We’ve been at home for more than two months now. Are your kids starting to get a little bored with their toys?

If play is beginning to feel a little stale in your home, we get it. Here are a few ideas to refresh your current toys and make play feel new and inspiring again.

Use What You Have
Do you have blocks, toy dinosaurs, cars and trucks and trains, and play people? Great! You can create so many play scenes with these simple items.

Next, look around your home and your yard. Add enhancements such as storage boxes, cardboard, baking trays, sand, water, dirt, play dough, pieces of wood, lego blocks, plastic solo cups, tongue depressors, toothpicks, dried pasta, etc.

When you put these together, your child has a whole new scene to create with the same toys you have always had!

“Small World Play”
I suggest starting with a search for “small world play” on Google. Then enjoy being creative with your child. They will surprise you with all the creative things they think to do with the materials you provide and the stories they imagine. Run with your child’s interest and imagination!

Here are a few examples to get you started.

(via Pinterest)

(via Fun Littles)

(via Craftulate)

(via Pinterest)

Play is a child’s work.
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” – Mister Rogers

More than staying occupied
As children play, they process, they imagine, they create, and they problem solve. They learn to plan, execute, and adapt ideas. They are developing new language skills as they use vocabulary associated with the scene they are creating. As they engage in this self-motivated exploration and discovery, their learning is growing in all areas. Productive play brings joy and builds confidence in your child – and that is the most effective tool for learning.

There is no right or wrong way to do this! Gather some materials from around your home, add some of the small toys that you already have at home, and let your child’s imagination take over!