Play Activities - A place to get ideas for entertaining activities for your children

Sometimes it is hard to think up fun, new things to do with your children. You need to involve our children in entertaining, educational activities which can inspire both parent and child.

'Play activities' is a free and fun educational e-mail for parents of children under 5. Play-activities is ideal for parents, grandparents, teachers of home schoolers, preschoolers and kindergarteners, childcare providers, after-school clubs and babysitters.

It allows access to a wide range of activities to help your child develop a balanced play life, have fun, and enjoy a good mix of the early childhood skills identified by child health professionals.

Sign up to Play-activities and receive a free, fun-packed daily email containing:

Each Play-Activity is...

• Educational and fun, with the developmental stages highlighted.
• Appropriate and adaptable for babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers and kindergartners.

The site is created by qualified teacher Melitsa Avila. Melitsa wanted to create a source of activities for parents and children to enjoy, which offered a balance of gross and fine motor activities, social & personal activities, and problem-solving and language activities all in one easily accessible place – www.play-activities.com.

Says Melitsa, “I’ve always tried to inject fun into learning. When I was teaching I found kids learned more and did more when they were playing and having fun in lessons. Now I have my own kids. I want them to be playing in a variety of ways to develop a love and curiosity for learning. But above all I want them to be having fun!

“I noticed many sites offering coloring and/or craft activities. But I wanted a more holistic approach for my kids. So combining the main developmental skills kids, and parents, are working on in those early years developmental checks with their doctor, health visitor or pediatrician, I put together a collection of activities parents and kids can enjoy doing together.

“The activities don’t have to be fantastical but spending time connecting with your child in a one on one activity is just what you want and they need. Having lots of fun together is so important.

“I often didn’t know what I wanted to do with my child so looking up a theme didn’t work for me and I realized that I was always finding things I wanted to do or that I thought HE would want to do. Surely I should be trying a broader range of activities to excite and stimulate my child in the early years. I liked some ideas my friends had but often didn’t remember them when I got home!

“I wanted activities that were educational, fun and easy to do, using materials I had at home and that covered gross motor skills too, as kids need to move, and a balance of play skills is essential for boys and girls.

“With the daily play-activities email you get that variety, because you don’t choose which activities come through; it’s a playful surprise. Our activities can stand alone or easily fit into your normal activities. Our site is interactive too - you can submit your own favourite activity in an easy format and also rate activities once you’ve finished.”