Nature's Classroom: How to Make the Most of Camping Play at Home
As briefly mentioned in the previous blog post, the benefits to being outside are immeasurable. However, camping might be something that interests you, but is not something you are able to do with your family right now – perhaps due to mobility issues, medical conditions or family situation (with a toddler and a baby, we are not ready to tackle tent camping with them for a while!). Here are some camping-type ideas that you can do in your backyard or living room, along with descriptions on why we love them!
Make a ring toss game with glowstick necklaces or bracelets. You can put a stick in the ground to throw the glowsticks on, or recycle some items from inside your home, such as a Pringles can, a Puffs container, or an empty two-liter bottle. If you are using a recycled item, you can fill it with water, rocks, or sand to make it sturdy enough to stay upright depending on what you have nearby! Your child will work on their fine motor skills when filling the containers. The ring toss game will challenge their hand-eye coordination, as well as challenge their core strength to keep their body stable as they throw the rings.
Make a camp fire in your living room! There are a few ways you can do this:
Make paper logs by printing pictures of wood, then roll up to look like a log
Paint a paper towel tube brown to make logs with red, orange and yellow tissue paper flames
Roll up brown construction paper into a log, then cut and glue flames from red, orange, and yellow construction paper
You can use other items to create more texture, such as felt or tulle to expose your child to more textures. The creation of the campfire will challenge a variety of fine motor skills, including using scissors and glue sticks. Once the campfire is made, the pretend play options are endless!
Make a sensory bin to bring the outdoors inside!
This sensory bin was created by Rachael, one of our COTAs! She used shredded paper to look like dirt, and sand and crystal mixture to imitate grass. She used pipe cleaners to create a campfire, and mini marshmallows on toothpicks for “roasting”. A strainer can be used to sift the crystals out of the sand which will fine tune a child’s ability to control their hands and arms.
You can help your child to cut grass with scissors, and go for a nature walk to find items to put into the bin.
You could also create a water-based bin by filling it with water, creating a “river” with aluminum foil and placing in objects of a variety of textures that float and sink.
Your child can scoop and pour, label items, engage in pretend play and explore a variety of textures. You can add animal figurines to any of the bins to work on making animal noises or imitating animal actions such as a frog hopping or fish swimming.
By using painter’s tape, you can create a bracelet around your child’s wrist and find small items in your backyard to decorate it. Your child will challenge their grasping skills and pressure regulation with picking small items and putting them on their “bracelet”.
Stringing marshmallows – we painted large beads to look like marshmallows and then used a dowel rod to string them. You could add brown felt for chocolate, and cardboard for the graham crackers to make “s’mores”. Your child will work on using their hands together in different ways, imitating patterns, and pretend play. The large beads could also be used for stacking!
As occupational therapists, we love creating special spaces for children. The enclosed area that a tent creates can be a great place for a child to calm when they are feeling overwhelmed (or if their bucket is too full!) by decreasing distractions. Additional items can be added such as pillows, music, and lights for additional sensory input. They can also be included in an obstacle course by having your child crawl or bear walk in and out! If you do not have a tent that your child could play with in the backyard or the living room, here are some alternatives!
Cardboard boxes can be cut open and reconfigured with tape
Pool noodles can be tied together
Ropes can be hung between trees and then covered with a sheet
A sheet can be draped over a picnic or kitchen table
If you have specific areas of concern with your child's mobility or tolerance for these types of activities, we would love to help! Fill out our contact form and we can discuss the possible need for an occupational therapy evaluation for your child. We hope that you found some of these ideas fun and interesting and we would love to hear your feedback either on the comment section below or on our Facebook page!
