PlayPack Blog

The inspiration for this post came from a recent visit with a friend. Her daughter is just about to turn three and we were having a conversation about what she enjoys playing with when my friend asked, “she loves imaginary play, what else can we get her to play with?”. 

First off, I’m going to start with the what to do or the HOW to play… I’ll save the what to GET for next time 😉
Looking around her toy room, I noticed.......

Do you want some play inspiration for screen-free week (April 30th-May 6th)? We are going to run a 7 DAY PLAY CHALLENGE! Each morning we will email you a play challenge to complete for the day. They will be simple things you can do without needing to buy anything new.

Share your #7DAYPLAY challenges with us on Facebook and Instagram (tag @play.pack) and you could go in the running to win a PlayPack!

Sign up to our newsletter here, then keep your eyes peeled, our play challenges will be hitting your inbox every morning 🤗 ......

1. Download our free printable here.
2. Print out your shamrocks and grab your favourite pens or pencils plus some glue and scissors.
3. The first shamrock you can colour in lovely and bright.
4. On the second shamrock, write something on each of the 4 leaves that you are grateful for.
5. Place a little glue in the centre of this shamrock, and right down the stalk.
6. Glue the two shamrocks together.....

How do preschool educators capture a child’s attention so well? How they keep them so engaged and learning non-stop? They use all the different PLAY avenues available! We have built our PlayPacks around many of these PLAY philosophies.

Our PLAY types help you to find or set up play opportunities throughout your day - be it during daily routines (DailyPLAY), book time (BookPLAY) or just hanging about on the couch (PeoplePLAY). Directions, tools and explanations are all provided in the PLAYguides of our packs.

Here is an explanation of the 7 PLAY types we have built into our PlayPacks...

Oi Frog! Written by Kes Gray and illustrated by Jim Field.

This hilarious book won the Roald Dahl funny prize, and it's easy to see why! Turn this into a Book Based play by downloading our free character cut-outs, and match them up as you read the story. We have given you an extra page of blank cut-outs so you can make your own characters as well (draw them in or use old magazine cut-outs).

Give older children the chance to guess the rhyming words, see if they can predict what will come next. Younger children may......

We don’t believe you have to spend a lot of money to have fun. Our PlayPack boxes are sturdy, re-usable and recyclable, but most importantly they are also a great play tool. Why should anything go to waste? We’ve listed just a few great ideas to get you started on your BoxPLAY adventures. Pretend play: Pretend play is essentially role playing and using your imagination. Your box can turn into just about anything you desire. Perhaps it’s a shell for a turtle? Or maybe a suitcase for your teddy bear? Obviously the sky is the limit and your little ones will come up with some pretty fancy ideas… but to make things a little more interesting, most of our packs contain specially designed box accessory....

Although I could rattle off a few dozen, the Speechie in me will hold off and share just my TOP FOUR shared reading tips. Reading aloud to your child is something you can start from birth - I know it sounds a little early, but it’s the best gift you can give your child (even all the way up until they are adolescents!). Before a child can truly understand all the words that are coming out of your mouth, they are watching and listening to everything we do - our expression, the tone of our voices, the gestures and the stream of sound that flows from our lips. Their later......

Would you like to start a new family Christmas tradition this year? We have a fantastic idea for you, a Reverse Advent Calendar! Start by printing out our free PDF and hang it on the wall. Then find a spare box or basket around your house and place it under the calendar. You could decorate the box if you like! Explain to your kids that each day leading up to Christmas, they will donate something to the box and tick the date off. It could be food items, a book or maybe a toy they no longer use. When Christmas arrives, take the box down to your local shelter or food bank. This is a great activity to help your children understand that not everyone has the same Christmas as them.....

Speech Pathologists are always suggesting visuals and there are some very good reasons for them. Children with difficulty understanding or using language really benefit from the added support of visuals to assist with changes to routine, to reduce anxiety and the load on listening. It can also do wonders for children who are displaying any behavioural difficulties - this may be a sign that they are having some trouble comprehending language so to have something that is concrete and accessible all the time can help significantly. Children with Autism in particular thrive with a full visual set up in the home environment....