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Kids Play Smarter

Maximizing your child's play with purposeful activities

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Picking Spelling Flowers

January 20, 2017 by Amy Smith

Make learning more fun with this kids' game! Teach spelling words, letters, numbers, or shapes to your kids with these flowers. Perfect for school or home!

Add some fun to your child's spelling list or sight words with this adorable Picking Spelling Flowers game!   Learning with plain old notecards gets boring for kids, so transform the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities Tagged With: learning activities, preschool, school activities

Help your Child Love School

January 7, 2017 by Amy Smith

Learn tips on how to help your child love going to school. Find out how to make learning fun and ease the anxiety of making new friends.

Kids Play Smarter is happy to introduce Tracey Clayton, a guest blogger and a mother of 3, so she knows quite a bit about kids and school. Here's her tips on helping your child love … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Handwriting Help Tagged With: learning activities, preschool, school

Applesauce Etch-O-Sketch

October 1, 2016 by Amy Smith

Teach your child shapes, letters, and numbers with this hands-on applesauce etch-o-sketch activity. Grab some applesauce and get to learning today!

Motivating children to learn new academic concepts like letters, numbers, words, and shapes can be challenging.  You may have tried using worksheets and notecards, but those methods … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities Tagged With: academic activities, learning activities, preschool

Shape-O-Lantern

September 24, 2016 by Amy Smith

Find out how to make this cute craft activity for kids while teaching them about shapes, colors, and patterns

Skip out on the pumpkin carving mess and instead grab some felt pieces to make this adorable shape-o-lantern that your little 'pumpkins' will love!   The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities Tagged With: crafts, learning letters, preschool

 Healthy Halloween Party Snacks

September 4, 2016 by Amy Smith

Halloween snacks that are healthy and festive and taste good "witch" are sure to be big a hit at the party !

Most kids love everything about Halloween... costumes (they always choose superhero capes), decorations, parties, games, and sweets. Between school parties, family and friend get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Therapist's Tips Tagged With: Halloween ideas, healthy food, preschool

Running Race Cars

June 17, 2016 by Amy Smith

Make exercising fun for your child by turning them into a running race car! This motivating game will surly get your child's engine running in full gear!

Start your engines.... ready, set, GO! Get your child's engine up and running with this adorable race car game. You probably know the importance of making sure your child gets enough … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gross Motor Activities Tagged With: exercise, gross motor activities, preschool, race cars

5 Educational Spray Bottle Games

May 7, 2016 by Amy Smith

Improve your child's academic skills with letters, numbers, shapes, and words in these fun spray bottle games!

There seems to be some kind of fascination that kids have with spray bottles! What better way to sneak some educational value into an already motivating game than to incorporate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Gross Motor Activities Tagged With: hand stregthening, learning activities, play, preschool

Fill Up Your Word Cup

May 5, 2016 by Amy Smith

Improve your child's reading and letter recognition and fine motor skills with this eye dropper game

Kids adore playing with water, especially colored water.  So, why not incorporate learning into something fun so that the kids will be motivated to play longer (translation to parents= … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Handwriting Help Tagged With: fine motor activities, pincer grasp, preschool, water activities

Smart Sensory Squirrel

April 26, 2016 by Amy Smith

Improve your child's sensory experience along with academic learning concepts such as shapes, letters, or numbers with this smart sensory squirrel game. Your kids will love it!

Try making this adorable smart sensory squirrel with your child and let the learning experiences begin!   This activity is perfect for the busy mom, teacher, or therapist … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Sensory Regulation Tagged With: fine motor activities, learning games, preschool, sensory activities, tactile activities

What did the Piggy Eat?

April 24, 2016 by Amy Smith

Develop social skills, sensory skills, and tactile discrimination skills with this fun piggy game for kids!

This sensory based game called "What did the piggy eat" is sure to be a hit in any home or classroom! Children love games built upon silly concepts and this game is sure to make your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Sensory Regulation Tagged With: fine motor activities, preschool, sensory activities, tactile activities

Kid’s Trick for Putting Shoes on the Right Feet!

April 22, 2016 by Amy Smith

Kid's trick for getting your child to put their shoes on the right feet each time independently! Try it out, it's so simple!

Anyone with young children knows the struggle with kids who want to do 'everything' themselves, including putting their shoes on .... (and oftentimes, the wrong feet).  Yes, it is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Therapist's Tips Tagged With: dressing, preschool, self-care skills, shoes, toddlers

X-Ray Man for Excellent Writing

April 11, 2016 by Amy Smith

DIY craft that teaches kids handwriting, letters, shapes, colors, and numbers by using a baby wipes box as an X-Ray Man.

Want to sneak in some handwriting practice in a fun, child-friendly way? Play this X-Ray Man for excellent writing game! This game is simple to make and can be easily adapted to fit any … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Handwriting Help Tagged With: handwriting, learning activities, preschool

Jump and Learn

April 7, 2016 by Amy Smith

Want to learn a great way to spice up learning, especially with how to read and spelling practice? Try this jump and learn game! It's simple to set up and it's actually a much more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gross Motor Activities, Sensory Regulation Tagged With: academic activities, gross motor activities, learning games, preschool

Welcome to Kids Play Smarter

Amy Smith I am an occupational therapist with over 10 years of experience working with children. I created this website to offer parents, teachers, and therapists FREE ideas, strategies, and activities that they can do with their children to improve their fine and gross motor skills, handwriting, academic learning, and regulate their sensory system all while "playing" (just playing smarter)! Read More…

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