I am always looking for simple activities with open ended play for my kiddos

T Michelle Bailey
I am always looking for simple activities with open ended play for my kiddos

I am a licensed home childcare provider and I have ages 9 months old to 4 years old in my care currently so I am always looking for fun yet simple open ended activities where the kids learn through playing. This week we started our "farm theme" and I purchased a head/tails puzzle for ages 18 months and up and also a Melissa and Doug farm barn sorter and let me tell you the kids loved it.

We went over all the animals on the puzzle where the kids would tell me the name and sound of the farm animal and then we put them together as a group. I always allow the kids to try on their own first and if they need help then I will direct them. We also played a game where the kids each chose a piece to see if they could find the matching piece.

I added the barn in with the animals for individual play after the group activity. The nice part about the puzzle I purchased was they had a parent/teacher guide where I could get images from the puzzle pieces as a coloring sheet online so each child got to choose a animal or farmer that they wanted to color after the activity. I bought both the puzzle and barn farm animal sorter on Amazon.

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