Home-based Early Learning Program
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Added Advantage
Serving London, Ontario
Suggested Ideas
Adding open-ended materials into your program can be a very easy, cost effective way to engage and entertain children for hours! Combining or adding to materials from time to time can help children take materials in a new direction or create new theories or strategies for use.
It also takes a little bit of creativity as well as careful consideration around safety, level of supervision required, and knowledge of your children's developmental needs and abilities.
This is just a starting list of materials that I regularly collect for my program:
- Variety colored and white dice in all sizes
- Poker chips in variety of colors
- Varied magnet materials – Dollar Store
- Sink grid mats with little gems and square materials
- Varied containers that promote sorting – lazy Susan’s, ice cube trays, deviled egg trays, etc.
- A big bins of paper clips with a gimp loom made over it
- 1000’s of marbles in a bin with various materials added to it
- Bins of natural river stones and glass gems for use in dramatic or block areas
- ‘Tree cookies’ actual tree branches and stumps cut into small discs and smoothed down – make great imaginative food and building materials
- Old Cameras and binoculars in the classroom
- Lots of big squares of printed fabric in the classroom
- Vice-grips, clothes-pins, other fasteners
- Working Flashlights
- Clipboards, paper and writing utensils around the room
- Placing photos of the children onto blocks to inspire play
- Gift-wrap rolls, p.v.c pipes, plastic dryer venting, poster tube holders, etc.
- Small magnetic or hand held mirrors set up around the room to provide unique perceptions during play.
- Variety dull edged glass pieces, leftover mosaic pieces
- Shiny silver or copper pieces from the hardware store
- Unique stones or pebbles
- Small Branches, twigs, pussy willows, pine cones, moss, colorful leaves
- Potpourri / Dried flower pedals
- Collected Shells
- Colored gravel stones
- Household / Decorative glass gems
- Different colored children’s marbles in varied sizes
- Any size Buttons
- Any size Beads (Anything with holes in can be used for lacing/beading even your old beaded car seat cover can be taken apart to re-make into something, old Xmas decorations added to a creation, etc)
- Odd Wood scraps & shapes
- Plastic Lids from bottles or cartons
- Metal Juice-can lids
- Clear plastic lids from food containers – like Pringles lids
- Old Fridge Magnets
- Old Crystal pieces from lamps, chandeliers, etc.
- Old Glittery Costume Jewelry
- Wine Corks
- Metal Bottle / Beer Caps
- Empty Spools of Thread
- Fabric and Lace of all textures
- Variety of textured Paper
- Shiny foil and cellophane used to wrap soaps, non-nut candies, etc is great for collage work
- Scraps from your own holiday craft projects
- Very large clear glass condiment jars (restaurant size pickle or hot pepper jars)
- Yarn, Gimp, Hemp, Ribbon
The possibilities are endless and the more we collaborate and network the better we co-construct our knowledge and as a result we can offer more creative experiences for the children and ourselves. If you have any different or new ways to use materials please stop by the forum page!
