Monday, August 12, 2024
Sometimes we just want to put the breaks on August,
don’t we???
Before we retired, the arrival of August
always signaled the beginning of the end of summer!
It wasn’t long before school meetings and planning sessions
began creeping into our weekly schedules!
And, of course, there were classrooms to set up and new students to learn about!
To all of our teacher friends… we feel you!
We’re thinking of you and saying a prayer or two
as you gear up for another school year!
💚 🙏🏻 💚
These days, August has a totally different feel to it!
We find that there is still a lot of summer goodness left to savor
and each of us will be spending precious time
with our grandkids - our Littles - during the coming weeks!
Throughout the summer, we’ve been sharing occasional SUMMER FAVE posts!
These activities, as you can imagine, are those we especially love -
for their simplicity AND the excitement each brings our Littles!
This summer, our FAVES have included
Today, we’re here with one final SUMMER FAVE post of 2024!
Littles of all ages love their stuffed animals and often turn to these special toys for comfort and cuddles!. Littles love to hug, hang out with, and play with/talk to these friends. As our Littles get older, they continue to love the imaginative play that a favorite stuffed animal provides! In each instance, the familiar, soft and loved toy provides safety and security! How wonderful is that?
So… why not take advantage of their interest?
All you need is a stuffed animal or two and some of the ideas we’re sharing…
and you’ll be all set for hours of GRAND stuffie fun!
Many Littles and Grands will LOVE setting up a dramatic play center!
An Animal Hospital,
OR a Pet Grooming Center OR a Pet Adoption Center,
are all great options!
Last summer, Laurie shared this fun idea with our readers!
It was such a fave, that we're revisiting it today!
Last July, Little D had recently had her physical at the doctor’s office and she had also accompanied me on a visit to the vet with our family dog! These experiences provided background information for Little D - it taught her a bit about what doctors do and what happens at the vet’s office, too! I thought Little D might like to replay her doctor/vet experiences with her own stuffies! An Animal Hospital seemed like the perfect way to do so AND I was able to introduce Little D to a home dramatic play center at the same time!
Getting Started…
Here’s the steps we took to set up our Animal Hospital!
Find a Space that Works for You!
After looking over the places where Little D liked to play in our home, I chose the family room where our fireplace had a nice raised hearth that worked as a long, low shelf for the center’s supplies. The bins took up little space and if needed, I could easily stack them up and put them away.
Gather Materials!
I made a list of items to include in the center. Older Littles will have fun helping with this step!
Most of the items were just everyday items found at home, including…
🟣 clean, empty medicine Bottles
(small plastic jars/bottles, medicine/eye droppers or cups work well, too!)
🟣 cotton balls
🟣 ace bandages
🟣 tongue depressors - craft sticks work well! 😉
🟣 band-aids
🟣 baby/doll blankets - dish towels work, too!
🟣 a toothbrush, brush & comb (also fun additions for a Pet Grooming Center)
🟣 animal beds and/or cages - we used shoe boxes & plastic bins
I was lucky enough to have a play doctor kit at home that had a stethoscope and a variety of instruments included. If you do not have one, use your imagination and find items that you could substitute for these items.
Little D also requested stickers for her “patients” once she began playing! That was a fun addition to our supply list!
More Suggestions for Older Littles!
While the setup described above was perfect for 2-year-old Little D, we have a few additional supply ideas if your Little is older! These items will engage elementary children in deeper imaginative play and strengthen writing, math and reasoning skills, too!
🟢 clipboards - with pencils/pens to make notes about patients!
🟢 calculator, cash register & phone
🟢 appointment book or calendar
🟢 lab coats/scrubs
🟢 plastic gloves
🟢 tweezers
🟢 tape measure & scale
🟢 X-rays - run these off from the internet or draw your own!
🟢 paper masks
🟢 bowls, leashes, empty treat boxes, collars
🟢 signs & labels - (these make it feel “official”!
And, of course, most importantly…
don’t forget your STUFFED ANIMALS…
After all, you’ll need your patients!
Label! Label! Label!
Once I’d collected items and bins, I labeled them. Labeling items is a great way to organize your materials and also fosters vocabulary development in your Littles, too!
I purchased, downloaded and printed the labels in the photos from a Teacher Pay Teacher site, Pocket of Preschool, but you can easily make your own, which I needed to do for a few supplies. NOTE: Younger Littles benefit from having a picture/photo included as part of a label while older Littles will have fun creating their own labels for their supplies!
Provide Books for Your Little(s) to Explore!
When I was at the library, I picked up some nonfiction books on animals (children’s section, nonfiction, pets), and even found a few about being a veterinarian. I set these up by the animal hospital as well for Little D to explore!
Time to Play!
While the setup is loads of fun for older Littles to help with
(and will actually be part of their play experience),
younger Littles may need a bit of introduction to the center!
After I had set up our Animal Hospital, I asked Little D to bring a few of her favorite stuffed animals during her next visit! When she arrived, I walked Little D through the supplies and showed her how each worked.
An interesting observation... I originally had a white blanket on the couch to act as an “exam table”. Little D did not like that idea! She took another blanket, spread it on the floor and used it instead!
A great reminder to take our lead from our Littles!
After that, Little D quickly gained confidence and though I sat nearby and made occasional suggestions, Little D kind of waved me off with a ”No Grammy,” and became engrossed in her own independent play!
This activity was such a success,
and left Little D wanting more!
Since last summer I’ve frequently set up dramatic play areas for Little D!
(Hmmm! We sense a future blog topic, here!)
And, the great thing was,
all the center supplies (excluding the library books, stuffies, beds & bins)
fit in a small container to be easily packed away for another visit!
During our recent Cousin Weekend, Laura invited her Littles
to bring a favorite stuffie with them!.
In addition to all the Pajama Jam fun we had during the weekend
(as described in last week’s post)
we found a few minutes to include these special friends in some new ways!
Stuffed Animal Bobsleds!
This was super fun, took little preparation
and provided lots of giggles from our Littles!
(Honestly… it's hard to tell, but these Littles were giggling moments later!)
This activity requires a staircase OR if one is not available, you can build a ramp with a large piece of cardboard or a large board that's been propped up. (You’d want to set up this ramp ahead of time.)
We used the lid of a large plastic container - this acted as the “sled” portion of the bobsled. Our stuffed animals sat in a smaller plastic bin - or you could use a shoe box as another option. Using painter’s or masking tape, attach the bottom of the bin/shoe box to the larger lid.
Now your Littles are ready for some bobsledding action! From the top of the stairs, your Littles can take turns letting go of the bobsled as you all watch it go down the stairs!
Stuffed Animal Races!
We made this running race one of our track and field events
at our Family Olympics!
The rules were simple! When I yelled “On your marks, get set, go!” our Littles ran across the yard with their stuffed animals between their legs! This leveled the laying field somewhat! If a Little dropped his/her stuffie, he/she had to pick it up, run back to the starting position and begin again! The first one to cross the finish line, was the winner!
As you can see, Little L didn’t quite get the gist of it all,
and she started running the other way!
The older Littles found this funny and had a hard time concentrating
but we decided that our stuffed animals really enjoyed this adventure!
We LOVE our stuffed animals so much
that we devoted a separate post to them last summer!
You can find all of our ideas here!
You’ll find details about Laurie’s Animal Hospital
as well as more activities geared toward
infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school aged Littles, too!
Most children have one, two or, dare we say, a multitude of stuffies!
Yes, indeed, stuffed animals can provide hours of entertainment
for you and your Littles!
And, of course, at the end of a jam packed day together,
there’s NOTHING BETTER than some cuddle time
with your Littles and their stuffie friends!
Our hope is that some of our SUMMER FAVES will become yours, as well!
As always, we welcome your support and appreciate when you share our content
with other Grands, parents and caregivers!
(Remember, you can tap the “Facebook Share” button at the top of our home page to do so quickly!)
THANK YOU!
We also value your suggestions!
As we get ready for fall and make decisions about our upcoming content,
we’d love to hear from you!
Do you have specific ideas you’d like to see here?
You can always comment at the end of a post OR you can email us privately at ourgrandlives@gmail.com.
You can also share your ideas with us, by tagging us on social media!
(You'll find our social media links at the top of each post!)
Check us out there - we’re always sharing new content!
We’ll be back this Thursday (August 15), with a new weekly theme…
our last one of the summer…
Back to School!
3, 2, 1… GRAND Summer Fun!
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Aw, I love these ideas! I remember when my girls enjoyed those picnics with their stuffed animals. We would set it up and have their stuffed animals come along. They also have teddy bear days at the local zoo. We would take a doll in, and the zoo team would give each stuffed animal/doll a checkup. It was the cutest! Thank you for sharing your adorable post with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #51. We always enjoy it when you join us!
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
These are great ideas. My daughter is 9 and still loves to play stuffies. Her friends are growing up a lot faster and don't want to play with them, though, and that makes me sad. They only want to be on their devices all of the time. She used to play with one little girl on the phone. They'd do a video chat and create stories with their stuffed animals. Sadly, that little girl became very mean and we had to end their friendship. Little Miss still loves her stuffed animals though and when we go somewhere she makes us each take one to take care of on our outing.
Such wonderful ideas, I remember having picnics with my kids and their soft toys, and playing hospital, I don't think I was so creative though. I kind of wish they were young again.
So many great ideas of play with stuffed animals!
What fun activities for little ones to enjoy with their soft toys! Your grandchildren are super lucky to have such loving and nurturing grandparents. :)