Small Fry Play Giveaway
Winners Announced!
First of all, a big thank you to the Small Fry Team for allowing me to give away a total of six of their beautiful books. The winners of the copies of Small Fry Play are Candice and Diana. Congratulations! (See below for random.org results) Ladies I hope the book inspires many happy days spent playing with your kids.
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The third book in the series by Susie Cameron and Katrina Cook has just been released – Small Fry Play: Inspiration for Creative Play With Kids. This time the team are joined by early childhood consultant Sue Cant as they explore a topic close to the hearts of teachers and parents alike.
Play is the essence of childhood. If you ask me childhood almost doesn’t exist without it! Through play our children discover so much about the world around them, and their place in it. With the early years becoming increasingly fast paced, tech-heavy and toy laden, it’s never been more important to emphasise the value of play.
Even though play is completely natural for kids, they often need a little help to get started or a nudge in the right direction. Small Fry Play is brimming with ideas for parents as we seek to stimulate our children’s play. I love the ideas for creating special spaces for kids to play in, both indoors and out. There are suggestions for props that might assist with make believe play, and even ideas for creating a kid’s toolkit (yes, with hammers and screwdrivers)! Experiments are scattered throughout the book, and there are truly gorgeous suggestions for exploring art and music. The advice on purchasing toys is really smart, and a great read for any parent. Oh, and I love that the whole book begins with a guide to safe play and tips for setting limits as parents.
Sue Cant’s hope is that Small Fry Play will “inspire you to create an environment for your children that is filled with wonder and curiosity, to stimulate their play time and help them achieve their unique potential while having a wonderful time together along the way.”
I have two copies of Small Fry Play to give away this week, and it’s your last chance to win a SF book here on SquiggleMum! To be in the running leave a comment sharing a play idea. It could be a memory from your own childhood, or an activity or game your kids love. And because it’s the last of the Small Fry giveaways, you can have a second entry if you subscribe to my blog by email or RSS. Just leave an extra comment saying that you’ve subscribed, or you’re an existing subscriber. The comp is again open to Aussie residents and two winners will be drawn SUNDAY 18th October 6pm Qld time.
Winning results:
Thanks for all the great giveaways. My play idea? … – how about building with cardboard box blocks. When you use large blocks like this your child can make things like a bridge they can go under or a horse that they can sit on. My son loves them (although they are hard to store and hang on to).
And I subscribe to your blog too, because you have lots of great play ideas yourself.
I am guilty of not playing at Amy’s instigation enough lately. Life just seems to get so busy and complicated BUT I try and make time as often as I can and having a book with suggestions and ideas would really help me engage my own innerself in child’s play again! One of our favourite games to play right now is babies, me with Stella and Amy with her dolly whom she wraps, breast feeds, burps and rocks!
Oh, and I am an RSS subsciber! I couldn’t manage all my favourite blogs without my feedreader!
We enjoy playing hair salons. We put a chair in front of the big mirror, then we find the safe-t-cut scissors, small spray bottle, brush and comb, hair ties and clips and baby wrap for a cape. The tea set is great for offering the clients tea and coffee and the nearby bookshelf becomes a shelf of magazines. Last night the family was over for dinner and each of them had to get their hair cut. Lots of fun!
My little boy loves the outdoors especially playing outside in his sandpit – building sandcastles and burying objects that he or I have to find in the sand.
Im a RSS subscriber too.
My 2 (4 and 2) are big on obstacle courses and scavenger hunts at the moment. Obstacle course involves setting things up around the back yard using whatever we can think of ie 10 rocks on the see-saw, then walk along the balancing beam, turn around 3 times, fill a bucket up with sand, run backwards around the trampoline, 10 jumps on the trampoline, ride the scooter back to the start that sort of thing. Scavenger hunts using pictures (drawn and photos) of things in the yard like sandbucket and spade, leaves, flowers, stones etc.
PS I am a “follower” of your blog (comes up in my Blogger Dashboard automatically each time you post. Is that the same thing as subscribing/RSS?
When I was a young girl I loved playing elastics and hopscotch. I hope to teach my kids one day too. They have the bouncing part well on the way on the trampoline.
for a second chance. I subscribe to your blog
Hi Cath
I recently became a follower on Amanda’s blog, Busy Brissie Mum and noticed that you had also recently become a follower. I was excited to see that you are a fellow Brissie mum as well. Since discovering your fabulous blog, I have sat with a cuppa and thoroughly enjoyed reading through your recent posts.
At the moment we spend our early mornings and evenings outside looking for fairies and gathering materials to make a garden for the fairies! My children are also really enjoying our water play table at the moment.
I have already added your blog to my list of favourites and I look forward to visiting again soon.
We frequently set up an office area at our play table. We have:
* an old computer keyboard (cords removed)
* paper stapled into booklets
* pens/pencils/highlighters
* an old plastic coffee mug
* an old mobile phone (battery removed)
* rubber inked stamps (‘paid’, sign here)
* a working calculator (which the children love!)
* a pair of old glasses (just the frames, lenses removed)
* an old diary
* small whiteboard and whiteboard pen
* a plastic ‘pointer’ for presentations LOL!
The children love it and play for ages!
And I have subscribed and I’ve been a follower for a while
Our favourite play activity at the moment is home-made playdough. My 3 y.o chooses the colour we will make and is really enjoying making animals and things with the dough. My 1 y.o is getting a lot out of just feeling and poking and sometimes eating the dough! It’s a great activity for us all to do together.
Oh, new subscriber too!
I like helping to build a cubby house, either in-doors or out, with sheets and pillows everywhere.
I used to love hopscotch and elastics too, also that game where you pat-slap-clap your hands with another girl while singing little chants. I can’t remember what it’s called now, or many of the chants…
[...] Speaking of winning things, want to win this gorgeous book? [...]
I like pretend cooking, using a bowl, spoon and dried rice or pasta. I can’t wait to take my niece outside and introduce her to wombat stew! A little bit of mud with a dash of gumnuts and a sprinkling of grass… I’m sure her squigglemum will love it when I send her home covered in mud!
My kids will occupy themselves for half an hour or more making mud stew, complete with grass, dirt, clover and rocks from the garden. I put the stop sign up when they come inside looking for samples from the pantry and tell them to stick with what they can find outdoors! Needless to say, when they’re done ‘cooking’ its straight to the bath
Immy is right into ‘gluing’ at the moment, oh and tearing up junk mail to use in her gluing, and then ‘dworing’ on it with ‘texa.’
P.S. And I am a subscriber too
Hi! My little boy (2 years old) loves anything outdoors and active. One of his favourite activities is to balance on a plank of wood held up at both ends by bricks (the higher the better!) He also loves rolling his cars down the plank when the bricks are stacked up on one side.
P.S Love your blog and am a subcriber
we ‘collect’ empty sauce bottles etc use them to squirt/fill/tip over each other in the bath , pump bottlesand plastic juice bottles too and water jugs.
It has been our favoutite bath play toys for months now.
They get practice screwing lids on/off, learn how many juice bottles fill the sauce bottle etc. Still it floods the bathroom
ps I am a subscriber
Hi there
I once put blobs of different coloured paints on a table (child’s craft table) and covered the paint in contact, so that the paint was in a little bubble. The kids pushed the paint around through the contact to create patterns, swirls, pictures, letters. Great fun, and a little less mess than finger painting. Not that there’s anything wrong with mess!
My son’s favourite thing is having indoor picnics. Sounds like a great book thanks for the giveaway.
I am a subscriber too.