Play the Old-Fashioned Way: Unplugged Play
Have we forgotten how to play?
Children learn through playing--they learn about the world around them, about interacting with others, and even about themselves. In light of recent studies that television may be harmful to children under two and that older children still need to temper their tech-time with lots of face to face time, it seems time for old-fashioned play to make a comeback.
But what do you DO with a child all day? New parents used to get ideas from friends and relatives. Now, so many of us live far away from our families, though, and neighborhoods just aren't what they used to be in many parts of the country. Enter Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.
This heaven-sent book gives you plenty of ideas to keep minds and bodies engaged, from ages one to ten. All the activities are interactive, open-ended, and imaginative. Author Bobbi Conner is realistic that sooner or later children will encounter and become fascinated with technology. She also knows that a zero tolerance policy is neither realistic nor even desirable. So, she provides ways to minimize, rather than eliminate, the use of electronic games.
Because I have a 16 month old, I focused on the toddler section. The Association of American Pediatrics recommends no television under age two. So how do you fill the day? And don't you at some point have to do the dishes, answer the phone, or even possibly read a book that has more words than pictures?
One of the best parts of this book is that for each age range, Conner suggests activities to occupy children's attention with parents, alone, or with other kids. For toddlers there are color matching games (like Library Pockets), active games (like Hallway Bag-Ball), and party games (like Sidewalk Painting--no paint needed). Literally hundreds of ideas for stumped parents.
And you can do all of this not only without electricity, but also with just a handful of inexpensive props, like laundry baskets, funnels, and muffin tins...and a little imagination.
Whether you are in desperate need of suggestions or an enthusiastic lover of play who would just like to mix it up a little more, you'll find hours of fun ideas in Unplugged Play.
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WANT IT: Buy Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. ($11.53)
WIN IT: Leave a comment by 5 pm EST, December 20, with a simple idea for Unplugged Play for children of any age group. You'll be entered for your chance to win one of two copies. U.S. Only for this contest. Make sure to leave a URL or e-mail where we can reach you. Or, use a nickname and THEN shoot us an e-mail to tell us your nickname (make sure to leave the comment first). More chances to win coming up, so stay tuned!
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12.14.07 at 5:12 am
Heather comments:
I made some bean bags for my kids then drew different patterns on a cheap plastic table cloth (ie a square, circle, star, etc) then the kids could try to throw their bean bag on whatever shape I called out.
12.14.07 at 4:45 pm
The Saunders Family comments:
I love to get leftover rolls of wallpaper cheap at garage sales and let my nephew draw murals on them…
12.14.07 at 6:18 pm
jodi b comments:
I fill up a bucket with water and provide my kiddo with different kinds of paint brushes and then set him free outside. he can “paint” on all different surfaces…fences, sidewalks, side of the house and front door. Loads of fun and enough time to do some yardwork!
12.14.07 at 6:45 pm
angelaandconnor at gmail.com comments:
Fill a basket full of regular household “treasures” safe for a baby (Connor’s age for instance.. 7 months) and let them explore… Connor really likes his own baby hair brush, socks, heavy spoons, all sorts of fun things that you take for granted are just amazing to the little ones!
12.14.07 at 7:30 pm
Crystal comments:
When my daughter was younger and I needed to cook dinner, I’d stick her on the floor with a selection of spice bottles. She’d play for 15 or 20 minutes with them. Of course, I learned the hard way not to give her the ones with flip caps. She figured one out and proceeded to dump the entire contents all over the floor!
12.14.07 at 7:33 pm
missalexmissalex comments:
My baby is small enough that I just strap her on my back for chore time, and I have friends who still do that with pretty big toddlers. My favorite when I was little was fishing for paper fish that had a paper clip clipped to them. We made a fishing rod with string, a chopstick, and a magnet.
12.14.07 at 8:01 pm
Amber Sell comments:
When its warm outside, I just sit my little girl on the porch with a cup of water and a sponge brush. She loves to dip the brush in water and “paint” the sidewalk and then watch it disappear.
12.14.07 at 8:02 pm
Sarah comments:
I think giving kids tupperwear or empty spice containers is a great idea! They can play kitchen.
Thanks for the giveaway!
sharvey at connections-etc dot net
12.14.07 at 8:05 pm
jbubolz-miller comments:
Snow Painting- Put some food coloring or koolaid crystals in a empty clean squeeze bottle- Ketchup, mustard- whatever you have - then fill with water to the top- take outside and have your child squeeze the paint into the snow=). I dont recommend red or yellow.
12.14.07 at 8:35 pm
Brooke comments:
My mom used to have us cleaning pennies with vinegar and salt. Then she’d give us the paper and make us circle every time we saw a particular word, like “windy” or “the.”
Please randomly select me!
12.14.07 at 8:43 pm
Diana comments:
My 2 preschoolers love sorting my bag of buttons– by color, size, shape, whatever!
12.14.07 at 8:55 pm
Jennifer P comments:
My girls like sorting buttons into a muffin tin or egg carton!
12.14.07 at 8:58 pm
crystine comments:
as a small organic farm we always have alot to do! Our little one loves to peel garlic, shell dry beans,etc. He loves to be helpful as do most kids and join in the family work reminding us to have fun!
12.14.07 at 9:05 pm
Ginny comments:
Kids love to play house or kitchen & it is so easy for them to do that with very little money. You can use your own plastic kitchen items or buy things from the dollar store even & let them play. Store is another fun one, my kids love finding products all over the house & then setting up a store. They shop with their baby dolls & can play like that for hours!
12.14.07 at 9:11 pm
PS comments:
My son and daughter love dumping water into different size cups. They also were given a acoustic guitar that they can do what they please with!
12.14.07 at 9:23 pm
Laura M.- Editor comments:
My Little Miss makes “telescopes” from old toilet paper rolls.
12.14.07 at 9:47 pm
bison61 comments:
I put my metal pans on floor and give him two wooden spoons - and he is a drum player
12.14.07 at 9:49 pm
Naomi comments:
giving your child the ability to make up their own play is the best gift you can give them… roo likes to attribute personality to almost any inanimate object! She has “families” of leaves, twigs, etc. MUCH more creative than her mommy already…
12.14.07 at 9:51 pm
Amanda comments:
We’ve started playing ring around the rosie with our 19 month old twins. They absolutely LOVE it! And we all get a good giggle.
12.14.07 at 10:06 pm
Bree comments:
Measuring colored water in the bath tub- mixing the colors to make new ones!
12.14.07 at 10:11 pm
Not the Queen comments:
My parents always let my sister and I “paint” rocks outside using water and a sponge brush. We would do this for hours, even once we were school-age.
12.14.07 at 10:14 pm
Leeanthro comments:
I let my daughter “help” wash the dishes. She has so much fun feeling the suds and the water, filling cups and transferring water to bowls, using a funnel.
12.14.07 at 10:45 pm
windycindy comments:
Hello, I would treasure this book! I am a stay at home mom and I think I am okay with play. My sons have a fort outside and a small plastic gym inside. I used to belong to a craft club that sent age-appropriate craft kits monthly. Thanks,Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
12.14.07 at 11:21 pm
katie m comments:
When they were younger, my kids oculd be amused for hours by playing hide-the-ball (or any other object). It’s a simple game: one person hides the object (while the others are out of the room), and then the object hider gives “hot” and “cold” clues to help the finders locate the hidden object.
12.14.07 at 11:26 pm
paryjeja comments:
Make salt dough ornaments.
12.14.07 at 11:35 pm
Stacey Moore comments:
My 2 could play with an empty box for hours. It has to be big enough for them to fit into of course!! Thanks
12.15.07 at 1:00 am
sydneysmommy0 comments:
Just today I got out lots of diffrent colored Highlighters and placed them on the floor with my 11 month old daughter. Everytime she would pick one up I would say the color. She had a great time picking up all of the diffrent colors to see what I was going to say. Don’t leave your child alone with this because potential of taking caps off. I really need this book I sometimes feel I am going crazy because of lack of ideas. PLEASE pick me
april_epperson(at)yahoo(dot)com
12.15.07 at 1:45 am
Andrea comments:
My son LOVES to play with empty plastic containers - cool whip containers, ice cream pails, etc. We take the lids off, put them back on, fill them up with all kinds of treasures…and so much more!
12.15.07 at 2:04 am
Tricia comments:
My little guys love boxes of all kinds….hours of imaginative play!
mccammacks(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
12.15.07 at 2:20 am
Meg comments:
We have old-fashioned wooden and metal play instruments that we get out and go to town with. We have our own marching parades, concerts, and dance bands. So fun!! ( meg (dot) wilson (at) gmail (dot) com )
12.15.07 at 2:44 am
nor_lou comments:
my kids love it when we turn the laundry basket in a train they sit in or push around
12.15.07 at 2:45 am
Katie comments:
Sidewalk chalk is popular summer favorite around my house.
12.15.07 at 3:15 am
kevnjacks comments:
We have ‘cushion time’ at our house where we take off all the cushions and make a game - froggy (where you jump from ‘pad’ to ‘pad’) or castle or princess/prince and the pea.
12.15.07 at 3:39 am
Susanne comments:
We make tents with sheets and camp out!!!
stbaisch@yahoo.com
12.15.07 at 4:02 am
Julie comments:
I give my son a bucket and we walk up and down my street looking for ‘treasures’. To a 3 yr old, every find is an amazing one!
12.15.07 at 4:32 am
Lily Pad Mom comments:
We have a small box containing small animals that we have picked up that illustrate a special trip or event for my daughter (penguins for zoo trip, kangaroo for her halloween costume etc.). We have printed out pictures of the animals and keep them in the box too. She loves to match the small animal to the right picture, and tell us all about them. It makes a perfect toy to bring into restaurants or waiting rooms. (She is 2).
12.15.07 at 5:15 am
Kathy (at) cats4me@frontiernet.net comments:
My kids had the most fun with something I used to do as a kid. My Mom used to give us an empty cardboard oatmeal container, some wood clothespins or a ball. We’d see who could toss the most clothespins into the container while it stood upright, or we’d lay it on its side, and try to roll the ball into it. All of this happened down our long hallway!
12.15.07 at 5:28 am
Jenna Glatzer comments:
The empty paper towel roll is an endless source of amusement for my 9-month-old… I put it near one ear of hers and say something, then switch to the other ear, and she cracks up.
But… um… I need some other ideas.
Would love this book!
12.15.07 at 5:45 am
Jason and Caryn comments:
I have a bunch of toys for my baby but he is more interested in what mommy has…the remote, the brush, the book, etc. So I start with common things that are safe and explore with him. We take things apart (that are safe of course) and I talk to him about what they are. We also play a game where I put out a bunch of toys and have him pick which one he likes. I also put them slightly out of his reach so that he has to work to scoot himself to get them.
12.15.07 at 6:00 am
Alexia comments:
I used to love “painting” the sidewalk with a paintbrush and water.!
12.15.07 at 6:30 am
vmkids comments:
I play the dot game with a little guy at church where we make libes of dots and take turns drawing lines and when we finish a box yiou get to go again and put your name in the box.
12.15.07 at 6:52 am
SJ comments:
Me and my boys play “I Spy” whenever we get in the car, or are outside. They find it fun and it passes the time!
12.15.07 at 7:01 am
Shama-Lama Mama comments:
I started my son playing the card game “War” this summer. Now he is addicted! Its a great first card game, because you only have to know your numbers and which one is higher.
12.15.07 at 9:43 am
mhnice comments:
Oooh…card games/board games!!
12.15.07 at 11:40 am
agordon10 comments:
we’ve begun playing dominoes and go fish, it helps with shapes and counting
12.15.07 at 1:30 pm
Jessica D. comments:
We bring in snow from outside when it to cold to out.
12.15.07 at 2:38 pm
LindaW comments:
Our son loves to put things into boxes and dump them out and put them back in and dump them out and…. you know.
We put his socks in a wide top basket, so he can carry them around and have fun putting them back.
12.15.07 at 2:44 pm
Taryn comments:
I put rice in a small baby pool and give my toddler everything he needs to ‘cook’ it.
12.15.07 at 2:48 pm
art-sweet comments:
My son (13 mos) loves playing with the recycling bin contents. We’ve made a separate bin for glass and metal and he can spend a LONG time banging seltzer bottles together!
12.15.07 at 3:50 pm
Panjo Kids comments:
My son (20 months old) loves water. I pull the learning tower up to the kitchen sink, put towels on the floor, turn the water on low and give him a few measuring cups and spoons. This gives me a few moments to straighten up the kitchen or unload the dishwasher.
It only happens once a week or so- my sink it usually too cluttered with dishes!
12.15.07 at 4:13 pm
redron comments:
so many things to choose from. One of our favorites was a night without power. The only convience allowed was indoor plumbing. We cooked outside. We slept outside. We played games outside. And before going to sleep we told a story. I began it and then another would add and then another. We did that until I decided that the story needed to end and another begin. It was a fun night for all who attended.
12.15.07 at 4:47 pm
ErinB comments:
measuring cups and spoons have proved to be way more interesting and entertaining than all the expensive toys!!
ekb713 at hotmail dot com
12.15.07 at 5:18 pm
Becca comments:
My daughter has found many fun uses for our laundry baskets. I hope she’ll always play with this much creativity!
12.15.07 at 5:50 pm
Dee comments:
Dining room chairs are the best! Line them up to play “train,” or put them in a circle with a blanket over the top for a tent.
12.15.07 at 6:11 pm
2migirlsmom comments:
We use differnt pans and bowls to make our own drums. Then we see what else we can find to make musical instruments and have our own band
12.15.07 at 9:13 pm
Erin & David comments:
Take your kids outside and give them some flour and some water and let them play.
12.16.07 at 1:05 am
melonkelli comments:
When it’s warm out we “paint” the driveway/house/yard with big paint brushes and a bucket of water.
taureau AT yahoo DOT com
12.16.07 at 3:20 am
Kelly Malloy comments:
Good old fashioned play dough is always a hit at our house - and it works with all ages from our 23 month old to our 14 year old!
12.16.07 at 4:13 am
CallMeKelly comments:
1 cup of cold water slowly mixed with one cup of flour then divided into small containers and colored with kool aid or food coloring yields a bounty of safe finger paint… I like to mix up a batch before baths and sit my boys in an empty tub… let them paint away and then rinse ‘em off…
also…
empty plastic bottles waiting to be recycled make great bowling pins… as your child gets older and more coordinated add water to weight the “pins”.
12.16.07 at 5:07 am
Esther comments:
Tubes from toilet papper are great for telephone games.
12.16.07 at 5:34 am
Mommy Cracked comments:
It’s messy, but one of my favorite things to do when I was growing up was making mud pies.
12.16.07 at 1:25 pm
jeske_posse comments:
I reuse my 1 year old’s old formula cans as drums. When you take the printed label off there is shiny aluminum looking container underneath. I put uncooked rice, large balls etc (non-choking hazard items) inside and use elmers glue to secure lid. I decorate the outsde using non-toxic marker and fun shapes, word or phrases that we are working on. My son loves to hit the containers, watch them roll, shake them. He even is trying to stack them…and knock them over when I stack them!
12.16.07 at 4:06 pm
Shannon comments:
I liked taking all my moms kitchen ingredients and made something rather gross looking but it would keep me busy for hours, I will pass this on to my son. lol
12.16.07 at 6:19 pm
laralin2266 comments:
I get out boxes for the kids. What kid doesn’t love to play in a big box?
12.16.07 at 6:26 pm
ChristiS comments:
My husband has glued together some styrofoam packaging stuff from a recent purchase to create some spaceships for my 2 sons, ages 4 and 6, to use with their Star Wars figures. They LOVE it! Dh did this as a child, hence the idea!
12.17.07 at 1:52 am
Alyson, Brett & Girls comments:
One of our favorite is to take a bowl of water and paint brush and let them ‘paint’ the world!
12.17.07 at 2:00 am
Shari comments:
I wish my daughter would be satisfied with playing with old boxes or tupperware but she’s into more glitz and glamour (and she’s only 18 months!). We pull old clothes and blankets out of drawers and put them on all her different dolls, or we find lots of ways to learn about colors by matching crayons to different colored things around the room!
12.17.07 at 3:02 am
Becky comments:
I like to let my son string beads on a shoelace.
12.17.07 at 3:10 am
Anonymous comments:
playing hide and seek
12.17.07 at 5:57 am
Cindy comments:
One day my 3 year old discovered that the aluminum cans I was saving for the recycling bin made great bowling pins. He stacked them, counted them, and came up with all sorts of crazy configurations.
12.17.07 at 12:49 pm
maddgiggler comments:
Homemade playdough is the best!
12.17.07 at 1:49 pm
Mama Zen comments:
I let my daughter bathe her plastic dinosaurs in the sink. She thinks this is just the most fun!
12.17.07 at 5:23 pm
Audra comments:
We have a huge container full of dress up clothes. The kids love dressing up and showing us their outfits. It’s easy to find things to add to it at yard sales and thrift stores.
I’d love to win this book because I’m a mom of six and while I always had a vivid imagination growing up and would play for hours, I think I’ve forgotten how to play. This book sounds like it would help me play more as well as give ideas for when I need to get things done and they need to play nearby.
12.17.07 at 8:22 pm
JewelsHud comments:
I’ve started doing baking with my toddler - this is a great activity for both of us!
julieahudson[at]hotmail[dot]com
12.18.07 at 4:01 pm
shimmala comments:
Bubble wrap. Haven’t found a kid (not even my crawling 12-month-old) who doesn’t like jumping/crawling/moving on the bubble wrap and popping those bubbles!
12.18.07 at 4:08 pm
chris swanson comments:
I love the game twister–kids and adults love it!
12.18.07 at 8:03 pm
Sundi comments:
Building towers with blocks seems to occupy my toddlers’ time more than any other activity! They love to see who can build one the highest without it falling down!
12.18.07 at 8:45 pm
Anonymous comments:
THANKSSSSSS.
12.18.07 at 9:31 pm
Erica comments:
soccer!
12.19.07 at 8:48 pm
Heather comments:
So many fun ideas; Play doh (home made of course), coloring, water colors and other craft ideas are always popular at our house.
12.19.07 at 11:40 pm
cdrury comments:
home made play dough is always the best and baking cookies!!!
12.20.07 at 3:17 am
Danielle comments:
My son loves to have outdoor bubble baths in the summer!
He puts on his swimsuit, gathers his favorite tubtoys, and we fill a baby pool with water and bath bubbles and he has a great time scubbing himself and his toys clean!
dansan826 at yahoo dot come
12.20.07 at 5:27 am
topkat comments:
fun
12.20.07 at 10:49 am
Anonymous comments:
Wow. Jenna Glatzer posted a comment? I used to subscribe to her newsletter for writers. I think it was called AbsoluteWrite.
Anyway, my unplugged kids’ activity has to do with my husband being a musician.
Since we have a piano and a couple of acoustic guitars and bongos around, we sometimes just improvise and jam as a family.
Even when it’s bad, we have a blast. My 9 year old loves it.
tonylethal@aol.com
12.20.07 at 2:03 pm
purango comments:
Simon Sez
12.20.07 at 3:06 pm
lilyk comments:
we like to play board games
12.20.07 at 7:58 pm
Heather C comments:
Balloon volleyball always brings giggles in this house.