Fun Play Ideas for Kids

Dinosaur Dig

• Buy a model dinosaur kit at your local hobby, craft or toy store, some sand and some large, wide paintbrushes. Pour the sand in a sandbox, an unused flowerbed or on concrete where you can sweep it up for future use. Model dinosaur kits come with parts of the dinosaur that you can assemble. Bury the dinosaur body parts in sand and let the kids do an archaeological dig by brushing away the sand to reveal the dinosaur parts. Once all of the parts have been uncovered, help the kids to assemble the dinosaur.

Scavenger Hunt

• Hide items found around your house. Hide these items inside the house or outside in the yard. If the hunt is for very young kids, make the items a little easier to find and draw pictures of them on the list. For older kids, make it tricky by hiding items under rocks or inside of containers. Create a list of items you've hidden and give it to the kids. Assign points on the list for the items. The winner is the child who collects the most points.

Dress-Up

• Kids can dress up in items found around the house or can create costumes and accessories from cloth, paper, acrylic paints, jewels and beads. Dress them up in hats, scarves and shoes, jewelry and accessories such as gloves and purses. Princess and magician wands and crowns can be made with cardboard and aluminum foil. Alternatively, purchase costumes and accessories in any toy or Halloween costume store for play. Have the kids to make up a story about their newly found persona. Write it in a scrapbook with photos to preserve the memory.

Arts and Crafts

• Arts and crafts teach children how to be expressive and how to develop dexterity. They can paint pictures, cut and paste and make collages, make puppets or mold with play dough. Kids can create arts and crafts projects for holidays, such as Christmas and Halloween, by making a collage of Christmas photos or creating spooky Halloween puppets out of felt. Seasonal projects, such as painting spring flowers or building play dough snowmen, are another option. Provide the supplies and let their imaginations take over.