Outdoor Play Ideas and Backyard Activities for Kids - Happy Hooligans

Teach Kids How to Spread with a Knife with Blocks and Shaving Cream

Jackie Currie — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Hey Lovelies! I hope you're keeping cool!

I wanted to share one of my favourite activities for toddlers and preschoolers with you.

If you have little ones who are just itching to butter their own toast or make their own peanut butter sandwiches, this is such a fun way to teach them how to spread with a knife.

Take it outside and have some fun with it! They'll strengthen their fine motor skills and co-ordinaiton, hone their knife-spreading skills and get some sensory play and structure-building in as well!

Click the link below to check out the fun! xx

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Dramatic Play Flower Shop for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 22 May 2020 21:32:05 +0000

Hello Lovely!

The weather has FINALLY warmed up here, so I wanted to share a terrific backyard activity that will keep your little ones entertained and learning for ages.

Check out our pretend play flower shop!

It's super-easy to set up with some dollar store artificial flowers, and a few jars, containers and scoops.

You'll love what we've used for the "potting soil". It makes for such a wonderful sensory experience and it's much more interesting than dirt (although that will do just fine if that's what you'd like to use).

Check it out with the link below!

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Sidewalk Chalk Activities for Kids

Jackie Currie — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 20:07:01 +0000

Hey Lovelies!

I don't know about you, but here at our house, sidewalk chalk is a go-to whenever we're outside. I keep a bucket of it on my front porch for whenever we need something to do in between activities, at drop-off, pick-up etc.

We've come up with some pretty creative ways to use it over the years, so I wanted to share those with you.

From adding water, to paintbrushes to really fun drawing activities, you'll find some new ideas here to entertain your kids with when you're outdoors this week.

Click the link below to check them out. xx

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Sandbox Ideas – Toy Suggestions, Play Ideas and Storage Solutions

Jackie Currie — Fri, 03 May 2019 02:25:05 +0000

Transform your sandbox from ordinary to extra-ordinary with these easy, awesome sandbox ideas. Lots of simple tips and tricks to create backyard sandbox that inspires creative, imaginative play. We spend a ton of time playing in our backyard play space, and without a doubt, the most popular spot for the kids to play in is our our sandbox...

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Painting Letters With Water – a Fun, Summer Learning Activity

Nicole Black — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 06:09:01 +0000

Painting with water is always a HUGE hit with kids of all ages.

The activity we're sharing today is a great way for preschoolers to learn how to print letters, numbers and their name, and it's a terrific way for older kids to practice writing, math and sight words over the summer.

Bonus: it's mess-free and it will keep the kids busy for ages!

Give it a try today!

Click the link below to see the details.

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International Mud Day Activities for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 19:36:59 +0000

International Mud Day is June 29th.

Here are 8 of our favourite mud-play activities to make the day a screaming success for your kids.

From car-washes to mud-slides to painting with mud, these fun and fabulous activities will make mud day one of your kids' favourite days of the year!

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16 Awesome Outdoor Party Games Kids

Jackie Currie — Thu, 25 May 2017 07:02:53 +0000

If you're holding a backyard party for your kids this summer, we've gathered the best outdoor party games and activities to please kids of all ages!

Some are classics and some are new and really creative ideas that will make your party a ton of fun for your family and all of your guests.

Check them out!!

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25+ Water Play Activities for Kids in the Backyard

Jackie Currie — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:27:51 +0000

When the weather is this hot, it can be tough to keep kids cool AND entertained for long stretches of time.

This is when simple water bins and water activities come in VERY handy!

Whether you have one child at home, or several in a daycare setting, these activities will save the day every single time!

These 25 water activities will keep your kids entertained for hours at a time, and they're so popular and easy to set up that you'll turn to them time and time again over the summer!

I hope you love them as much as we do! Click the link below to see them all!

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The Funnest, Easiest Way to Clean your Art Table

Jackie Currie — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 21:07:20 +0000

This method for cleaning your art table will have your kids begging to help clean up! With a little shaving cream, cleaning the art table, becomes a fun sensory activity for kids. Every few months, here in my home daycare, our art table gets to the point where it’s so messy and caked with paint,...

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18 Free {or almost free} Cool Features to Add to Your Backyard Playground

Jackie Currie — Mon, 16 May 2016 06:00:42 +0000

Hey, guys! It's that time of year when we start sprucing our outdoor play-spaces, getting everything ready for the kids for summer!

I want to show you some fabulous things that I've added to our backyard which transformed our outdoor play space from ordinary to extraordinary!

These ideas are great for your own back yard or for an outdoor play space at a daycare or preschool.

They're easy to set up, and they will keep your kids busy, learning and entertained for HOURS!

Best of all, they don't have to cost you a thing! Most of these activity centres I've put together using things I already had around the house.

And I'm not kidding when I say that they've made ours the best backyard on the block!

Check 'em out! I'm pretty sure you'll want to set up a few of these in your yard for the summer!

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Bubble Activities for Kids

Jackie Currie — Thu, 12 May 2016 15:04:15 +0000

Bubble blowing season is right around the corner, and your kids are probably dying to bust out the bubble solution and wands, and get down to making bubbles in the backyard.The following bubble activities are inexpensive, and they never fail to fascinate and entertain. We do lots of different bubble activities when we’re playing in the...

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Pretend Play Perfume Factory Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Fri, 06 May 2016 07:50:14 +0000

Ooooo! I just LOVED this activity, and I think you will too!

The kids played for hours with this pretend play perfume factory! They chopped and snipped ingredients from the garden, and used tools and instruments to mix up beautiful potions in gorgeous little bottles.

This activity is so fun, and provides many ways for little ones to develop fine-motor skills, co-ordination and creative and critical thinking.

And it's so easy and inexpensive, you can set this up time after time, all summer long!

They'll never be bored again! Check it out!

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Painting with Water – Outdoor Art Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 17:11:46 +0000

Do you remember doing this as a kid?

If you've never tried this activity with your little ones, you MUST!

It's so easy to set-up, it's mess-free, and it will keep your kids busy for hours. I'm betting they'll love it so much that you'll make this one of your easy go-to activities all summer long.

The best thing (aside from it being SO simple to set-up and clean-up) is that it's one of those classic activities that help to make magical childhood memories. It's stuff like this that your kids will love and remember always.

Check it out, and then put it on your must-do list for summer!

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How to Make Homemade Giant Bubbles that will Blow your Mind

Jackie Currie — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 17:55:56 +0000

Make the biggest bubbles ever with this homemade giant bubble recipe. Making homemade giant bubbles has been on our to-do list for a while, but we’ve been waiting for the perfect weather conditions. The weather is really important for making the biggest bubbles that won’t pop. More on that in a bit. Yesterday, the weather was just right,...

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Adding Artificial Flowers to Your Outdoor Play Space

Jackie Currie — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:25:40 +0000

See how a couple of dollars can add countless hours of creative and imaginative fun to your outdoor play space. Who knew such a small investment would be worth so much! Look at all the fun the hooligans have with these artificial flowers. All year ROUND, I should add...

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Water Displacement Experiment for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:00:48 +0000

This easy water displacement experiment is a fun way to show teach toddlers and preschoolers about water displacement. Using stones and a jug of water, kids will see with their own eyes how water is displaced when an object is submerged in it. It’s a terrific activity to do after reading the book The Crow and the Pitcher...

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Pretend Tea Party with Natural Items

Jackie Currie — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:32:17 +0000

Set up a pretend tea party play in the backyard where the kids can make a mess, use their imaginations, and get creative exploring items found in nature. Remember how much fun it was to play “tea party” was when you were little? Pouring and measuring and serving cups of “tea” to your friends and...

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10 Fun Fall Activities for Kids to Do in the Backyard

Jackie Currie — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:03:03 +0000

Ah, Fall! It’s almost here! We love playing outdoors here in my home daycare, especially in the fall. There are so many colours, shapes and textures to explore in Fall, and they provide much of the inspiration for our Fall art projects and crafts as well as our outdoor play activities. Today, I’d love to share 10...

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Simple, 3-Ingredient Concoctions for Kids to Make

Jackie Currie — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 14:29:56 +0000

Do your kids love mixing concoctions? Oh boy! Do I ever have a whopper of a concoction collection for you! 35 of the best slime, goop, goo and play dough recipes that I could find! Science and sensory exploration never looked, felt or smelled so good! And best of all? All of these mixtures require 3...

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The Easy Way to Add Running Water to your Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 03:39:29 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great if your kids had access to a water supply at the sandbox or in the mud kitchen? They can! I’m going to show you how you can add a source of running water to your backyard play space in minutes. It’s a simple solution that’s fast, easy and cheap. In fact,...

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Sidewalk Chalk and Water Painting Activity

Jackie Currie — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:21:25 +0000

Kids can create unique “watercolour images” with sidewalk chalk and water! We’re huge fans of sidewalk chalk activities here. We always have a bucket of chalk stashed just outside our front door. It’s our go-to when we’re waiting for daycare drop-off and pick-ups, when we want to get creative, or when we only have a few...

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Window Art with Foam Shapes and Water

Jackie Currie — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 03:51:44 +0000

Toddlers and preschoolers who like creating and playing with water will love this fun and easy outdoor art activity. We’re making window art with foam shapes and water. It’s simple to set up, it’s mess free, and it’s a great way to entertain the kids at home on a hot summer day. Water and windows and foam,...

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Backyard Tightrope

Jackie Currie — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 20:52:57 +0000

If you’re looking for an amazing (and free!) addition for your backyard play space, a backyard tightrope is da bomb! Our homemade tightrope is, hands down, one of the most popular stations in our yard. Kids of all ages, from the toddlers right through to 7 and 8 year olds absolutely love balancing on it,...

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Homemade Bubble Blower from a Cardboard Roll

Jackie Currie — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 04:12:25 +0000

Use a cardboard roll for a homemade bubble blower when your kids want to blow bubbles but you can’t find your bubble wands. Kids love blowing bubbles, but there’s nothing worse on the first bubble blowing day of spring than realizing can’t find your bubble blowers and bubble mix. Fear not, Mama! I’ve got a couple...

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Tin Can Stilts – Classic Childhood Activity

Jackie Currie — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:59:58 +0000

Make a set of tin can stilts with a couple of coffee cans and some rope. The kids will have fun walking around the yard on them, just like you did when you were a kid. Who remembers clomping around on a pair of tin can stilts when they were a kid? Remember how fun...

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Simple Homemade Bubble Pipe

Jackie Currie — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 06:19:10 +0000

Learn how to make a Homemade Bubble Pipe from a straw and a coffee filter! Pair it with some dish detergent straight out of the bottle, and blowing bubbles just got a whole lot cheaper and easier! Blowing bubbles is one of those classic childhood activities that never gets old! Normally, every spring I whip...

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Ocean in a Bottle with 3 Simple Ingredients

Jackie Currie — Sat, 31 May 2014 05:54:30 +0000

Make an ocean in a bottle with 3 easy ingredients. One of the fastest and easiest-ever science activities for preschoolers. I love to make homemade toys for the hooligans. Discovery bottles are always a favourite here. They look so beautiful, and no matter what we fill them with. This particular ocean in a bottle has to be the...

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Homemade Twirling Ribbon Sticks

Jackie Currie — Thu, 15 May 2014 02:41:39 +0000

These twirling ribbon sticks are easy to make with just a stick and a ribbon, Kids will love swinging and swirling their ribbons around as they dance and run in the yard. Add this to your list of simple activities to do in the backyard this summer. Twirling ribbon? Ribbon stick? Twirling ribbon stick? I’m...

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Playing with Coloured Water: Backyard Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Sun, 11 May 2014 05:00:11 +0000

This simple backyard water play activity is a super way for kids to learn about colour-mixing, to strengthen fine and gross motor skills, and it’s a terrific way for children to keep cool on a hot, summer day! This coloured water activity is one of our favourites from our collection of simple science activities for...

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Wet Sidewalk Chalk Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Fri, 09 May 2014 04:37:43 +0000

Add a “dipping cup” to any sidewalk chalk activity so your kids can create creamy-smooth, vibrant works of art in the driveway! Drawing with wet sidewalk chalk is one of my favourite outdoor art techniques for kids, but creating art with wet chalk is so much more fun drawing with dry chalk. It’s a whole different experience! Dry...

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Sand Play Idea – DIY Sand Table For Kids Without a Sandbox

Jackie Currie — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 18:14:18 +0000

No doubt about it, kids love to play in a sandbox, but what do you do if you don’t have a sandbox in your yard, or if you live in an apartment? You create a DIY sand table! Sometimes it’s fun to take an activity that your child enjoys regularly, and present it in...

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10 Backyard Balancing Activities

Jackie Currie — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:15:22 +0000

Here are 10 of our favourite balancing activities in our backyard play space. Most of these can be balancing activities can be made for free using items you already have around your home and yard. These fun and engaging outdoor activities provide kids with plenty of opportunities to develop their muscles, gross motor control and balancing...

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Fairy Soup – Backyard Sensory Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:40:38 +0000

With this Fairy Soup Activity, toddlers and preschoolers can make concoctions with items from the garden, and strengthen co-ordination skills, snipping, pouring and stirring, while enjoying an afternoon of water play in the backyard. This week, keeping with our fairy theme, we headed out to garden for one of my kids’ favourite backyard activities: Fairy Soup! Making...

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Shaving Cream “Magna Doodle” Activity

Jackie Currie — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 05:00:02 +0000

Create a giant shaving cream “Magna Doodle” for fun and learning with 2 simple items: a table-top and a can of shaving cream. My kids love playing with shaving cream. It’s such a great sensory substance. My daycare toddlers and preschoolers love it when we squirt it right onto a table top so they can create...

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Rope And Hula Hoop Activity – Gross Motor Fun for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:13:53 +0000

Add a simple rope and hula hoop activity to your outdoor play space for imaginative play and gross-motor development. This activity was quick and easy to set up, and it didn’t cost a thing, because I already had the hula hoops and the rope. I simply strung a very long length of rope over our clothes-line,...

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Bucket and Rope “Pulley” Contraption for the Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:57:08 +0000

Rig up a simple bucket and rope “pulley” contraption in your backyard play space. It’s an easy, inexpensive DIY that will provide hours of open-ended play for toddlers and preschoolers. When it comes to outdoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers, I’m all about keeping it simple, especially when it comes to our backyard play area....

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Decorating Mud Pies with Outdated Pantry Supplies

Jackie Currie — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 05:26:24 +0000

This wonderful mud kitchen activity requires only a bucket of mud, a few kitchen items and a handful of stale dated pantry items. Kids can make mud pies garnished with lentils, corn, oats and spices for a spectacular morning of mud play. If you’re looking for fun mud activities for kids to do for International...

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Coffee Shop Pretend Play Activity

Jackie Currie — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:30:10 +0000

This coffee shop pretend play activity with sand, soap and water provides hours of open-ended, imaginative play for kids of all ages. It’s become one of my favourite backyard water play activities here in my home daycare. If you’ve been following us for any length of time, you know that I love setting up easy...

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How to Make a Pool Noodle Abacus for your Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 03:50:02 +0000

How to make a pool noodle abacus with ropes and pool noodles for toddlers and preschoolers to play with in the backyard. I recently made this pool noodle abacus for the toddlers and preschoolers in my daycare, and it’s become one of the most popular features in our backyard play space. Ok, so technically ours...

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Coloured Water Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 30 May 2013 02:37:00 +0000

Experimenting with coloured water is a fun activity to help toddlers and preschoolers develop fine and gross motor skills, as well as a lesson in mixing. I love setting up fun and educational water play activities when the warm spring weather arrives! This colour mixing activity with water and food colouring is one of the hooligans favourite...

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Pretend Play with Artificial Flowers – for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 02 May 2013 02:50:37 +0000

Pretend play with artificial flowers – a fun, springtime water play activity for toddlers and preschoolers in your backyard play space. Recently, the hooligans enjoyed a morning of pretend play with artificial flowers, and the activity was completely child led. On Friday, the older hooligans ran out into our play yard, while I remained inside getting the little ones...

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Play Logs for a Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:30:32 +0000

A few well positioned play logs or stumps add endless physical and imaginative play possibilities to your back yard: Recently, I showed you our backyard play house and shared some sandbox ideas with you. Well today, I’m just busting to share the newest addition to our backyard play space. Play Logs! Late last fall,...

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Marbleized Valentines Day Craft with Shaving Cream and Food Coloring

Jackie Currie — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:04:40 +0000

Kids can make these Marbleized Valentines using shaving cream and food colouring. It’s a fun, easy and fascinating art process that all ages will love! We love experimenting with easy but really cool painting techniques here in my daycare. As a result, we’ve discovered a lot of really creative ways to create art using basic household...

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Make a Backyard Leaf Slide – Fun Fall Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 05:40:57 +0000

If you’re looking for a unique and fun fall activity for the backyard, have a look at the leaf slide we made the other day! This is such a fun way to use your fall leaves for play before you rake them all up. This activity got the hooligans moving around and keeping warm on...

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Roadways in the leaves!

Jackie Currie — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:08:06 +0000

Remember being a kid, and all the hours you could spend playing in the fall leaves? Jumping into them, raking them into houses and trails and mazes… Here’s another fun idea that kept the hooligans busy for a few days. This morning, I re-configured yesterday’s leaf maze to make roadways in the leaves for the...

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Make a Leaf Maze or Leaf Labyrinth in Your Yard

Jackie Currie — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 21:54:47 +0000

Looking for a fun activity for your kids to do when you’re raking the leaves? Make a leaf maze or a leaf labyrinth for them to play in! It’s so simple to make but it provides hours of outdoor fun for toddlers and preschoolers. This is one of our backyard activities in the fall here in...

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Corn Run with Funnels and Hoses

Jackie Currie — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:27:38 +0000

I have tons of science activities on my blog, and a corn run is always a favourite here with the hooligans. I set our corn run with funnels and hoses set up in the backyard play space about a week ago, and it’s provided hours of entertainment. The kids are co-operating and collaborating, exercising those...

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Collecting Chestnuts & Chestnut Activities for Play

Jackie Currie — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:38:40 +0000

One of our favourite Fall activities here in my home daycare is to spend a morning collecting chestnuts. Toddlers and preschoolers love searching for and collecting them, and the chestnuts that we bring home provide us with hours of fun, and countless, fun activities in the days and weeks that follow. Early Tuesday morning, just...

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Painting with Shaving Cream: Outdoor Art for Kids

Jackie Currie — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 05:18:59 +0000

Painting with shaving cream is an amazing sensory play idea for indoors or out! Use it in the bath or take it outside to paint on the patio door like we did! We love playing with shaving cream! I always have a couple of cheap cans of Barbasol shaving foam set aside for play activities. We...

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Water Bin with Tubes and Funnels

Jackie Currie — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:44:30 +0000

If your kids love science activities and waterplay, they’re going to love this. It’s the perfect combination of both! They’ll be cool and entertained for hours in the back yard with this simple water bin with tubes and funnels. We have lots of great water play ideas here among the pages of my blog. Water...

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Polly Pool Party Water Bin

Jackie Currie — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 03:40:26 +0000

Gather up the Polly Pockets and a few simple toys, and put together a Polly Pool Party water bin for your kids! This is a great way to keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained (and nice and cool) on a hot summer day. Ours kept the hooligans entertained for ages! If your kids are like my...

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How to Make a Homemade Water Slide for Your Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:26:23 +0000

How to make a homemade water slide for your backyard play space using a camping tarp, garden hose and a bottle of cheap shampoo! The hooligans and I love it when the temperatures turn warm in the spring because that’s when we start in with our simple water play activities. A homemade slip and slide...

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Deep Blue Sea Activity Bin

Jackie Currie — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:01:32 +0000

A Deep Blue Sea Bin is an awesome small world sensory bin to set up for your kids if you’re studying an ocean theme or an underwater theme, or if you’re observing Shark Week! We’re on a roll with our water play activities this week! The weather has been so warm here, and I’ve been...

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Dinosaur Sensory Bin

Jackie Currie — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 03:37:31 +0000

The toddlers and preschoolers in my daycare love sensory bins, and they’ve really been getting into playing with our toy dinosaurs lately, so today, I made this dinosaur sensory bin for them to enjoy. It’s a combination of a small world, sensory bin and water play all wrapped up into one fun activity for kids....

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Ocean Sensory Bin

Jackie Currie — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:28:38 +0000

An Ocean Sensory Bin was the perfect thing for the kids to play with today. It’s been super-hot here this week, so I’ve been setting up lots of creative water play activities for the hooligans. I love to make sensory bins, and I’ve had an Ocean sensory bin in mind for a long time now. In...

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Sprinkler Fun for Toddlers

Jackie Currie — Wed, 30 May 2012 02:39:24 +0000

Sprinkler fun – keeping cool on a hot day! Oh, how we’ve waited for this day! We’ve been talking for weeks about how one of these days the weather will warm up enough that we’ll be pulling out the sprinkler again, and today, my friends, was that day! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:My-oh-my,...

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Garden Soup – Fine Motor Water Play Activity

Jackie Currie — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:17:21 +0000

Garden soup is one of our go-to water play activities here in my daycare. You can set it up in less than a minute, and it will keep kids busy and learning in the backyard for ages. It’s great for developing scissor skills and fine motor skills, and it’s a wonderful way for toddlers and preschoolers...

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Muddy Car Wash Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Sat, 26 May 2012 04:00:36 +0000

Who’s ready for an awesome mud play idea? A muddy car wash is a terrific mud activity for preschoolers! Drive those cars through the mud, down the ramp, and “splash” into a bucket of soapy water! My toddlers and preschoolers are enjoying lots of water play activities and mud play now that the summer weather has arrived. Their favourite...

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Doll Bath Station: Hours of Pretend Play for Toddlers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:31:49 +0000

A pretend play “doll bath station” will keep your little ones entertained and cool for hours this summer! It’s one of our favourite warm-weather backyard activities. Water play activities are always a hit here in my home daycare. In particular, the toddlers and hooligans love it when I set up a baby care station for them to...

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Shaving Cream Car Wash For Car-lovin’ Kids!

Jackie Currie — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:58:58 +0000

This shaving cream car wash is a terrific activity for kids who love cars and trucks and who love messy play and love playing with cars. It’s a great sensory activity that will keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained for ages! It’s been absolutely gorgeous here this week! Hot and summer-like and it’s only March! We’ve been...

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Coloured Water Activity – A Colour Mixing Experiment for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:15:40 +0000

This coloured water activity is easy to prep and provides lots of creative, open-ended experimenting. Toddlers and preschoolers will observe first-hand what happens when two colours mix. It’s a great first experiment for little ones, and they’ll strengthen their fine and gross motor skills too! Looking for another water play activity before the Fall weather...

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Shaving Cream Sensory Play with Glitter

Jackie Currie — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:46:05 +0000

Shaving cream sensory play with glitter and small toys – a wonderful messy play experience for toddlers and preschoolers. We were playing with shaving cream last week, and it was a big hit with the kids. Well, this week we were playing with shaving cream again and we’ve added glitter! and glitter, and we used a...

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Messy Play with Shaving Cream and Food Colouring

Jackie Currie — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:30:01 +0000

Playing with shaving cream and food colouring is a wonderful form of messy play for toddlers and preschoolers. This activity offers a wonderful sensory experience, and the opportunity for kids to get really messy without getting really dirty. We’re all about shaving cream activities this week! Shaving cream is such an amazing sensory substance, and you...

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How to Make a Mobile Mud Patch for Play in your Backyard

Jackie Currie — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:12:19 +0000

Use a wheelbarrow to create a mobile mud patch for mud play in your backyard play space! It’s like a portable mud kitchen, and it will provide your kids with hours of good, old-fashioned muddy play! It’s a wonderful way to provide a temporary mud patch or mud kitchen in your backyard at home or preschool without...

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8 Simple Outdoor Activities for Toddlers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:28:10 +0000

8 simple outdoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers to play in your own backyard, using things you already have around your house. If you’re looking for simple outdoor activities for young children, you are going to love it here! I have so many ideas for simple outdoor play on my site! Much of our time...

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Backyard Play in our Daycare

Jackie Currie — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:41:56 +0000

When the weather is nice, the Hooligans and I spend most of our time outdoors, in our backyard play space. Quite often we’ll be out from the time they are dropped off in the morning until afternoon nap-time. I’d like to share some of our favourite backyard play ideas with you today. Fun and Easy...

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How to Make a Homemade Water Wall for Kids – Easy Play Yard DIY

Jackie Currie — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:26:06 +0000

A homemade water wall is a fantastic addition to a backyard play space! With a recyclables, you can make a water wall for toddlers and preschoolers to play with at home or preschool. It makes a great STEM activity, teaching kids about gravity, angles and water flow, and it’s a great water activity to keep kids...

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Kids’ Playhouse Ideas – Playhouse Makeover: from Boring to WOW!

Jackie Currie — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:50:00 +0000

Kids’ Playhouse Ideas – simple ways to give your backyard playhouse a makeover and take it from “so-so” to the coolest hang-out on the block. When I was a kid, my backyard playhouse was the favourite hide-out for me and all the kids on my street. My dad built it. It was quite small. But...

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