The holidays are a joyous time for families to come together, create memories, and celebrate traditions. But let’s face it, keeping little ones entertained while juggling all the festivities can sometimes be challenging. As child care providers, you know how important keeping kids engaged and learning is, especially amidst the holiday excitement. That’s where play-based activities come in!

Why Play-Based Activities are Key

Play isn’t just fun and games—it’s a vital part of how young children learn and grow. Through play, they develop essential skills like problem-solving, creativity, and social interaction. Play-based activities also help children:

• Develop crucial cognitive skills: Exploring, experimenting, and manipulating objects helps build critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Enhance language and communication: Interactive play encourages communication, expands vocabulary, and promotes storytelling.
• Boost social-emotional development: Sharing, taking turns, and cooperating during play helps children develop important social skills and emotional intelligence.
• Foster physical development: Many play activities involve movement, which helps with gross and fine motor skills, coordination, and balance.

Joyful Learning During the Holidays

By incorporating play-based activities into your family holiday plans, you can create a fun and enriching experience for the kids (and their cousins)! These activities offer a fantastic way to:

• Continue the learning adventure: Extend the learning in your usual child care setting throughout the holiday season.
• Create lifelong memories: Combine learning with fun, festive activities that children will cherish for years to come.
• Support families: Provide families with valuable resources and ideas for engaging their little ones and creating unforgettable core memories during the holidays.

Autumn Holidays Inspiration

Here is an engaging collection of just a few of the adaptable activities from Rayz Kidz that you can share with families to sprinkle some of your educational magic into this Thanksgiving:

Art:

• Teddy Bear Pancakes: A delicious and creative way to explore shapes and colors. Involve the kids in making breakfast for the family! Activities that happen to be tasty are always kid-approved.
• Potato Stamp Cars: Get crafty and use potatoes to make fabulous car stamps. Are you prepping some potatoes for the big gathering? Set aside a few for the kids to create awesome art!

Movement:

• Island Hopping: Get those wiggles out with this active game that helps with gross motor skills. This activity is even more exciting when played with cousins, aunts, and uncles!
• Pom-Pom Power: A fun way to practice fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. This is such a fun way to turn simple items into a silly and engaging way to move our bodies — have the kids crab walk to pick up the pom poms for extra giggles!

Sensory:

• Forest Floor Sensory Bin: Explore the textures and smells of the forest with this sensory bin. Any loose parts that you can find that are reminiscent of the forest floor’s ecosystem, plus a few small toys, make this a favorite activity for little ones!
• Cup of Sugar Sensory Bin: This simple sensory bin is a great way to explore different textures. Invite the kids to participate in your holiday baking by setting them up with a special kid station where they can explore, sift, and practice measuring the ingredients.

STEM:

• Candlelight Dinner: A fun way to learn about light and shadows. Kids love seeing their creations displayed, and these lovely candles make for the perfect centerpiece for your holiday table!
• DIY Tetris Blocks: Challenge those spatial reasoning skills by creating your own Tetris blocks. For the longer afternoons or stormy/snowy days, this vivid, fun-fueled activity takes the cake.

Pretend Play:

• Frozen Ice Rescue: This imaginative play activity is perfect for cold days when everyone needs to stay indoors. Just freeze the small superhero figurines in ice the night before and watch the kids develop creative ways to “free” their toys!
• Pet Adoption: Encourage empathy and responsibility with this pretend play scenario. Learning about compassion and kindness during the season of gratitude is such a meaningful experience for little ones, and with their mini-animal figurines or favorite stuffies involved, it’s one they won’t forget!

Tips for Providers

• Share this blog post: Make it easy for families to access these activity ideas by sharing the activities with them directly in the Rayz Kidz app, or by sharing this blog post!
• Encourage family engagement: When we can create joyful learning moments through everyday situations, children embrace learning enthusiastically! The holidays can be a delicate balance between chaos and magic, and when we can create these fun invitations for the kids, we’re ensuring that their holidays are pure magic!

By providing families with these engaging activity ideas, you’re not only helping them create a stress-free holiday season but also supporting the continued learning and development of the kids in your care.

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See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app along with the other fun activities. Rayz Kidz is your trusted source for play-based activities featuring over 100 themes and 500+ hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.