L•M•N•O•Play

Be a nature detective...indeed!

We love to see our Book Club activities taken for what they truly are: Open-ended invitations to play YOUR way!

Check out this little scientist's exploration & organization of the natural loose parts discovered during their scavenger hunt.

Can you spot all of the learning happening amongst the play? What do you see?

We hope that by now, you've had a chance to dig into the magical, nature-inspired play associated with the "Backyard Fairies" Book Club!

And if not...what are you waiting for? Join today for some good old fashioned summer fun sure to sweep you and your little ones up into a joyful, imaginative world.

This month's Read & Play Book Club invites children to look - REALLY LOOK - at nature in order to appreciate the beauty of the natural world.

As "nature detectives," children will slow down, take the time to truly observe like scientists, and, we hope, come to appreciate nature in a more dynamic and wholehearted way.

Warning: This book, about "nothing" is guaranteed to invite lots of silliness and laughter.

Nada, Zip, Zilch. This book really is about nothing...except it isn't. This small, sneaky, laugh out loud story somehow manages to be about a very big idea - the absence of things.

We love that this is a book that you, the grown-up, will also find hilarious because when your little one sees you enjoying a book this much, they will surely want to get involved.

Do you have a little one whose eyes light up whenever they see anything with wheels?!

Vehicle play is exhilarating because it embodies motion, energy, sound, and, of course, evokes the feeling of doing a very grown up thing (but in a pint sized way).

Here are some fun ways you can play with vehicles today!

1. Roll out a large piece of paper and draw in a road or town. Ask your child to think about all the things a town and the people in it might need and then invite them to draw on these details. Then, and only then, will you break out your vehicles for play that is as exciting as it is meaningful.

2. Make ramps out of what you already have on hand. We recommend a cutting board or a sofa cushion propped on its side. Test out how far and fast your vehicles can go as you roll them down your ramps.

3. Go on a vehicle matching hunt. Put five toy vehicles in a baggie and then go on a walk or drive to find matching vehicles in the real world. They can match by make or by color. Once you find the corresponding vehicle, take a picture of your child next to it, holding their matching toy. These saved photos will be fun to revisit and/or print out to make a book!

However you play, don't forget to follow your child's leave and just "roll with it!"

"Read While You Play & Play While You Read!"

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Caps! Caps! Caps!

Perfect for little hands to grasp and manipulate, caps make a wonderful open-ended play material. (It is important to always make sure that the caps are large enough that they can be played with safely.)

Here are three ways you can play with caps today:

1. Get out two big bowls. Fill one with an assortment of caps and leave the other one empty. Place these materials in front of your little one and watch as they explore, sort, and play with this recycled material.

2. Put a small hole in the lids of your caps making sure to smooth down and rough edges. String your caps up and tie off at the ends. Use this new combination of string and caps to make music, to drag around the room, to turn into a rattle snake...or whatever your heart desires!

3. Sort your caps by size. Trace the outline of a few caps on a big piece of paper, and invite your child to try and match their caps to the correctly sized outline.

However you play with caps, keep it safe, keep it open-ended, and, enjoy!

What if this summer, reading becomes your child’s favorite way to play?!

Get ready for a summer filled with joy and connection with the L•M•N•O•Play! Read & Play Book Club! You’ll experience the magic of story time with monthly deliveries that bring books to life through play. Each package includes a carefully curated picture book & irresistibly fun activities designed by teachers to nurture holistic development and inspire a love of reading.

Join today!
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Surprise, surprise! Included in your Book Club package this month is a beautiful scavenger hunt checklist right on the back of the Activity Card: Be a Nature Detective!

Your little one can use this visual resource on their next outdoor adventure to discover all the wonders of nature as they "read while they play & play while they read."

We are always working to make your Book Club experiences even more meaningful and love to receive your feedback. Please let us know if you enjoy this extra special addition.

Reduce, reuse,recycle...rePLAY!

Ready to spark creativity and fun with recycled materials? Here are three fantastic open-ended play ideas using items you already have at home!

1. Cardboard Creations: Gather old boxes, tubes, and loose pieces of cardboard. Let your child cut, fold, and tape them into anything their imagination dreams up—castles, cars, or even robots! This activity promotes problem-solving and spatial skills.

2. Bottle Cap Art: Save those plastic bottle caps and use them to create colorful mosaics or patterns. Arrange them on a flat surface, or, glue them onto a piece of cardboard to make a lasting masterpiece. This is a great way to enhance fine motor skills and color sorting.

3. Recycled Instruments: Transform empty containers, cans, and boxes into musical instruments. Fill a container with rice for a shaker, or stretch rubber bands over a box for a guitar. This play invites rhythmic exploration, requires creativity, and fosters a love for music.

Let’s see what amazing creations your little ones come up with! Tag us in your recycled material play photos!

At L•M•N•O•Play!, we make reading magical by curating the best books and pairing them with play experiences that bring them to life.

We’re excited for you to discover this month's Book Club, "Backyard Fairies" by Phoebe Wahl as you embark on a new Read & Play adventure!

As children bring this whimsical book to life through play, they will become architects of their own fairy houses, practice observational skills as naturalists, and discover the art of letter writing by forging a magical friendship with a fairy penpal.

We can’t wait to see how you Read & Play with this book!

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This month, we selected the book, "Backyard Fairies" by Phoebe Wahl because it beautifully captures the magic and wonder of a child’s imagination. This whimsical story encourages children to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, fostering a deeper connection to nature.

Your whole family is sure to be swept up in this story, and inspired to play while you read!

Let's turn all that paperwork...into paper play!

Paper is everywhere and can be used in so many simple, open-ended ways to keep your little ones creatively engaged.

Here are three fun ideas for playing with paper that your children are sure to love!

1️⃣ Paper Collage: Gather different types of paper (scrap paper, old magazines, tissue paper) and let your child tear, cut, and glue to create their own unique collage -- perfect for developing fine motor skills and creativity!

2️⃣ Paper Sculptures: Cut strips of paper and offer some tape/glue so your child can crumple, fold, roll, and shape their paper into imaginative sculptures. This activity is great for enhancing spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.

3️⃣ Paper Weaving: Cut vertical slits in the middle of a piece of construction paper and invite your child to weave colorful strips of paper horizontally through the slits. This is a fantastic way to build hand-eye coordination and concentration while creating beautiful patterns!

We love how easy it was for you and your kids to enjoy your L•M•N•O•Play! Book Club activities!

We aim to always provide you with super simple ways to enjoy the play while sharing the embedded learning along the way.

Thank you to this amazing Dad for this lovely testimonial.

Looking for a fun read? Look no further than: "Find Fergus," by Mike Boldt.

Follow the lovable bear, Fergus, on a hilarious adventure as he tries (and hilariously fails) to hide from readers.

"Find Fergus," is filled with colorful illustrations, playful humor, and interactive seek-and-find elements that we are sure your little ones will love.

Wow! It's June! Get into the summer spirit with this month's Read & Play Book Club and prepare for outdoor magic sure to delight readers of all ages.

"Backyard Fairies," by Phoebe Wahl, captures the magic and wonder of a child’s imagination while fostering connections with nature. Children will bring this book to life by becoming architects of their own fairy houses, practicing observational skills as naturalists, and discovering the art of letter writing with a new (fairy!) penpal.

Join (or gift) this one-of-a-kind Read & Play Book Club experience!
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One of the best sensory play materials might just be in your kitchen cabinet already. Today we're talking about...rice!

Rice play engages multiple senses; it's visually appealing, feels satisfying to touch, and even makes a soothing sound as it moves. Plus, it offers endless open-ended possibilities for exploration and experimentation. Add in a few kitchen tools, and watch your little one scoop, pour, measure, transfer and sift.

Perfect for nurturing creativity, strengthening fine motor skills, and inviting sensory exploration, rice also holds tons of potential for inspiring imaginative play.

Whether you fill up a giant bin and invite your little one to jump in, or pour a cup or two into a bowl for them to explore with their fingers, we promise you can't go wrong with this perfect, soothing, open-ended play material.

Last call to get your hands (and hearts) on this gorgeous book, "Nancy Knows" by Cybèle Young.

Inviting social emotional explorations, math challenges, and art projects galore, the May Read & Play Book Club is sure to captivate readers and players of all ages.

So, what are you waiting for? Join the Book Club!
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Today we are serving up our food play icon because sometimes the best way to develop a healthy relationship with food, is by playing with it!

At L•M•N•O•Play! we have thought up many multi-sensory ways that you can expose your child to new food without the pressure to taste. When you PLAY with food, your connection is one of fun and comfort so the next time your little one spots some food on their plate that they have already played with, they might just decide to give it a taste!

Here are a few easy-peasy ways to play with your food today:

1. Roll your round fruit! Keep it simple by sitting face to face and rolling an orange, onion or watermelon back and forth. Or, make it fancy, and roll your food down a cutting board ramp to see how far it will go.

2. Make edible paint. Mix yogurt and food coloring to make a paint that is as creative as it is delicious.

3. Explore your food scraps. Instead of throwing away those carrot peels and broccoli stems, bust out a magnifying glass and spend some time really exploring all the patterns, colors and textures found in your food.

No matter how you play with your food, remember to keep it joyful and when possible, repurpose your 'food for play' into 'food for the table' when you are done.

"Truer words have never been spoken," said Annie & Rachel on any given day collecting happiness at a local bookstore! 😉

That feeling when you finally filled up your memory jar and then get to re-visit your treasured memories while making a new piece of art!

June is SOON and we can't wait to share our next Read & Play Book Club with you!

Grab some sunscreen and a hat and get ready to head outside for all kinds of magical nature play inspired by the book "Backyard Fairies," by Phoebe Wahl.

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Comb over, comb under, comb through!

We love to play with combs, and are here to share a few ways that you can use this everyday object to play.

1. Grab a cardboard box and cut comb-shaped slits on all sides. Invite your little one to flex their problem solving and fine motor skills by trying to slide combs into each hole.

2. Pour paint onto a tray and use your comb like a paintbrush. Explore creatively by sliding the teeth of your comb in different directions to create different patterns (and sounds) on your paper.

3. Get into some cause and effect by turning off the lights and shining a flashlight through your comb to see what kind of shadows you can make.

There are SO many more ways to play with this everyday object...We recommend you start by placing a bunch of different combs in a basket and letting your little one lead the way.

This amazing picture book, "Out of a Jar", a follow up to Marcero's "In a Jar," takes an almost opposite perspective on the value of bottling things up.

In this story, we meet Llewellyn, a young rabbit who bottles up his emotions (literally), to keep them at bay. This faulty strategy of course leads to both an overwhelming collection of jars, and a realization that he must confront his feelings instead of hiding them away.

With engaging and vibrant illustrations, and a narrative to spark many conversations, we recommend you add "Out of a Jar" to your little one's library.

Grab your copy here: https://bookshop.org/a/92441/9780593326374

This month's Book Club, "Nancy Knows" is all about memories; fondly recalling old ones, and making new ones.

From the looks of this little one's personalized Memory Jar, it seems that May has been filled with many memorable moments already!

How do you reflect on and record your treasured moments?

Don't just take it from us...

We love to hear how our passion for play-based learning has reached families all over the country.

We promise to keep the books and play coming...and we hope that you will continue to share how you are making your read & play experiences come alive at home!

✨ Read While You Play & Play While You Read ✨.

Water, water, everywhere...and so many ways to play!

Today, we are dipping our toes (and fingers) into 3 ways to play with water - a most elemental, and ever present, sensory material.

When children play with water, they engage in a stimulating sensory experience. They experiment with cause and effect, exercise fine motor control, attach simple vocabulary to familiar experiences, and rejoice in the soothing effects of water’s natural and open-ended qualities.

As they play with this familiar material, they are free to take risks and discover new and creative ways to experiment and explore.

Here are 3 ways you can play with water today:

1. Wash an animal or doll:

Washing builds empathy and creates a caregiving opportunity that is very familiar to your child.

2. Add accessories:

Mix up your water play by adding tools that will change the way your little one explores water. Some ideas include:
Sponges, Ping pong balls, whisks, containers with holes (berry baskets), measuring cups, ladles, pitchers/jugs, wash clothes, watering can, large basters, empty plastic bottles, sq**rt bottles and spray bottles.

3. Bag it up:

Fill a gallon sized Zip-loc baggie about half way with water. Add vegetable oil and food coloring. Next, tape all sides to the kitchen table (or highchair tray).

Your little one will enjoy this "wet" (dry) experience and might even give you a few more minutes for you to enjoy your meal.