find as many hidden objects as they can. Talk about what they’ve found using descriptive vocabulary and try counting them as the objects are discovered. Great for on-the-go fun!
Playfoam Pluffle Funds—Bury some cash (use plastic coins and paper money if you’d prefer, like those from our Play Money Coins and Bills set) in a bin of Playfoam Pluffle. Then, let your kids use their fingers, child-safe tweezers, or our preschool game squeezers to make it a little trickier, to extract the money. Younger kids can count the number of coins they have; older kids can add up their value. Play against a sibling or friend to see who has more and who has less.
Playfoam Pluffle Excavation—Hide different types of rocks, minerals, and fossils, like those found in our Complete Rock and Mineral Set, in a bin of Playfoam Pluffle. Use plastic tongs or tweezers to excavate each item from the Pluffle and a paintbrush or basting brush to clean them off. Can your kids identify the specimen? As a bonus, they may want to inspect their findings under a microscope.
Now that you’re brimming with Playfoam creativity, start playing! Roll, squish, squash, cut, smash, sculpt, and more to develop those school-readiness skills and spark more creativity. Plus, check out some bonus activity sheets below for more Playfoam fun:
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