SPOOKY SENSORY PLAY WITH THE CREATIVE LEARNING COMPANY
Mixing potions, magical lights and skeleton bones… sensory play has never been so spooky!
Sensory play is important for children because it builds nerve connections to the brain and also encourages the development of motor skills. With Creative Learning Co you can make that sensory play spooky. Children can create potions with the potion board and experiment mixing colors or seeing chemical reactions like adding baking soda to vinegar. Kids can pour liquids or sensory items like rice and beans into the bottles. The tubes can hold loose parts and turn into “treasure tubes” by holding small animal figurines such a Safari LTD Good Luck Minis, gems or fancy rocks. Also can be used for a color sorting activity, sorting counting bears or small objects into each tube. Our kids love the light table. They enjoy mixing the lights to match what they are working on. A simple gel cling from the store is fun to put on the table to see how it illuminates differently with the lights. They can find different objects and toys around the house too and see how they light up differently on the table. It also doubles as a tracing board and a whiteboard. Great to illuminate sight words or spelling practice or cover with rice and practice letter formation.
The kids enjoyed creating patterns with orange and purple lites on the Acrylic Peg Board. The board is great for fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, decision making, counting, pattern making, there are so many ways to learn and play. You can write on the clear glossy side (the back) with dry erase marker, so can create all kinds of shapes and designs for kids to follow. Made specifically to hold ceramic Christmas tree “lites”, but golf tees are another fun medium to use, especially when using rubber bands to stretch between the tees. For the older kids, they can have some spooky fun with the Human Organ Board. Kids can match the body parts to the corresponding area and learn what each organ does.
We love that these boards were made spooky or fall-themed with the different sensory accessories. You can change out your accessories and have a completely different lesson or theme the next time the kids use it, which means you can use beyond Halloween. The boards can be used on a sensory table or on their own. The best part is that your kids will be playing for hours and getting along! Creative Learning Co also has a monthly subscription, which features themed-boards and accessories. Each board is crafted from wood, which makes it easy to clean and great on withstanding wear and tear of little ones. From a fall board with apples to space themed boards, they also come paired with a list of ideas but also leave room for lots of open-ended play.
We love that Ashley, the founder of Creative Learning Co’s story is a mom of three and former elementary teacher. When COVID-19 hit, she had to close her process art studio. She began brainstorming ways to share all the great activities she did in class with her students at home. Her passion for play-based learning, sensory play, process art, and creating new opportunities for my girls to learn through play sparked the start of ‘creative learning boards’™ in the fall of 2020. As parents, we love that Ashley thoughtfully designs, develops and tests, using her educational background and first-hand experience working in and out of the classroom. Their goal is to create versatile products that can be used in a variety of ways. At home, at school or on the go!
WIZARDS AND ENCHANTED WORLDS: CURRICULUM-BASED MATH ADVENTURES WITH OSMO
Wizards and spell books, magic and math… yes we said math! Curriculum-based adventures on your tablet that kids won’t even know they are learning
Now you can take your classroom learning into after-school fun with the Osmo Math Wizard Series! Fresh, hands-on content keeps your child engaged while they build 1st & 2nd grade math curriculum skills in an expansive and magical world. Math Wizard is self-paced and as mentioned, CURRICULUM-BASED adventure series that combines digital gameplay with active, hands-on learning to help children build math confidence through imagination, reason, and exploration. As parents, we love that Osmo works closely with educators to develop the games to make sure they are aligned with traditional curriculum so that children can take what they play on the Osmo game and apply it to the classroom and life. There are settings within the game for parents to set based on their student’s ability.
Osmo’s Math Wizard Series is designed for ages 6-8 and currently there are four adventures and each adventure (or box) focuses on a skill such as Addition + Subtraction, Multiplication and Measurement. Plus something really fun is brewing! October 25 Osmo has a big announcement your family won’t want to miss!
For those that aren’t familiar, Osmo is an app-based system that works with your iPad or Fire Table. From coding to learning math and how to draw your favorite Disney characters, we love that it has a wide-range of games for all ages. Rather than sit in front of the TV, we love that it is a positive screen time option, where they are learning STEAM-based skills and having fun.
TUTUS TURNED COSTUMES: I LOVE PLUM
If your kids are like ours, dressing up is not isolated to Halloween. Our girls love transforming into everything from princesses to superheroes. A staple in our wardrobe is a tutu dress and we absolutely love iloveplum. The brand is inspired by what little girls want in real life and they are creating new essentials: easy-to-wear tutus and extras that take you from the playground to the party.
Their Halloween Shop is filled with their classic sleeveless and long sleeve tutu dresses as well as accessories including pumpkin and ghost Halloween costume stickers. We applies the pumpkin face to the demi orange B.A.E. Suede Tutu Dress. It’s constructed from a classic leotard body, a suede spandex racerback bodice and adorned with snap closures, plus tons of tulle to twirl in. We turned the black into an Audrey Hepburn look complete with rhinestones and ribbon.
The B.F.F. Tutu Dress has long sleeves and this makes for a tulle-worthy Wonder Woman or a Little Red Riding Hood. And the two piece Sutton Top pairs perfect with the Sutton Shorts for a Shirley Pink Ballerina. We love that the options and creativity is endless and that the tutu dresses will be worn long after the last piece of candy is eaten!
FROM GHOSTS TO BATS: BOO-TIFUL HAIR WITH MILLEDUEX
Get into character from head-to-toe… whether you are completing a costume or showing some spooky spirit in the classroom, check out these hair clips worth building an outfit around. From classic pumpkin bows to ghosts and bats, Milledeux has perfect bows and headbands for that finishing touch to your fall outfit. These are great for the classroom party or just going out and about. Whether you need a little bling to your costume or want a subtle snowflake to your princess dress, Milledeux has a wide range of grosgrain bows and headbands in a range of styles and colors to match every costume and outfit. We love the option of a bow as it is much easier to get to stay on than a headpiece or something that covers their face.
We adore Milledeux bows. From ballerinas and nutcrackers, to glitter presents and bows, even pencils and lollipops! We love their holiday and themed bows and clips as much as their classic grosgrain bows. They have elastic headbands perfect for babies to clips and headbands for when they get older. We love the quality of the bows and all of the colors. You’ll never have to worry about matching an outfit. We were thrilled when we found Milledeux, a family-owned business based in Denmark. Named after their daughter Emilie and their two dogs, Milledeux uses nickel free metal, certified OEKO-TEX® ribbon and only hairstylist-grade alligator clips with no teeth, but strong enough to stay put in the thinnest of hair and even very short hair.
