Halli Galli

Halli Galli is a speed action game in which players watch for sets of exactly five fruit. The deck contains 56 playing cards showing four kinds of fruit in groups of 1 to 5 and a bell of the type found at hotel reception desks.

The deck is distributed evenly between the players. All players hold their deck face down and take turns dealing one card face up in front of them. As each player reveals her next card, the instant you see a total of five of one kind of fruit on the table, hit the bell. If you're correct, you pick up all the played cards and put them into your deck; if you're wrong, you pay the other players one card each. When you run out of cards, you're out. When two players are left, they play until the bell is struck once more, then the game ends and the taller deck wins.

Keep in mind that a five-of-a-kind can occur both when cards are revealed and when they're covered. If, for example, cards showing 3, 1 and 4 bananas are on the table and the 3 is then covered by a non-banana card, suddenly five bananas are showing and somebody better be reaching for the bell.

Triple Card - Game playing/analysing

http://ffxivtriad.com/rules

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Triple_Triad

ALL OPEN

This is the most basic rules wherein all five cards in each deck are made visible to both players.
THREE OPEN

A slight variation over the previous one where only three random cards in each deck are made visible to both players.
SUDDEN DEATH

When "Sudden Death" is in effect, any match that ends in a draw will be restarted from turn one.
Your deck for this new match will consist of the cards you had control over at the end of the previous game.
Sudden Death will continue until one player wins or until five more consecutive drawn matches have been played, at which point the game will result in a draw.
RANDOM

A rule wherein your chosen deck will be replaced with five cards selected at random from your entire card list.
ORDER

A rule wherein you are required to play each card in the order that it appears in your deck.
CHAOS

A rule wherein the card you play each turn is selected at random from your deck.
REVERSE

A rule wherein the conditions for capturing cards are switched so that smaller numbers are more powerful than larger numbers.
FALLEN ACE

A rule wherein the all-powerful "A" becomes susceptible to capture by the lowly "1."
If the Reverse rule is also in play, a "1" will then become vulnerable to capture by an "A."
SAME

Same is the simplest rule. If this rule is in effect, if your card matches the numbers on two or more cards on each side, you will capture those cards.

In this field, there are two red cards.


Place a card on the top left, compare sides...


...each side matches, so the Same rule is enacted, capturing the cards.


PLUS

This works in a similar sense to Same, in that you compare sides. With Plus, you add adjacent numbers (each side is separate); if they have the same sum, you capture each card.

Another field with two red cards. We'll place a blue card at the top left.


We will compare the sides as with the Same...


... but as sums. The sums match, so...


... the Plus rule is enacted, capturing the cards.


COMBO

This rule is only applicable when Same or Plus are active. Once you activate either rule, any cards adjacent to the flips are compared as if you had actively placed that card down yourself. Combo captures normally (greater number captures lower number), and does not apply Plus or Same again.
This rule is incredibly dangerous, as it can turn the tide of a match completely.

Your opponent has the upper hand with 6 tiles occupied.

Luckily, you have a card...


...that enacts Plus.


However, combo is in play...


...turning that around quite nicely.


That last card is not captured through Combo, even though it enacts the Same rule.



If the last card were weaker, it could have also been captured; Combo can be applied as long as the next adjacent card is weaker. Combo can potentially flip the full board.
This can be turned against you just as easily, so be wary!
ASCENSION / DESCENSION

This rule affects card from the same type (Beastman, Primal, Garlean, Scion).
When placed on the playing grid, the number values on these cards are increased or decreased by one for every card of that type that is in play.
Numbers that are increased to "11" or more are considered to be of "A" rank, on the contrary numbers that are decreased to "0" or less is treated as a "1".
SWAP

A rule wherein one card from your deck is switched with one of your opponent's before the match begins.
The cards to be swapped are chosen at random, and are returned to their original owners at the end of the game.

Resource Management Game

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103405605/the-goods/posts/700984

Card game where players have to trade and manage resources both cooperatively and strategically

RPG/TCG Card Game Research

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/MakeACollectibleCardGame

https://praliedutzel.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/creating-a-card-game-from-start-to-finish/



Collectibility / Customizability / Competitive Balance / Variable Player Goals. One of the big appeals of this genre is that you can design a deck to pursue a particular victory strategy. What that means is that there needs to be more than one way to win. Most Magic duels revolve around getting the opponent from 20 Hit Points to 0, true, but each of the five colors has different philosophies and tries to get there in different ways; and there's always milling or the various Golden Snitch cards like Barren Glory or Coalition Victory. In LotR above, you could win by tossing the Ring into the fire orby knocking out every other player's Fellowship. And let's not even talk about L5R and its four different ways of winning.

Choices Vs. Options. First, we acknowledge that we are ripping off MaRo, so read the article in his words if you'd prefer. But there is a difference between "Options"—"You can have both A and B"—and Choices—"You can only have A or B, pick one." You want Choices instead of Options. Not only should this shape the design of individual cards, but the entire deck-building aspect of card games is about Choices: there are so many cards available that you simply cannot create a deck that makes all of them available


Variable Player Goals 
Sometimes, not all the players are going for the same thing. There are essentially two forms of this.

In the milder form, each player is going for the same sort of thing, but what precisely they require varies. For instance, each player may be trying to get two treasures, but which two treasures is different for each player, or each player has certain bonuses or restrictions that make getting certain treasures easier or harder (respectively).

In the more extreme form, each player is going for something different entirely. One player is trying to accumulate as much money as possible, while another is trying to eliminate the player to his left. These are often accompanied with the player having varying special abilities that help to accomplish these specific goals.

In either case, these are typically assigned randomly at the beginning of the game. Sometimes, each player's objective is secret, though this is hard to pull off if they are supposed to be matched up with the player's specific abilities. There is also often a generic win condition that any player can accomplish.

A common twist on the more extreme form is that one player has no special win condition; instead, his generic win condition is made easier. A less common twist is that one player wins automatically if the game would go to final scoring or the game's equivalent.


Comeback Mechanics 
There are two ways a game can go about comeback mechanics: The first is to give an advantage to a losing player. That is, it allocates privileges among players at any given moment, with more given to those whom the game feels is more likely to lose. The second is to give an advantage to a player about to get eliminated. All players can use this mechanic, whether they're winning or losing, but they either favor players close to the losing condition in a game (such as having low remaining health) or can only be used by such players.

Comeback Mechanics are most commonly seen in genres where matches end quickly. Fighting games and racing games are prime examples of these, with matches rarely exceeding a few minutes. Games with time limits for multiplayer will also often have Comeback Mechanics regardless of genre. This is because there is little to no harm in extending the matches a bit longer. Comeback Mechanics are less common in genres that traditionally don't have a time limit and tend to take a long time to complete a match, such as shooters, puzzle games, and turn-based strategies.

Idea Development Braintorm

Model United nations

Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation and/or academic competition in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. MUN involves and teaches researching, public speaking, debating, and writing skills, in addition to critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership abilities.[1][2] Usually an extracurricular activity, some schools also offer MUN as a class.[3]

Participants in Model UN conferences, known as delegates, are placed in committees and assigned countries, or occasionally other organizations or political figures, where they represent members of that body. They are presented with their assignments in advance, along with a topic or topics that their committee will discuss. Delegates conduct research before conferences and formulate positions that they will then debate with their fellow delegates in the committee, staying true to the actual position of the member they represent.[4] At the end of a conference, the best-performing delegates in each committee, as well as delegations, are sometimes recognized with awards.

Model UN participants include students at middle school, high school, and college/university levels, with most conferences catering to just one of these three levels (high school and college conferences being most common).[5] Delegates usually attend conferences together as delegations sent by their respective schools' or universities' Model UN clubs, though some delegates attend conferences independently.[6]

Biodiversity card game

http://phylogame.org/game-play/

Phylo is a project that began as a reaction to the following nugget of information: Kids know more about Pokemon creatures than they do about real creatures*. We think there’s something wrong with that. Apparently, so do many others.

Phylo is: (1) a card game that makes use of the wonderful, complex, and inspiring things that inform the notion of biodiversity; (2) an exercise in crowd sourcing, open access, and open game development; and (3) FREAKIN’ AWESOME!

BIODIVERSITY TRUMPS

Age: Best for children younger than 9 years old.

Number of Players: 2 to 4

Minimal Deck Required: At least one Starter Deck per 2 players is best. Also, all event and home cards should be removed.

Instructions: Cards are shuffled and distributed face down to all players.  Youngest player goes first by looking at his/her top card (the card that is visible).  He or she will place his/her card down on the table and call out one of the following stats:

Scale number
Food Chain Rank
Move or Flight number (if not on card then equal to zero)
Number of Terrains
Number of Climates

Essentially, the player with the highest number wins the other player’s card and gets to put them in the back of his/her deck. In the event of a tie, then the players with equal numbers will place three cards face down, and then the fourth card face up. Players will look at the same stat again, with the highest number winning all cards on the table (if it is another tie, you keep continuing this two cards down, one card up, until a winner is found).

When a player loses all of their cards, they are out of the game. Winner is the last player left.

– – –

PHYLOMON ECOSYSTEM GAME

Age: 8 years old and up.

Number of players: 2 (possible with 3 and 4, although tricky with the rectangular card shape)

Minimal Deck Required: Each player needs a deck of at least 20 cards (1 home card + at least 19 others). More cards can be used but the 20 to 25 per person total is a reasonable size that won’t crowd a small tabletop size (cards are played on a table top and take up space!). A general tip for constructing your own deck is to make sure you have at least 10 #FOODRANK=1 cards, as well as making sure that there aren’t any terrains or climates that are super rare. As well, the more event cards you have, the more interesting (and strategic) the game can get!

Easy Instructions:
(Note that full rules with diagrams can be found here). Short rules presented here, provided by Alice Ho, Tanis Gieselman and David Ng.
Printable pdf of Easy Instructions here

There are 2 players sitting at a table across from each other. Before starting, the table will have two home cards placed next to each other, one for each player and also “facing” that player. Players will also each have their own deck of 20+ cards and their own discard pile. These player decks can be custom built, or shuffled randomly from a starter deck.

Place two HOME CARDS in the center. ONE FACING EACH PLAYER.

Each Player picks up 5 cards and put the rest of the cards in a pile called the PICK-UP DECK. Cards that are removed from the game go into a DISCARD PILE.

The two players will take turns. In each TURN, they can pick up a new card and make 3 ACTIONS.

ACTIONS YOU CAN MAKE:
– PLAY a card in your hand onto the table (make sure you play them facing you).
– DROP a card in a DISCARD PILE and PICK UP three cards.
– MOVE a card (# of moves is on the card itself). MOVE# tells you how many spots the card can move. Up
down left right movement only (no diagonal unless it says FLIGHT), and it must end up in a free space.
– You may PASS.

Once all the cards are finished in the PICK UP PILE, and no more moves can be made, pick up all the cards FACING YOU and add up all the points. Person with the most points WIN!

PLAYING A CARD

FOODCHAIN#1 cards can be played anywhere as long as it is placed adjacent to a card with at least 1 temperature and 1 terrain MATCH (this makes it compatible). Any FOODCHAIN#1 card can be played adjacent a HOME card.

FOODCHAIN#2 cards must be placed next to at least 1 compatible FOODCHAIN#1 cards.

FOODCHAIN#3 cards must be placed next to at least 1 compatible FOODCHAIN#2 cards. Usually, FOODCHAIN#3 cards are carnivores (meat-eating): unless specified on card, this also means that it can only be played next to prey of equal or smaller SCALE.

Note that there are exceptions to these general placement rules. For example, omnivores (brown circle) are FOODCHAIN#3 but can technically be played next to plants of FOODCHAIN#1. Other exceptions may be highlighted in the card text.

In general, whether a card can be played (or needs to be discarded) depends on whether it is next to something that can sustain it. Also NOTE that it’s o.k. to place your card next to opponent’s cards.

Yellow = Photosynthesis
Green = Herbivore (eats plants)
Brown = Omnivore (eats plants and animals)
Red = Carnivore (eats animals)
Black = “special” usually described on the card

When an EVENT card is played, unless specified differently, the effect is immediate and then the EVENT card is removed from the table (into discard pile). Sometimes, the effect will result in broken food chains. Here, the opposing player has their next TURN (i.e. 3 ACTIONS) to react to the EVENT card, before disconnected cards are removed (i.e. they can play a substitute card to replenish the food chains, or they can move cards to areas on the table that provide compatible linkage).

Optional Rule: Sometimes, two cards will be played next to each other where it works according to the game’s rules, but would never actually happen in real life. This might be because the two species don’t actually live in the same country, despite sharing compatible terrains and climates. Or it might happen because according to scientific study, a species diet might be quite special and limited to certain types of things, so that whilst a card might “fit” as food (according to the rules), it wouldn’t actually be eaten in real life.

Because of this, you can play the game where you agree not to worry about such things, or you can play the game where you include a “call your bluff” rule. Here, in a way similar to the game Scrabble, a player can challenge these strange connections by using Wikipedia or the Encyclopaedia of Life to check for something that may be inaccurate. Whoever wins this “call your bluff” gets to remove any card from the table with immediate consequences (i.e. no giving a player a turn to react). Note that sometimes, this will be hard to check. To help, some future decks may provide a food web key to help

Make a Game Exercise

We Made a game based in the rules we were given in class. Although very abstract it had to be memory based. 5 players stand in a chalked off area. There are 4 dodgers and 1 thrower who is blindfolded. The goal this to hit as many people as you can to get them out. 

Some interesting tactics emerged during the play test. Taylor learned not to face the direction of his throw to avoid alerting the dodgers prematurely. Casey began to kneel down after noticing most throws were at chest/waist height.    

Potential Activity ideas

Places for Penguins: Nest boxes


Nest boxes serve a number of purposes including increasing the number of potential nest sites in an area and preventing dogs and cats from accessing nests.




Thanks to an Infinity Foundation grant in 2011, we have been able to purchase new equipment for volunteers to check nests and collect data at our Wellington project. This included a nest camera, a GPS device to map the nest-sites and mirrors to allow easy-inspection of boxes & prevent disturbance.

As well as allowing easy and less disruptive access for researchers, the nest boxes has shown to improve the breeding success of Little Penguins.

Nest boxes serve a number of purposes including increasing the number of potential nest sites in an area and preventing dogs and cats from accessing nests.

The Places for Penguins project has placed over 250 nest boxes along the Wellington South coast so that penguins do not have to cross the coastal road to find safe nesting areas.

Little Penguins generally do well in nest boxes, and some penguins seem to prefer the boxes to natural nests. Indeed, when the nest boxes were trialled, several pairs of penguin vacated their natural nests in exchange for boxes.

You can also help provide suitable habitat for nesting penguins by providing nest boxes and managing pests.

When building a nest box you’ll need to consider a number of things:
Boxes should be placed no more than 2m apart (penguins are territorial and will defend their nest site within about a 1m radius).

If regular inspections are not required for research purposes, the lid should be nailed down to prevent it from being knocked off during courtship or territorial defence.

It is best to place boxes on a slope with the entrance facing downhill so that water can escape.

Boxes are intended to be buried but they will also work as free-standing unit.
Nesting material should not be provided. The penguins are perfectly capable of gathering nest materials on their own, and materials such as straw and hay may dangerous as they can cause severe respiratory infections.

A diagram with step-by step instructions on how to construct a nest box may be found here.

About wētā motels

• Wētā live in holes but there really aren’t that many holes in trees. That’s why wētā dig under stones or chew through rotten logs to make their homes.
• Wētā motels are no-fuss homes for wētā. They find one, crawl in and relax. You can place a wētā motel in a tree, under a tree and even on a fence post.
• Big heavy animals can squash wētā.
• Female wētā lay 100-300 eggs so if you build a home they like and wētā live there, their numbers will grow!

Explore your backyard

Explore your garden and see if you have some wētā already. Find out what kind of wētā you have, or what kind of wētā like to live in your area.

Think about what would make a great wētā home – this will help you work out where to put your wētā motel.

Saw a small log in half

Chisel out the wētā gallery

Drill a hole for the entrance tunnel

A completed 3 star wētā motel

Build a wētā motel

3 star wētā motel

A 3 star wētā motel is simple and fun to make. Experiment! Weta don’t care if it’s a crooked little house!

• Start with a small log and saw it in half.
• Chisel out the weta gallery and drill an entrance tunnel.
• Nail or bind the two halves together and nail on a roof.
• Hang or tie the motel in a tree in a shady spot at about eye level.

5 star wētā motel

Try making this 5 star wētā motel. Using this plan, you can create a 10 unit 'motel'  in your garden for wētā.

5 star wētā motel design (PDF, 232K) (opens in new window)

It’s great but takes longer to make than the 3 star model.

It has been designed by Victoria University of Wellington entomologist Professor George Gibbs, who has given permission for the Department of Conservation to distribute it.

Handy hints for making weta motels

• Wētā like motels that are made from willow and aged pine (rather than fresh pine).
• Entrance tunnel holes should be 18 mm or slightly less in size to stop mice (10 mm is too small), and quite long and sloping down from the top or the side. 
• Wētā don’t like vertical tunnels heading up from the bottom. 
• Wētā like to enlarge their rooms or galleries and they like deep galleries and wood that isn’t rotting.
• Wētā prefer motels without windows but they will live in motels with windows as long as their gallery is deep. 
• The windows should be made from perspex or plastic from a bottle with shutters that can be closed. They should be removable for cleaning because they go mouldy.
• Wētā will live in motels with more than one gallery but you’ll probably get more wētā if you have more single room motels.
• In the forest wētā move in within three months and after a year they have about four wētā in each motel.
• Wētā like motels and backyards that don’t have rats!

Development research - Toyota Medals

Came across the Toyota Gaurdian programme. Seems similier to aspects of the 'reward' part of play we are exploring. Kids gain medals for completing certain actions within their community.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/toyota-kiwi-guardians/

My Brainstorm

This was my brain storm coming up with an initial idea to present to the group. My idea was an app centralizing various 'missions' to be done around the country and upon selection, the kids would group up and complete these missions to gain territory or points at a large scale. The activitys are focused around habitat conservation with things like weta hotels and monarch gardens.

Idea generating for app design

During the development of the project where the original idea was consisting of design an app for kids which involves the idea of roleplay and different teams for the kids based on species in NZ.  I decided to experiment with the idea of how a possible interaction screen would look for the app.

Although after discussing with my team, I did realise I may of been jumping too far ahead with experimenting with some sketches of the visuals.  The idea behind this was to think about how the kids would be influenced and motivated by the characters in the app.  Thinking about how it would appeal to them and want them to complete and play along with the story of them being given a mission by their animal friend who wants their help to save their home.
In the meeting I also looked over one of the research books that Sheryl brought along and decided to draw some of the general shapes that birds in NZ had. Might be useful for keeping in mind when simplifying shapes in the future.

[EDIT]  Also some additional notes about doing into a direction which used the model UN as a model, giving the idea of kids being able to discuss and work together in the game.

Physical Game Idea - Tag

Team based game, inspired by football/soccer/etc. Mimics nature.

This game is a typical ball in goal game, with two teams. Mice and birds. Mice see the ball as a bird's eggs, and they must try and steal it and get it into the goal. Birds need to try and prevent this from happening by tagging the mice.

Mice are restricted in that they must crawl (be on all fours? idk) There are more mice than birds.

The game can come with hats, or children can make them themselves! They can also decorate the egg too.

This game mimics nature by exploring the relationships between pests and how it affects birdlife.

Meta context: Ludus, structural play. Rules.
Mode of engagement: Roleplay, outdoor game. TAG! Kids love tag.
Activity: Ball game in which children explore pests vs birds, and how these pest survive, as well as how birds can become endangered
Target audience: Children 5-10??

Geocaching/Orienteering - Scavenger Hunt

https://www.geocaching.com/guide/

https://www.maptoaster.com/maptoaster-topo-nz/articles/geocaching/geocaching.html

Geocaching is a treasure hunt where people receive coordinates to find a cache created by a person. Inside is a log book where people can sign their name, and sometimes there are trinkets than you can exchange. There is a whole community around geocaching, with many caches available in the bush.

It requires a GPS receiver, but maybe it can be changed so that traditional maps, or clues, are used.

KCOs can mail caches around as well, on a rotation basis, so that different looking caches/trinkets will appear at each meetup.

Geocaching Idea 1:
Rather than coordinates, clues and puzzles are used instead. This is more of a traditional scavenger hunt/geocaching, and there are prizes related to the area inside the cache. Children run around exchanging prizes in the cache.

Meta context: Between paidia and ludus. There is exploration and freeplay, but rules as well.
Mode of engagement: Clues, prizes. Traditional scavenger hunt. Some roleplay?
Activity: Geolocation, scavenger hunt
Target audience: All ages


Geocaching Idea 2:
Children/teams are given clues or a map to find a cache.

The cache could contain information about the area. It could also contain certain things that are related to an animal or a location, for example, food, footprints, etc. It is the job of the teams to work out what the cache means. In doing so, they learn about the environment. We can possibly integrate ideas of climate change/marine reserves etc.

Meta context: Between paidia and ludus. There is exploration and freeplay, but rules as well.
Mode of engagement: Clues, prizes. Traditional scavenger hunt. Some roleplay?
Activity: Geolocation, scavenger hunt
Target audience: All ages

Geolocation - Cool digital game

https://geoguessr.com/

A very cool concept that uses technology to 'take' people outdoors. They are dropped on a random location on a map, using google streetview, and they must guess where they are by exploring their surroundings!

Maybe this concept can be used to take children 'out of the city' so they can learn about other areas of New Zealand. I noticed that the children are restricted to where their KCOs plan events, so maybe this will broaden the horizons a bit?

This can be competitive, or cooperative. They can learn about their surroundings, such as the birds around them.

Meta context: Paidia - exploration play
Mode of engagement: roleplay, use of technology
Activity: Geolocation through environment, animals, etc
Target audience: All ages. Parents and adults can work together

Same games for kids

I found same games for kids from kidspot.

Fizzy sand cake baking

Jodie Clarke

My twins absolutely love cooking and they love getting messy too so this is one of their favourite activities!

Whether using their play kitchen area inside, helping me to make something yummy in the real kitchen or outside at their pallet kitchen, they have so much fun and, of course, make a whole lot of mess. But the way I see it, mess is easily cleaned up and always so worth it to see those little smiles, don’t you think?

They can often be found ‘baking’ some cakes and muffins outside in their bushrock sandpit with just plain old sand, water and the odd flower picked from the garden; but sometimes we like to make our extra special fizzy sand cakes. They are so much fun and even introduce some basic science concepts.

 Fizzy bubbly sand cakes

Here’s what you need:

• Sand from the sandpit (or dirt works well too)
• A bottle of cooking vinegar (I just use a generic brand, you don’t need fancy!)
• A box of bicarb soda
• Some edicol powder paint (you can also use a little crushed coloured chalk or food colouring)
• Some water and jugs for pouring
• A few old cake, muffin and patty pan tins (we grab ours from the op shop!)
• Some large ice cream containers or bowls for stirring the fizzy mixture

How do we make fizzy sand cakes?

I’m glad you asked – it couldn’t be easier I promise!

Set out your large bowls or ice cream containers on a grassy spot or in the sandpit, wherever you are happy for messy magic to be made.

Let the kids have fun filling the bowls with sand (or dirt for mudcakes) and then let them shake in some bi carb soda, if you don’t want to give them the whole box just separate some into a few cups or bowls for them to use.

You don’t need to worry about measuring how much bicarb you use, but you do need to be generous for lots of fizzy action later on!

Get the kids to give their ‘batter’ a really good stir until all the sand and soda is mixed together.

At this point you can encourage them to start adding a little water to begin making their cake mix ‘batter’ a little more gooey.  If you want to make lots of little fizzy cake, you can also let them spoon their mix into the muffin cake trays now. It really doesn’t matter if you keep it in one big bowl or separate it into smaller ones, whatever works for the number of children you have wanting to play.

They can then start adding some colour to their cakes. I like to put a little powder paint colour into trays so they can choose their own colours but if that is just too stressful (I understand, really I do!) just add in a little yourself and they can stir it through and watch their colours come to life.

This part of the activity kept my girls busy for a long time as they mixed up their little potions. It meant we ended up with some lovely brown and green colours instead of the bright reds, blues and yellows I would have liked but it was their own creation and they were very serious about how they wanted those cakes to look!

Now for the fun part! Fill a few little cups or jugs with vinegar, let them pour over their mix and listen for the excited squeals!

As they pour and stir they will begin to see some fizzing bubbles appear and get bigger and bigger….

As they add more vinegar the mix will keep bubbling until it eventually comes to a stop.

As the bubbles fade away it leaves funny little imprints to explore. You can talk about why the sand mix bubbled, colours that you see and the prints left behind. Such a fun sensory experience.

If the mix is still in a large bowl now is the time to get out those little patty cake trays and your little bakers can make sand or mud cakes with their special batter.

There may even be a little fizz left in some if you pour over a bit more vinegar!

So much messy, sensory, baking fun – and you can sit back with a cuppa about now as they will want to do this for ages without any help from you (I just know you got a little excited when you read that part).

You  should now have some free time (if there is such a thing) until clean up  when you just need to pull the hose out and perhaps mop up a few sandy hand or foot prints that may have snuck past you inside.

And that is just the way we like our messy play here!

Small Worlds: Dinosaur land

Meagan Wilson

Imaginative play comes to life using Small Worlds. Small Worlds are mini play scenes that spark creative play.

Sometimes I like inspiring a bit of imaginative play in my children by setting a scene up for them to discover upon waking from their afternoon nap. Imaginary or pretend play is not just fun, but an essential part of early childhood development. Studies have shown it has cognitive benefits such as an increase in language skills and expression, social skills and development and exploration of emotional expression.

You don’t need fancy props or toys – most small worlds can be set up with simple things you already have lying around the house including: stuffed animals, dolls or plastic figurines, coloured fabrics, blocks, twigs, rocks, flowers, dried nuts, seeds, grains and Play-Doh.

Imaginary play dinosaur land

You’ll need

• Dinosaur figurines
• Bi-carb soda
• White vinegar
• Red food colouring
• Props to create a cool dinosaur scene (eg. rice, sticks, flowers, Play-Doh, a shallow bowl of water)

Let’s play!

We were recently gifted a cute dinosaur figurine set so naturally ‘Dinosaurs’ is a current household favourite. We start by creating a landscape including a few green silk cloths, Play-Doh, flowers, twigs, rice, stones and of course no dinosaur adventure would be complete without a volcano!

Play-Doh is a great medium to use for propping up other materials such as twigs and flowers to create trees and bushes. I filled a small cup with bi-carb and some red food colouring and then surrounded it with foil to create a volcano shape. Then I poured some white vinegar into a small jug and let the kids do the pouring (and exploding!).

I set everything up outside so that there was very little mess to clean up and I could relax while they had some messy fun with the lava.

After a long time experimenting with the exciting bi-carb and vinegar combination, the kids played with the dinosaurs in a variety of ways – eating each other, hunting together, foraging for leaves together and falling into the deep dark volcanic hole over and over… and over again!

After they had played out a variety of scenarios their play organically developed into a role-play. North (4) was the baby dinosaur and Indigo (2) played his mother. At this time they left the scene of props and inhabited their own bodies finding appropriate costumes and stomping around the house making loud roaring noises!

Scavenger hunt

This is a great party game that all children will love as they can play it outdoors or indoors. There is lots of searching and finding involved!

What you need

•  items to hide – make sure there is as many as one item as there are kids. So, ten kids, ten buttons.
•  paper bag
•  pen

Activity

Give each player a list of objects to find and collect within a determined length of time.

Write the list on a paper bag, which can then be used for collecting the items.

The list can be made up of items like a piece of string, a flower, a leaf, a stone etc.

The first to collect all items on the list is the winner.