Imagine, prepare, enjoy!

SAND SLIME

Ingredients

• 4 cups play sand

• 2 cups cornflour

• 1 tbsp dish soap

• 1–2 cups water

Instructions

In a large bowl or tray, mix the sand and cornflour together. Add the dish soap and start to slowly add the water while stirring. Keep mixing until you have a thick, gloopy slime, add more water if needed until the texture feels just right. It should look like wet cement, so provide some toy bricks, plastic tools, or small construction vehicles and let your child build, scoop and squish to their heart’s content.

Benefits

Sand slime is wonderful for sensory play. Children strengthen their hand muscles, refine their motor skills and learn about textures and materials. Pretend construction play also sparks creativity and early engineering skills.

BOUNCING BUBBLES

Ingredients

• ½ cup warm water

• 4 tbsp sugar

• 2 tbsp dish soap

Instructions

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, then gently stir in the dish soap. Blow bubbles using a straw or bubble wand. Slip on a soft, clean glove (like a winter glove or cotton mitten) and see if you can catch and bounce the bubbles without popping them. Challenge your child to count how many bounces they can get in a row!

Benefits

Bubble play has a calming effect on the nervous system and supports breath control. Catching and bouncing bubbles develops hand-eye coordination and patience. Counting bounces adds a playful touch of early maths too!

NATURE PAINTBRUSHES

What you’ll need

• Sticks or twigs

• String or elastic bands

• Leaves, flowers, feathers or grass

• Washable paints and paper

Instructions

Head out on a nature walk and gather sticks and natural materials like leaves, long grass, or feathers. Back home, help your child tie or wrap their finds onto the ends of the sticks to make ‘nature brushes.’ Dip these in paint and experiment with the different marks they make on paper.

Benefits

This activity combines outdoor exploration with creative art. Gathering natural materials promotes observation and curiosity, while using handmade tools develops fine motor skills and early scientific thinking as children experiment with different textures and patterns.

FROZEN DINOSAUR DIG

What you’ll need

• Small toy dinosaurs (or any plastic toys)

• Plastic containers

• Water

• A tray or large tub

• Child-safe tools: spoons, paintbrushes, squirty bottles with warm water

Instructions

Place the small dinosaurs in a container, fill it with water and freeze overnight. Once frozen, tip out the icy block onto a tray. Give your little one some safe tools and warm water to ‘excavate’ the dinosaurs from the ice.

Benefits

This simple sensory science experiment encourages problem-solving and perseverance. Children learn about melting and temperature changes in a hands-on way, and using tools helps to strengthen their fine motor skills and coordination.

PHONICS TREASURE HUNT

What you’ll need

• Small cards or sticky notes

• A marker pen

• A basket or bag

Instructions

Write some simple letters or sounds (like s, a, t, p, m) on cards or sticky notes. Hide them around the garden or house. Give your child a basket and challenge them to find the sounds. When they find one, help them say the sound out loud and think of a word that starts with it. Older children could collect the letters and see if they can build a simple word like cat or map.

Benefits

This playful hunt builds early phonics skills in a fun, active way. Children practise recognising letter shapes and sounds, blend sounds into words and boost their confidence with early reading, all while burning off some energy!

*Read, Write, Play, featuring 100 hands-on activities for 3-7 year-olds, is published by Hachette in hardback, price £22. Visit www.hachette.co.uk