Green Toys™ is doing something super awesome this month, the 30 days leading up to Earth Day.
And I am excited to partner with them, because this is perfect and a pledge I also want to take myself.
Are you familiar with Green Toys™?
Here’s a quick run-down: They make awesome, eco-friendly children’s toys (100% recycled, packaging too). Their toys encourage open ended play (no batteries that do things for your kids), and they’re made here in the USA (hard to come by these days).
Can you promise to play an hour a day for 30 days?
Shut off the technology, put down your phone, and engage with your child’s play. If you have multiple kids, try to spend this time with some one on one play with each of them some of the days.
I know… it’s hard to find time in your already over-scheduled day to spend an entire hour just playing with your kids.
This is a challenge. I know you can do it. Sometimes it’s easier to do something when you announce it to friends or family that you’re going to do it. (Ahem… go do that and use #PledgetoPlay, invite them to join too!)
I am going to try make the challenge easier for you! No worries!
I have one idea for you to do during that hour every single day of the challenge.
You can follow the challenge to a tee, or go your own way. Just be sure to take the pledge on Green Toys™ and share! I look forward to seeing how you spend each hour.
(Learn more about the challenge and how to enter a contest to win their toy chest filled with 100% play (see below)!)
Here’s 30 ideas to spend an hour each day for 30 days, with Earth Day in mind, no technology and using supplies you already likely have on hand.
30 play ideas for the challenge:
Day 1: Get outside! Go on a scavenger hunt outside to explore textures!
Day 2: Play in a cardboard box! Save the next cardboard box that comes your way, big or small and play with it! If you have a large one, go dumpster diving! If its just a small one, maybe try shaking to make art!
Day 3: Again, save that packaging when you order something! Make a bubble wrap runway for the kids to pop, pop, pop!
Day 4: Make a fort with cushions. Or head outside and see what sticks and rocks can be built into!
Day 5: Just go outside and explore! Dig in the dirt. Find worms! The Green Toys Dig & Discover Set is filled with fun!
Day 6: Reuse those play dough jars, or any small containers that you have (yogurt containers work well for this) and fill them up to make sound sensory jars. Find all sorts of ideas to do with them here.
Day 7: Get outside and just play catch! Amazing bonding time going on.
Day 8: Dig through your recycling bin, save all the junk you find. Put it together and make a junk art robot! It’s hilariously fun!
Day 9: Walk on pillows, don’t fall off and into the lava! Oh no!
Day 10: Save those paper towel rolls (or roll up a cereal box and tape it to make a tube) and make a pom pom drop.
Day 11: Test out your green thumb and try growing a plant! The Green Toys Indoor Gardening Kit comes with all you need to start growing one.
Day 12: Head outside and collect pieces of nature: rocks, sticks, leaves, flowers, anything you can find and see what designs you can create with it. Here’s some ideas for Earth Art.
Day 13: Up for a real challenge? Make a Rube Goldberg Machine. It can be super simple, or more complicated.
Day 14: This is a favorite of mine from growing up. We always cleaned up the ditches in the Spring. So, take a walk around town with a garbage bag and clean up litter. Do it at the park. Or do it in the ditches of a low-traveled road. Collect cans to turn in for redemption.
Day 15: Play indoor basketball (safely).
Day 16: Kick bath time up a notch with the new Rescue Boat and Helicopter from Green Toys (my kids are getting a kick out of these toys!). Add some drops of food coloring to the bath for added fun!
Day 17: Turn bottles into sand toys or water toys! It’s super easy and the kids will think its totally awesome.
Day 18: Cut up a side of a cereal box to make a simple homemade puzzle. Or use new puzzles from Green Toys, Dump Truck, Tea Time, and Garden Puzzles!
Day 19: Keep an egg carton, cut each section apart and punch holes in it. Thread a pipe cleaner through to connect and make a train.
Day 20: Keep those cardboard boxes and hammer tees into it!
Day 21: Beat on pots and pans to make music! Classic idea, but it never gets old for kids, no matter how old!
Day 22: Have a relaxing day with a tea party and cupcakes. The Green Toys Tea Set and brand new Cupcake Set are a perfect pairing.
Day 23: Grab some paper plates and use them as skates!
Day 24: Draw 6 lines on the sidewalk with chalk (like a ladder). How far can they jump? This is simply taking our 5 lines of tape activities outside with sidewalk chalk.
Day 25: Play a game of I Spy, or What’s Missing?
Day 26: Have kids help in the kitchen, bake together or make dinner together. Not sure what your kids can do to help in the kitchen? I have a few tips.
Day 27: Make a nature suncatcher! Go outside and collect favorite pieces of nature (from blades of grass to leaves to flowers and sticks). Stick them on a piece of contact paper to hang in the window. Here’s two examples: Simple Nature Suncatcher with Paper Plates and Nature Suncatcher Wind Chimes.
Day 28: Draw lines on the driveway with chalk and erase them away with water.
Day 29: Make a color collage with used magazines, or sort by something
Day 30: Play your favorite board game together or teach your kids to play war. (Don’t know how to play War? Find rules and variations here.)
There you have it. Now… the challenge. Will you pledge to play an hour every day?
Take the Pledge and share with #PledgetoPlay
You’ll have a chance to win their toy chest filled with 100% play!
Green Toys™ brand is continuing to transform the toy industry with more new toys that are US-made, eco-friendly and socially responsible! Their products encourage open-ended, unplugged play (the whole point of this pledge).
Can You Promise to Play an Hour a Day for 30 Days? on handsonaswegrow.com
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