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Things to do, Places to go
Learning through play
Having fun with your child is one of the best bits of being a dad. There are plenty of things you
can do at home at very little cost. Children learn though play, so any activity you can do with
your child will help it to grow and develop – and you will find it will also help you to bond together.
They will remember what you do together much more than the things that they play with. Costly
toys tend to give them a lot of instant fun, but the ‘old faithful’ simple toys that help them to
make noises and construct things will probably give them better value.
Safe play and risk taking
You will naturally want to make sure that your child is safe whatever you do with him or her.
It will be important to ensure that the activity is suitable for your child’s age and abilities.
You will also want to remove the risks of your child getting hurt. Some careful thought before
you start an activity will probably ensure that the activity is safe, fun and rewarding. It would
be wrong however to try to remove all risks. Risks are a part of everyday life. We can’t wrap
ourselves and our children in cotton wool. Children have to learn to avoid risks themselves or
to reduce the chance of injury to themselves and others if they do take a risk. On occasions
they may simply have to be told ‘No!’ but in most cases they can be helped to identify the risks
and then to carry on while taking precautions.
Learning through play
Having fun with your child is one of the best bits of being a dad. There are plenty of things you
can do at home at very little cost. Children learn though play, so any activity you can do with
your child will help it to grow and develop – and you will find it will also help you to bond together.
They will remember what you do together much more than the things that they play with. Costly
toys tend to give them a lot of instant fun, but the ‘old faithful’ simple toys that help them to
make noises and construct things will probably give them better value.
Safe play and risk taking
You will naturally want to make sure that your child is safe whatever you do with him or her.
It will be important to ensure that the activity is suitable for your child’s age and abilities.
You will also want to remove the risks of your child getting hurt. Some careful thought before
you start an activity will probably ensure that the activity is safe, fun and rewarding. It would
be wrong however to try to remove all risks. Risks are a part of everyday life. We can’t wrap
ourselves and our children in cotton wool. Children have to learn to avoid risks themselves or
to reduce the chance of injury to themselves and others if they do take a risk. On occasions
they may simply have to be told ‘No!’ but in most cases they can be helped to identify the risks
and then to carry on while taking precautions.
Useful Links
• For your local Children’s Centre www.oxonchildrenscentres.org.uk
• 100 free or cheap things to do with your kids www.zenhabtis.net
• Events, ideas and links for outdoor activities in Oxfordshire: www.oxfordshireoutside.org.uk/
• If you are feeling creative www.things2make.com
• Free Days out in Britain www.visitbritain.com
• Days out with your children www.letsgowiththechildren.co.uk
• Things to do in Oxfordshire www.oxfordcityguide.com
• How to make a den in the garden www.wikihow.com/make-a-den
• 100 fun things to do with your family www.angelfire.com
• Oxfordshire Family Information Services:
www.oxonfis.org.uk or call 08452 26 26 36
• For your local Children’s Centre www.oxonchildrenscentres.org.uk
• 100 free or cheap things to do with your kids www.zenhabtis.net
• Events, ideas and links for outdoor activities in Oxfordshire: www.oxfordshireoutside.org.uk/
• If you are feeling creative www.things2make.com
• Free Days out in Britain www.visitbritain.com
• Days out with your children www.letsgowiththechildren.co.uk
• Things to do in Oxfordshire www.oxfordcityguide.com
• How to make a den in the garden www.wikihow.com/make-a-den
• 100 fun things to do with your family www.angelfire.com
• Oxfordshire Family Information Services:
www.oxonfis.org.uk or call 08452 26 26 36
a site by Dads
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for Dads in
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Books
A child is never too young to have a book. Early on books will be made of cloth or cardboard. Initially they will look at colours, shapes, textures and sizes and enjoy flipping the pages. You can talk with them about what they can see or feel. Later they will start to understand pictures, recognize faces, count numbers and name colours, objects, animals. You can help them put names to all these. Later , as you look at the pages together, they will learn to follow stories both by following the pictures and predicting the story and then by listening to stories that you may read to them.
Later still they will start to identify letters and words and help you to read stories before they gain the confidence and skills to read them themselves. Through stories children soon learn to recognize and name emotions and feelings, For example, you will find it interesting helping your child to recognize whether a face is sad, angry or happy. Through this they learn to name and express their own feelings.
Making music
All children enjoy music and singing rhymes. You can make ‘music’ and rhythms simply by playing with pots and pans, bells, rattles, drums and shakers. You can make a drum from a tin or a shaker by putting some dried peas, rice or pebbles into a plastic bottle. Play some music or sing some nursery rhymes and the rattle comes into its own.
A child is never too young to have a book. Early on books will be made of cloth or cardboard. Initially they will look at colours, shapes, textures and sizes and enjoy flipping the pages. You can talk with them about what they can see or feel. Later they will start to understand pictures, recognize faces, count numbers and name colours, objects, animals. You can help them put names to all these. Later , as you look at the pages together, they will learn to follow stories both by following the pictures and predicting the story and then by listening to stories that you may read to them.
Later still they will start to identify letters and words and help you to read stories before they gain the confidence and skills to read them themselves. Through stories children soon learn to recognize and name emotions and feelings, For example, you will find it interesting helping your child to recognize whether a face is sad, angry or happy. Through this they learn to name and express their own feelings.
Making music
All children enjoy music and singing rhymes. You can make ‘music’ and rhythms simply by playing with pots and pans, bells, rattles, drums and shakers. You can make a drum from a tin or a shaker by putting some dried peas, rice or pebbles into a plastic bottle. Play some music or sing some nursery rhymes and the rattle comes into its own.
Scribbling, drawing and painting
Some blank paper and some chalks or crayons – or pencils and felt tips if they are older - will provide lots of fun as they play with scribbles, colours and shapes. You can also play guessing game with shapes and drawings. If you have old clothes or aprons, painting with poster paints using sponges or brushes will be very popular. Your child may not be able to tell you what it is, but you can appreciate what they have done and talk about what you can see. Try not to call it a mess!
Making things
If you have some wooden or plastic building blocks your child will find many uses from initially knocking down the towers that you have built, to building them themselves (before knocking them down again) and moving on to making houses, dens, farms, roads and much more. Construction games are popular with all children.
Imaginative play
Dressing up is a firm favourite for lots of children. It’s a good idea to keep a box full of old clothes, hats, gloves, scarves and shoes. You won’t need to tell them what to do. They will play and play for hours.
Water play
Water, indoors or outdoors, provides endless fun and the chance to experiment with pouring, stirring, filling and emptying cups, bowls and jugs. If you can do this in the bath or in a bowl on a plastic sheet it will provide endless fun. If you have some old guttering and pipes, you may be able to set up a water-run where children can pour water into a gutter or pipe at one end and control how it flows down other pipes and tubes until it reaches a bowl at the bottom. Don’t forget to have a spare change of clothes. Getting wet is all part of the fun!
Messy play
Messy play with glue, paint, clay and mud is always popular whether you are at home or outdoors. If you can collect up old cardboard packing of all shapes and sizes, a bit of glue or tape and some poster paints your child’s imagination will do the rest. An apron or change of clothes might be useful here too.
Some blank paper and some chalks or crayons – or pencils and felt tips if they are older - will provide lots of fun as they play with scribbles, colours and shapes. You can also play guessing game with shapes and drawings. If you have old clothes or aprons, painting with poster paints using sponges or brushes will be very popular. Your child may not be able to tell you what it is, but you can appreciate what they have done and talk about what you can see. Try not to call it a mess!
Making things
If you have some wooden or plastic building blocks your child will find many uses from initially knocking down the towers that you have built, to building them themselves (before knocking them down again) and moving on to making houses, dens, farms, roads and much more. Construction games are popular with all children.
Imaginative play
Dressing up is a firm favourite for lots of children. It’s a good idea to keep a box full of old clothes, hats, gloves, scarves and shoes. You won’t need to tell them what to do. They will play and play for hours.
Water play
Water, indoors or outdoors, provides endless fun and the chance to experiment with pouring, stirring, filling and emptying cups, bowls and jugs. If you can do this in the bath or in a bowl on a plastic sheet it will provide endless fun. If you have some old guttering and pipes, you may be able to set up a water-run where children can pour water into a gutter or pipe at one end and control how it flows down other pipes and tubes until it reaches a bowl at the bottom. Don’t forget to have a spare change of clothes. Getting wet is all part of the fun!
Messy play
Messy play with glue, paint, clay and mud is always popular whether you are at home or outdoors. If you can collect up old cardboard packing of all shapes and sizes, a bit of glue or tape and some poster paints your child’s imagination will do the rest. An apron or change of clothes might be useful here too.
Growing things
Planting seeds and growing things can be messy whether in the kitchen, the garage, the balcony or the garden. All you need is some earth and some packets of seed. Mustard and cress are a good way to start because they germinate so quickly indoors. If you have a garden you will find that children can really enjoy having their own patch where they can grow their own flowers, fruit and veg.
Cooking
Another form of messy play is, of course cooking. While there are some key safety issues to consider, there are many foods than can be prepared without the need for baking at all, such a icing biscuits and buns and preparing a snack of fruit and veg arranging the food in shapes such as faces before eating them. Preparing dough, pastry or cake ingredients for baking can be very ‘hands-on’. With the right supervision children can help with baking provided that it is age-appropriate and you work out how to do it safely and without risk
Old favourites
Think for a moment about what you used to enjoy at home or outdoors. Sure enough those same games will appeal to your own child, from hide and seek to hunt the thimble; from musical bumps to rough and tumble and from splashing in puddles to making mud pies.
Outdoors
Outdoor play in the park, the woods or the mud is great and doesn't cost anything!! Get stuck in and have fun! Never go out without a ball in hand and a child’s magnifying glass. Bug-hunting in the garden or park is often very popular, but make sure you have a little pocket guide with you because there are all sorts of creepy crawlies that you probably have never heard of.
Places to go
If you like to get out and about there are various places you can go whether just you and your child or to meet other dads. Children Centres are one-stop shops for information, company, and support for mothers and fathers of under fives as well as being wonderful places for their children to play.
If you are ever at a loss for things to do, try a visit to your local library or a museum. Museums are great places for children to get interactive with history and the world around you:
• Ashmolean Museum: www.ashmus.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 278 000
• Pitt Rivers Museum: www.prm.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 270 927
• Museum of the History of Science: www.mhs.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 277 280
• Museum of Oxford: www.museumofoxford.org.uk or call 01865 252 761
• Oxford Bus Museum: www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk or call 01993 883 617
• River & Rowing Museum Henley: www.rrm.co.uk or call 01491 415 600
And finally, if you have a computer, try searching ‘Things to do with your child’ and you will be amazed at what comes up!
Planting seeds and growing things can be messy whether in the kitchen, the garage, the balcony or the garden. All you need is some earth and some packets of seed. Mustard and cress are a good way to start because they germinate so quickly indoors. If you have a garden you will find that children can really enjoy having their own patch where they can grow their own flowers, fruit and veg.
Cooking
Another form of messy play is, of course cooking. While there are some key safety issues to consider, there are many foods than can be prepared without the need for baking at all, such a icing biscuits and buns and preparing a snack of fruit and veg arranging the food in shapes such as faces before eating them. Preparing dough, pastry or cake ingredients for baking can be very ‘hands-on’. With the right supervision children can help with baking provided that it is age-appropriate and you work out how to do it safely and without risk
Old favourites
Think for a moment about what you used to enjoy at home or outdoors. Sure enough those same games will appeal to your own child, from hide and seek to hunt the thimble; from musical bumps to rough and tumble and from splashing in puddles to making mud pies.
Outdoors
Outdoor play in the park, the woods or the mud is great and doesn't cost anything!! Get stuck in and have fun! Never go out without a ball in hand and a child’s magnifying glass. Bug-hunting in the garden or park is often very popular, but make sure you have a little pocket guide with you because there are all sorts of creepy crawlies that you probably have never heard of.
Places to go
If you like to get out and about there are various places you can go whether just you and your child or to meet other dads. Children Centres are one-stop shops for information, company, and support for mothers and fathers of under fives as well as being wonderful places for their children to play.
If you are ever at a loss for things to do, try a visit to your local library or a museum. Museums are great places for children to get interactive with history and the world around you:
• Ashmolean Museum: www.ashmus.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 278 000
• Pitt Rivers Museum: www.prm.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 270 927
• Museum of the History of Science: www.mhs.ox.ac.uk or call 01865 277 280
• Museum of Oxford: www.museumofoxford.org.uk or call 01865 252 761
• Oxford Bus Museum: www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk or call 01993 883 617
• River & Rowing Museum Henley: www.rrm.co.uk or call 01491 415 600
And finally, if you have a computer, try searching ‘Things to do with your child’ and you will be amazed at what comes up!
Tips from OxonDads
• Playing with your child need not cost you the earth. The simpler the better.
• Children learn though play. Play with them when they want you to but sometimes
just watch them playing on their own.
• Watch your children play and you will learn a lot about them
• Playing with your child creates a bond with them that will grow and grow and be treasured lifelong.
• Risks are a part of everyday life. Children need to learn how to spot them and how to find ways of avoiding harm.
• A child is never too young to read a book
• Even if you can’t sing, your child won’t notice and will love singing or gurgling with you.
• A lots of play things can be made at minimal cost – or you can just use everyday household items
like pots, pans, spoons and water
• Mess and messy play are part of growing and learning. So go with it!
• Cooking doesn’t have to be dangerous.
• Outdoor play, even in the rain, is just as important for children as indoor play
• Make use of local places where you can take your children to play, such as parks and children’s centres.
• If your child is disabled, always check that the place you are going to is accessible. If it isn’t, ask ‘Why not?’
• Dads’ groups always have safe play activities available for you and your children
• Playing with your child need not cost you the earth. The simpler the better.
• Children learn though play. Play with them when they want you to but sometimes
just watch them playing on their own.
• Watch your children play and you will learn a lot about them
• Playing with your child creates a bond with them that will grow and grow and be treasured lifelong.
• Risks are a part of everyday life. Children need to learn how to spot them and how to find ways of avoiding harm.
• A child is never too young to read a book
• Even if you can’t sing, your child won’t notice and will love singing or gurgling with you.
• A lots of play things can be made at minimal cost – or you can just use everyday household items
like pots, pans, spoons and water
• Mess and messy play are part of growing and learning. So go with it!
• Cooking doesn’t have to be dangerous.
• Outdoor play, even in the rain, is just as important for children as indoor play
• Make use of local places where you can take your children to play, such as parks and children’s centres.
• If your child is disabled, always check that the place you are going to is accessible. If it isn’t, ask ‘Why not?’
• Dads’ groups always have safe play activities available for you and your children
© OxonDads 2011| Run by Oxfordshire Parenting Forum Registered Charity No. 1080678
Sponsored by The Waites Foundation
e: info@oxondads.co.uk