Wooden Spoon
Old wooden spoons can be used to draw faces on and create puppets. This can be done by painting colouring or sticking on faces and bodies to create different characters. This is an engaging activity for children from 4-years-old. Wooden spoons can be taken into the garden to support children’s exploration from using it to dig or stir up their ‘meals’ that they make and include a wooden spoon in a mud kitchen design. This is a good activity for children of all ages. Providing a wooden spoon and other items such as pots, boxes or cushions babies are able to explore the different sounds when banging the spoon on something. This is a good activity for babies as it helps support their musical exploration and senses. Drawing letters on wooden spoons can be a fun and new way to learn spellings and practice letter formations. This is a good activity for children aged 4-6-year-olds.
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Cup and Saucer
A cup and saucer can be made into a bird feeder. To do this you will need glue and bird feed as well cup and saucer. If you glue the cup onto the saucer (in any position you wish), then once dry pour on the bird feed, now either place on a flat surface in your garden or use string to hang it up. This can also be made into a bird water feeder by filling with water rather than bird feed. This is a good activity for children aged 5-8-years-old. A cup and saucer can be used to make plant pots, simply fill the cup with soil then plant the seeds and water them, place the cup on the saucer. This can remain indoors or outdoors depending on the plant. Adults can drill small holes into the bottom of the cup to add drainage for the plant if necessary. This is an interesting activity for children aged 2-7-years-old. Cups and saucers can be used in children’s imaginative and role play, for example if going on a picnic or making a meal for everyone.
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Sponge
A sponge can be used to see depth and pattern when painting. This is good to help babies to explore and experiment different textures. This is also beneficial for older children to learn about the effects of different resources when painting. Create an animal by cutting the sponge into different shapes, you can use the cutting of sponge for the features such as eyes, arms, mouth etc. You can use rubber bands to create more of a body shape. This is a good activity to support both creativity and imaginative for children aged 2-7-years-old. Sponges can be used for water marking, this is good to do outdoors to encourage children to enjoy time outside. You can provide stencils for children to use when water marking with the sponges. This is a good activity for children aged 0-5-years-old.
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Tea Towel
A tea towel can be used to act as a blanket for a toy by wrapping them up in, this helps to teach children problem solving skills and trial and error. A tea towel can be used in role play as it may be used as a brides veil for a wedding or a children could imagine themselves being a waiter and folding it over their arm. Old tea towels can be provided for children to experiment with painting on different materials and stencil their own designs.
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Pots and Pans
Children can bang pots together to create music, this is a good way to explore different sounds and learn about cause and effect. This is a very good activity for babies to be able to explore. Pots and pans can be given to children to support their play outside. This helps them to learn the use of different objects, for example if they use the pans to cook something in an outdoor play kitchen. They can use their imagination to link it to their outdoor play such as using it as a witch’s cauldron. This is a good resource for children of all ages when outside. Pots and pans can be used in painting, children can either paint patterns or mark make directly onto the pan or use them a painting tool by dipping them in paint that printing them onto paper or card. This is a fun and different for children aged 1-7-years-old.
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