Playing while Learning

As you've seen by recent posts, we've expanded a lot of Nolan's normal activities to include even more play. That's not to say we weren't playing before but I'm now working educational activities that provoke him to explore and more unstructured yet structured free play in to our daily routine. For him, just sitting on the floor with one of his numerous toys has always been difficult. Our mom's group activities are always the highlight of his days but once we were home he would be ready to leave again. He likes to explore new things and be on the go. The shelves of the same toys day after day were background most of the time.

By planning a new activity each afternoon, Nolan has started enjoying the time spent inside the house more. I can see his little brain really working and also have seen improvement in his speech and communication with me. He uses this time to interact one on one and to ask me things about the activities we are doing. It can be hard to find something new and fun to do so I've been busy scouring the web. 

Besides Pinterest I've found a few blogs I love! Most even have Facebook pages with even more ideas from readers!

Play at Home Mom  - This is the site that started all the fun for us. They have amazing ideas to engage your little ones.

Wasting Nothing - While just getting going, a friend of mine contributes here and I know the great things to come!

Let the Children Play

Raising Playful Tots

I think today we might explore Home Depot or Lowe's a bit to gather some supplies for our new sensory board!