Spring Flower Pretend Play

Click here to read Spring Flower Pretend Play on Hands On As We Grow

---

Bring a pop of spring color into your home with a fun spring flower pretend play activity from Rachel!

I don’t know where you live, but here on the East Coast, we really need a dose of spring right about now.

Even a dose of fake spring will do!

So I brought out our stash of fake flowers for some bright and colorful pretend play.

Welcome Spring with fun seasonal activity ideas!

I picked these flowers up from a craft store at the end of the season several years ago when they were on clearance.

Most of them came in bunches, so I used wire cutters to clip them into individual flowers.

If you go this route, make sure to double-check the cut ends for any pointy or sharp spots. Mine didn’t have any, but I’m sure it could happen.

Imaginative Spring Flower Pretend Play

I put out a few containers of the flowers for Hannah. We found the different colored buckets came from the dollar store.

I also gave her a colander and a tall plastic pitcher.

I thought about putting out a few real glass vases but decided against it. If you have older kids or are playing on a carpeted surface, using real vases will definitely add to the pretend play element.

My intention with this activity was just to play.

I added the colander for some bonus fine motor work because some of the stems are small enough for the colander holes.

Mostly though, the idea was pretend play. Pretend to arrange the flowers in the different containers, pretend to pick the flowers and smell them, that sort of thing.

This is why I generally don’t say much when I put out an activity. I want to see where their minds go.

Hannah turned it into a color and size sorting activity. The small flowers with stems that fit in the colander holes went there. She put the others into the red, yellow and blue buckets.

The leftovers went into the plastic pitcher, along with a few extras because she decided it looked too empty.

The flowers and colors definitely brightened our day!

Hannah played for a long time when we first did it, then asked to do more spring flower pretend play after her nap! Interestingly, the second time she played totally differently than the first.

The second time around, she turned the colander right side up, stood a few steps away and tried to throw all the flowers into the colander.

Once she got them all in, she either dumped them on her head or spread them around the room. Then she collected them and started tossing again!

Both ways were fun and any activity they want to go back to is a win in my book!

How do you encourage pretend play with your children?

from Hands On As We Grow https://ift.tt/2G9d9oB