Baby Play Friday: Play challenge #3

This month we are participating in the 30 Days to Hands On Play CHALLENGE! 
This challenge is being organized by Hands on: as we grow and The Imagination Tree, two blogs which are very influential to me when it comes to play activities for young children. This challenge invites us to participate in 15 minutes of uninterrupted play every day with our children. Yesterday was day 3 of the challenge: building with blocks.

One of the reason Baby Play Friday is on Friday is that Thursdays are usually the day when Bug and I get to play together with out a bunch of sisters running around. Big Sis is in school and Birdy is visiting the other half of our home-school co-op at CC's house. Thursdays are all for us. Usually by Friday I have had time to pull a post together about it..usually.

So we enjoyed our block building time together. First we began inside after his nap with Magnet tiles. If you have never played with these you should. I first purchased them to go with our DIY light table, but they have quickly become a favorite toy with all the children. The sides of the tiles are magnetic and they stick together so you can make all kinds of cool 3-D structures. Usually when Bug wants to get these special toys out he is interrupted by his sister Birdy who doesn't want him to touch her favorite toys, but as she was gone for the morning, Bug was free to play away.

After a while we decided, like so many other things, this was an activity we needed to take outside. A while ago I received a box of tile samples from J. Mayfield Interior Design. This studio has been an incredible resource to me. Carpet samples, fabric samples and tile samples are all cleaned out at regular times to make way for new ones and I have become the very happy beneficiary of many of these items. 

These marble and granite samples were much thicker than regular tiles and I immediately thought they should be placed outside as loose parts for the kids to play with. They are perfect outdoor blocks and they have had endless fun with them. Bug picked every one up, one at a time and handed them to his father to inspect before stacking them up. It became a sort of scavenger hunt as he roamed around the yard looking for the blocks to add to his short little tower. 

After some time, block building gave way to piggy back time and tree exploration, but I'm not disappointed at all. Watching Bug and his daddy take a break from both of their other activities to play was a treasure. I love watching my two handsome men! If you are participating in the 30 Days to Hands On Play CHALLENGE!   please leave a link. I would love to see what you and your little ones are up to! 
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