Train Snack for Kids

The train obsession still chugs along very strong in our home! We created a train themed snack to go along with one of our kids' favorite modes of transportation!

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I Think I CAN Sight Word Activity

Do you think you can encourage your kids to practice letter formation with this invitation to play with trains? Our train obsessed toddler loved this hands on learning activity!

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Matching, Sorting, and Comparing Size with Trains

If we have one main educational philosophy here at Still Playing School it is that you can use your child's interests to plan play based activities while introducing academic concepts. This early math lesson evolved naturally from our toddler's interest in Thomas the train!

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Why We Don't Sleep Train or Cry It Out

Just now, I tried to put D down for bed, but he was restless.  He was tossing and turning and fussing in his bed, so I brought him back to ours.  We don't sleep train our babies and we never will.

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How to Plan and Host a Book Club Play Date for Kids

The best start to education you can give to your kids is to read to them every day! One way to encourage a love for reading is to plan a play date around book themed activities! Invite over a few friends, read a favorite story, and have a snack, game, craft, and activity to go along with the book.

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Tips for Tantrums: Why Parents Need a Hand Gesture

Please tell me I'm not alone in dealing with stressful, embarrassing tantrums and physical fits from my toddler in public. After talking to friends I've realized how much one simple hand signal or gesture might help us all!

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Top Ten Ways to Play & Learn at the Beach

We love to continue playful learning activities no matter where we go including our annual beach vacation. If you are visiting the shore this year, keep these top ten ideas for ways to play and learn at near the ocean in mind!

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Why My Children Will Never Attend a Circus

My children will never attend a circus.  As the show rolls into town, I thought it might be a good time to summarize my thoughts of this type of "entertainment" since I'm pretty vocal about it.  Some agree with me, some think I'm over-reacting, and some (the ones I hope to reach most through this post) just haven't thought about the implications.

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Building with Marshmallows

Our preschooler has a renewed interest in building and construction. I point all the credit for her new passion to Korxx blocks for giving her the confidence she needed about her engineering skills! For this invitation I presented her with every size and shape of marshmallow we could find and let her imagination do the rest.

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Hundred Chart Patterns on the Light Table

During any creative play with math manipulatives patterns will emerge. We put a hundred chart on our light table to explore numeric patterns in a colorful way!

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Mardi Gras Play Dough

Play dough is one of the most universal fine motor activities!  We themed this week's invitation to play by creating our own Mardi Gras play dough!

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Christmas Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

What is even better than the smells of peppermint, eggnog, pine trees, candy canes, and gingerbread? Try our amazing list of Christmas sensory play ideas for kids!

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Toothpaste Slime for Dental Health Month

We created slime that looks just like toothpaste for Dental Health Month. It is the perfect material to invite kids to explore for fine motor, sensory, and pretend play!

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