Play Settings & Imagination Spaces

Simple Things Are Best
Old Sheet Play Table
Blanket Land
Newspaper Play Space
Streamer Zone
Bag Block Building
Room Weaving
Obstacle Maze
Footprints Everywhere!
Cardboard Carton Play
My Own TV
Art Gallery, Just for Me!
Plastic Jug Sculpture
Two Pretend Planetariums
Paper Off-the-Wall Scenery
Painted Off-the-Wall Scenery
Fingerpainted Ocean

Simple Things Are Best

Autumn Leaves

* Rake leaves into pathways and trails, creating rooms and hallways for play.

Blankets, Sheets, and Towels

* Blankets, sheets, and towels are wonderful materials to inspire imaginative and creative play. They can be anything: a superhero's cape, the sails for a ship, a cozy cover for a doll in the hospital, the walls of a magical castle, the throne of a queen.

Blocks

* Wooden blocks or plastic blocks; homemade blocks or store bought blocks; big blocks or little blocks. Blocks to build with, sit on, drive, or fly. Blocks for doll furniture, or homes for gerbils. Blocks, blocks, blocks are perfect for motivating creative thinking and play. You can never have enough blocks!

Boxes

* Cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes — large and small, wide and narrow, tall and short — can become forts, treasure boxes, cradles, cars, a scientific laboratory, or a tidy school room. Collect and save them for play, and when done, recycle them!

Cardboard

* Cardboard cut into a frame that fits the face of a child can become a television screen, framed artwork, window, or computer monitor.

Furniture

* Use cushions or pillows to make a pirate ship. Have a tea party in a fairy glen under a table. Build a bridge with a wooden chair for the Billy Goats Gruff.

Indoors or Out

* Move typical indoor activities outside and traditional outdoor activities inside for an all new imaginative kick-start!

Pebbles, Pine Cones, and Acorns

* Add a few pebbles to the sand pile, use pine cones to make a house where acorn-people live. Pebbles, rocks, pine cones, acorns, weeds, leaves, bark, dirt, mud, sand, and grasses are just of few of the things children can play with indoors or out.

Sand Box

* Add containers, tools, dishes, plastic pipes, a hose and water, toys, or bare feet and bathing suits. Each addition becomes a new ingredient to stimulate creative play in imaginative new ways.

Water

* Water in the sink, in the grass, in the sand box, in a puddle, in the tub, in a bucket — wherever you have water, you have imaginative play.

Old Sheet Play Table

Materials

old sheet
card table, or any sturdy table
crayons or markers
scissors
clothespins or books, optional
large safety pins, diaper pins, or clothespins

Steps

* Begin by draping an old sheet over a card table. Position the sheet evenly over the table. Trim the excess while the sheet is hanging. If necessary, hold the sheet in place with clothespins or books placed on top.

* Fold the extra sheet material at each corner. Use large safety pins to hold. The extra sheet can also be trimmed.

* To make windows, draw an H on one of the walls. Cut along the lines of the H. Use safety pins to hold the window open. Make windows on three sides, but leave room for a door on one side.

* To make a door, draw an upside down L with the straight leg of the L touching the floor. Cut along the lines of the L for a door that will open. Again, use safety pins to hold the door opened or closed.

* Climb inside the play zone and imagine it is a cabin, cottage, playhouse, cave, fort, or other imaginative play area.

More Ideas

After the sheet is cut to fit, remove it from the card table and spread it on the floor. Use fabric paint, fabric crayons, or regular crayons to decorate the play zone. Glue on fabric, felt, and sewing trim to add features like a doorknob, flowers, shutters, faucet, mailbox, or other exterior house ideas. Then put the sheet back on the table.

An old tablecloth, thin bedspread, or blanket will work instead of a sheet.

Blanket Land

Materials

blankets, sheets, or other large lightweight fabrics, such as
beach towel • large piece of fabric • old drapes or curtains • old sheet •
thin bedspread
furniture or boxes, such as
big pillows and cushions • cardboard boxes • chairs • sofa • stools,
hassock • tables
extra items for pretend, such as
books • flashlight • paper and crayons • sleeping bag • stuffed animals
helpful building supplies, optional, such as
clothespins • masking or duct tape • string or rope
toys of all kinds

Steps

* Assemble the blankets or other fabrics. Choose an area with sturdy furniture to incorporate in the building and play.

* Spread a blanket out over some chairs. Look inside and see what you think about the space.

* Join more chairs and maybe a table to support more blankets for a larger "land." Build Blanket Land as big or small as you wish. Use clothespins, tape, or string to make Blanket Land secure and sturdy.

* Choose books, toys, pets, snacks, pillows, and other items to enjoy inside the structure. A flashlight can add extra fun.

More Ideas

Take sheets and blankets outside with a basket of clothespins for children to create their own structures and "lands."

Think about spending the night or taking a nap in Blanket Land!

Newspaper Play Space

Materials

old newspapers
masking tape
stick or dowel
yarn, paper scraps, stickers, optional

Steps

* Roll newspaper around a stick or dowel to form a tube. Start by placing the stick diagonally across the corner of the newspaper as shown in the illustration. Roll up. Tape the loose end in the center. Then slide the stick out.

* Make many many tubes. Several hundred would create an amazing space!

* Tape the tubes together and build a play space. Use masking tape freely to make the building strong. Experiment making a:

cabin
car
hide-out
jail
train
cage
cave
horse
rocket
truck

Enjoy this imaginary place space.

Streamer Zone

Materials

rolls of crepe paper in any colors
lots of tape, a stapler, or pushpins
hula hoop
scissors
fan, optional

Steps

* Tape one end of a roll of crepe paper to a hula hoop. Cut the crepe paper at a desired length, perhaps 10' (4 m) or more. Snip with scissors.

* Attach additional long strips of crepe paper, until the hoop is filled with strips of...