Munchkin Activities

By Tom Dobinson on March 30, 2013 in with No Comments

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We aim to provide naturally inspiring, child-lead learning. We offer activities that nurture your child’s imagination, help them develop key social skills and encourage them to flourish. There are also resources available to us that will benefit children and in particular encourages their development in their social skills, language & communication, creativity, provides opportunities for children’s drama & imaginative, supports their physical development, fine motor skills and challenges them to explore and investigate. All activities are built around the interest of the children and designed to engage them and encourage them to take the next steps in their individual developmental journey.

  • Lots of outdoor play with space for gross motor movements like climbing, sliding, running, obstacle course, swinging, balancing, yoga, scooting, ride on toys
  • Planting, gardening, bug hunting
  • Singing & reading books (interactive reading, story-telling, one on one book time)
  • Dance & musical instruments and learning about rhythm
  • Messy play like sand, water, mud, paint, play dough
  • Mark making like chalk, crayons, charcoals, pens, pencils, nature’s own paint
  • Baking & cooking
  • Dress up & role play
  • Building & construction play like wooden blocks, Duplo, Lego, marble run
  • Small world play like dolls house, animals, farm, cars, trains, city
  • Sensory play especially for babies like discovery baskets
  • Simple science exploration
  • Fun health & self-care activities

Adult-led play is always an invitation, not an expectation here. Children are free to opt in or opt out the invitation to take part in activities. If children have better ideas of how they want to spend their time, we know it will be more worthwhile for them. Motivation and interest are key!

Why is outdoor play important for children?

When children play outdoors, they are developing mentally, emotionally and physically. Having fun is one very important part of unstructured outdoor play, but it’s not the only part. In many ways, outdoor play helps children to grow into healthy adults.

Physical fitness – children stay far more active outdoors which keeps them healthy. When they’re exploring and playing in nature, they stay fit without even trying.

Creativity – outdoors, children learn they don’t need to depend on technology or electronical entertainment. They develop their own creativity as they make up their own games.

Caring about nature – it helps children to feel connected with nature and care about it more.

Learning – children learn about nature by interacting with it, developing a fascination and hands-on understanding that helps them to succeed in school. They begin asking questions on their own, developing inquisitive minds.

Freedom – unstructured outdoor play is crucial to a child’s development. In a society where children are often rushed from one activity to another, free play outdoors reduces stress and teaches children to always make time to simply enjoy life.

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