Play ideas for December – festive fun

This week’s ideas all have a festive connection – these play ideas will give you time to talk about all the exciting and different things that are going on at this time of year.  

When we think about regulating emotions, we often think about times when our children are sad, frustrated or angry. But it is also useful to think about emotions such as excitement as needing regulation. Your child might need support to regulate this feeling of excitement too – and playing together can be a great way to do this.  

Baby 

Festive treasure basket 

This is a great activity for all ages, make sure the items you provide are safe and suitable for your child's stage of development.  

What you need 

• A box or basket 
• Some safe festive items for your baby to explore, such as an orange, bells and wrapping paper.  

What to do 

• Place the items in the box or basket.  
• Sit your baby next to the basket (if they’re not sitting yet place a couple of items on a mat for them to look at during tummy time).  
• Stay close and supervise closely.  
• Give them time to explore.  

When you’re watching your baby explore, sometimes sit quietly and watch and other times talk to them about what they’re doing. You’ll see when they want to show you things and when they just want to play.  

Toddlers 

Snow dough  

What you need 

• A cup of cornflour 
• A quarter of a cup of oil 
• A tray 

What to do 

• Put the tray on a table your toddler can stand at (make sure it’s somewhere you can clean easily as this might be messy!).  
• Tell them you’re going to make some snow.  
• Pour the cornflour and then the oil onto the tray and mix.  
• Get your toddler to mix it too – with their hands if they’re happy to and if not with a spoon or stick.  
• You’ll be able to use the textured mixture like snow – building snowballs or shapes and then crumbling them back into fresh piles ready to play again! 

Child 

Wrapping paper patterns 

What you need 

• Wrapping paper (a few pieces of different paper might be good for this)  
• Scissors 
• Glue (maybe) 
• Paper or card 

What to do 

• Put the wrapping paper on a table and give your child the scissors.  
• Encourage them to cut the wrapping paper into smaller pieces – any shape they choose.  
• Give them lots of time to cut the paper.  
• If they’re interested, suggest they stick some pieces on to the paper or card.  
• If not, you could simply use the small pieces of wrapping paper as festive confetti!  

This time of year can up the pressure on us (and our child) to do craft activities that result in a finished product. But sometimes simply having time exploring the materials is the best way to help your child master skills – so try to resist the pressure. If your child is happy snipping pieces of paper and not interested in making a card, decoration or picture that’s ok!