365 Days of Creative Play: For Children 2 Years and Up

This book has been around FOREVER and continues to be updated. Over the years, I have probably given away at LEAST 20 copies of this book to parents of toddlers. It is the BEST book out there for creative, imaginative fun for kids that can only help them to be smart, smart adults. I couldn't believe the reviews that stated that this was for "unimaginative"adults! I am as creative as they come and I was amazed at some of the neat, terrific and educational ideas that the authors came up with. That said, there are a few activities that I thought were a little "out there" so I skipped those activities, but everyone is different. Trust me, this book leads the way in creative play!

There are 13 different types of activities. They are Art, Construction, Craft, Dance, Education, Environment, Foods and Cooking, Games, Horticulture, Make-Believe, Music and Nature. It gives you tips for your child's safety and enjoyment. The book also lists a variety of materials and supplies you might need for that activity.

This is a wonderful book! I have 5 days to plan a week's worth of activities for 10 children between the ages of 1 and 5. A friend loaned me this book. The ideas are extremely varied, some indoor, some outdoor, some can be adapted for either. The ideas seem to be in random order through the book, and the index at the back lists what category they fall under, i.e., art, craft, construction, dance, environment, family, games, etc. All ideas can be done with household items that you already have, paper plates, glue, crayons, and many ideas do not require any supplies. All of the ideas are presented in a learning-through-play manner, not academically as in other books like this. After looking through this book, I found literally dozens of ideas, and my stress level has gone down considerably!The one thing I would change about the book--I did not find any warnings regarding the 2? or so ideas that involved balloons, and there were minimal warnings on ideas that included small objects that young children might swallow. People will have to rely on their own common sense (easier for some than others).Overall, a superb book, and I'm thrilled to have discovered it just when I needed it the most!

I bought serveral books on children's creative play recenlty, and I found this one the most useful one and very practical. The games are interesting, easy to play and children can learn from these exercises. Although different countries have different cultures, but as an Asian, I still found this book practical, and both my daughter and myself enjoyed very much by going through these plays. My daughter now is almost three, I am sure this book will still be very useful to me for the years to come.

365 Days of Creative Play is a wonderfully complete guidebook to children's play. As the founder and creator of Familes-First, a web site for all families, I found this book especially important and worthwhile. Not only are the crafts, recipes, and play ideas fun they are also educational ( the kids don't have to know this part ; )). I have strongly recommended this book to both my online parent's and craft's groups and all folks who either have children or work with them.