This is a fun sand play area. The pirate ship is washed up on a beach. Kids can play with sand in and out of the ship. It's such a fun theme for dramatic and active play. I used PVC pipes to create the sling shot, filled the beach area with real beach sand, placed several pirate accessories around and built a fun hose powered water station.

Our Vet clinic has become such a fun play area for the kids.  I found these amazing x-rays online.  The company we purchased them from is Roylco.  They have so many great science tools and activities for kid play there.  I made the x-ray station out of an ikea best shelf.

For Our Indian Theme this week, I made the kids a canoe and created this fun oar to go with it.  I filled the oar with corn so it would make sounds when they rowed the canoe.

We covered ours in red and had the kids place red fire ambers inside.  The fire explodes with ambers when turned on.  We used tissue paper because it was light enough to take air.  I wanted the fire as a prop and activity for our Indian Village Theme this week.

This mailing tube makes a great sound toy.  We filled ours with corn and covered with fun Duck Tape colors.  

Created this Fun Indian Village to teach the kids about the Indian's and how they helped us when we arrived to the Americas. Here are the activities we did and the props I made for this theme.      

Looking for ideas on Birthday decor.  This decal took 20 minutes to make.  I covered it in clear contact paper so it could last several play sessions.  Still need to add his jet pack but love the way it's coming out.  My boys are totally into Turbo Snails right now.

Also a good lesson for preschool age children

Our Apple Tree. The kids will pick apples during their dramatic apple stand pla

We love throwing theme playdates.  Our Marching Band playdate was such a hit with the kids that I have to share it.  We hosted it in the summer when real parades were happening.  The kids really enjoy dramatic play, music and making crafts.  As a craft we had them make their own drums and maracas  After the craft, our little performers paraded around the house playing their instruments with some fun band music in the background.  For the parade route we taped contact paper to the floor (sticky side up) so that their feet made music too!  For the education component, we cut the contact paper into shapes.  When the music stopped, the kids had to call out the shape they landed on.  





For the drums, we used salt containers.  They were only 33 cents each and small enough for the kids to handle.  We saved the salt to make playdough for other playdates.  Prior to the craft, I cut out several strips of scrapbooking  paper for the kids to choose from.  Then we cut out 2 thinner strips for the borders (see orange in pic).  It was a simple tape/glue craft.   We put out a bowl of stickers for the kids too.  Make sure to cut off the bottom of the container. The drum beat sounds louder when the bottom is hollow.
For the drum sticks, just use some spoons in the house.  The ones we made in the picture didn't work out so well.  The simpler, the better.

You can also make some fun Maracas.  Prior to the playdate fill the salt container with beans and seal the lid shut.