Dr. Maria Montessori said, "Play is the work of the child." When I first heard that quote, it began a shift in my perspective of how I viewed playtime for my children. Instead of it being something to occupy their time, I started to examine how play teaches them a wide variety of foundational skills. With that in mind, I have often wondered how I can best set my children up for success in their play. 

The biggest takeaway for me is that play does not need to be elaborate or fancy. We chuckle over children who become more excited about the cardboard box than the present inside but for good reason! For a child, anything can be an opportunity to explore and play. 

Jump to:

How to Encourage Independent Play

Easy Activities for Babies

Easy Toddler Activities

Prewriting Activities

Easy Activities for Children Ages 4-5

How to Encourage Independent Play?

Independent play takes practice, just like learning any other new skill. Offering children opportunities for open-ended play can help stretch their creativity and allow them to express themselves.

What is open-ended play? It is any kind of play that is not locked into one specific outcome, unlike toys with a more one-and-done approach. This is one reason the cardboard box is so exciting- because it offers an infinite number of opportunities to play and imagine!

You might try offering them blocks, small figurines, or other items that can fulfill a variety of activities, as opposed to something that can only be used for one purpose. Some children may struggle when you are first introducing the concept of open-ended or independent play. They may need a little direction, or invitations to play.

An invitation to play could look like a shelf or table with a few items set on it to discover, or setting up a small play scene that they can then build upon. It can also be helpful to give activity ideas rather than simply saying, "Go play!" You might try, "Here are some blocks. How high can you make a tower?" or "Would you like to squish this playdough?" 

Easy Activities for Babies:

Skills they are developing: sitting, core support, reaching and grabbing without falling over

Activity Ideas:

• For tiny babies, giving them freedom of movement on a blanket or the carpet is a great way to build motor skills. You can place high-contrast books or images around that they can turn their head to look at or lay them next to a mirror. 
• When they are learning to reach and grab, try providing them with rattles, soft books, or other objects they can grasp without risk of choking or suffocating
• Babies who can sit but are not yet mobile might enjoy sitting and pulling toys out of a bucket or basket, drumming on a drum, or other object.
• Babies are always observing and absorbing what is going on around them. With everything being new, it's easy to overstimulate them. You can start with one or two items and rotate them out when they lose interest.
• The Infant Shelf can be a helpful item to have as a place to display limited options for toys. Then, as babies grow older, they can learn to pull themselves up on the shelf.

Want to know how to play with a newborn? Read more here. 

Easy Toddler Activities:

Skills they are developing: crossing the midline, depth perception, fine motor skills

Activity Ideas: 

• Pom Pom stuffing into a jar - empty oatmeal containers are great for this! Simply cut a hole in the lid and let them practice pushing things through.  
• I spy jar 
• Chunky puzzles with handles are easy for little ones to grip and practice matching each piece. 
• Transferring items from one container to another. You can try ice cubes in the summer and marshmallows in the winter!
• Cars on painter's tape as a racetrack. Children can practice lining them up, sorting, or using them for imaginative play. 

Prewriting Activities

Prewriting activities include anything that strengthens the hand muscles/fine motor skills. These skills will translate later into learning to hold a pencil properly, and it can be helpful to have small children practice developing those muscles. 

A few prewriting activity ideas include:

• Squeezing sponges - this helps to strengthen hand muscles 
• Using pipettes to transfer colored vinegar onto baking soda - these movements work on fine motor movements, and as a bonus, is a fun science activity! 
  
• Tracing shapes
• Lacing beads, noodles, or circular cereal onto string or yarn

Easy Activities for 4-5-Year-Olds: 

This can be an age where you introduce simple card games such as memory or go fish. 

• Go fishing with a magnet glued to a string, paperclips, or other magnetic things on the ground
• Dot stickers and painter's tape on Kraft paper (make patterns, color, decorate, etc)
  
• Try a collaborative game like Hoot Owl, Hoot
• Giant I Spy Books