Over at KrazyDad the ever-creative Jim has put together some slitherlink puzzles with a twist.  For the uninitiated, Slitherlink is like suduko with a line; the goal is to draw one continuous line through the grid making it snake round 1, 2 or 3 sides of every square making the numbers match.  KrazyDad has a huge collection of puzzles which can be grasped by kids from 6 or 7 upwards, with his new collection of some 100 oddprintable pdf books of his new Penrose Slitherlinks, which puzzle away a 3D Q-bert style grid.

tag... play for today, 8up, printable

You may have noted that, over the last few days the welikeplay household has been stricken by the dreaded lurgy. And so my mind has been gratefully turned towards the basics of play. Those little activities that you did as a kid, that you now pass on to you own kids. Nothing too wild or complex, just simple wholesome everyday play.

Today it’s going to be paper darts. There are squillions of them around, from the very simple to the intricate in the extreme. For my kids, and for posterity I’ve cooked up an A4 blueprint printable.

You will need
a printer to print this ‘print and fold’ pdf (do set your Adobe to print actual size or the folds won’t quite meet up)
A4 paper
a paper clip or two
colouring pens/pencils

Print the welikeplay dart blueprint and give to the kids to follow the instructions (if they’re under 8 or spatially dizzy they’ll probably need a hand); with any luck a welikeplay design approved dart will appear. Colour and prep for launch. A gentle throw causes this design to glide off into the distance. In case of nosediving, throw more lightly; or failing that add a paperclip towards the back.

Enjoy.

tag... play for today, 8up, basics, makes, printable

As the welikeplay tribe is going nomadic today I spent some time with No1 child drafting a motorway bingo sheet. It had to have, I was instructed, some easy things to spot while on the road and some harder things to see.

We’ll be testing the sheet later and should it be worthy, more will be produced and posted at our welikeplay printables

Do download…

and enjoy.

Play test
This sheet gets the big thumbs up from No1; though it got dark too early to finish a whole line, it’s been squirreled away in a seat pocket until next time.  And perhaps I can dig out some of those self contained and self inking stamps to use with it.

tag... play for today, 5up, 8up, enjoy and achieve, printable

I spent the morning painting faces to help raise some funds for our local church. So I thought I’d better post my Facepainting crib sheet.

Facepainting is a bit of an art. Get the best paints you can, having used the Waterbased Snazaroo paints today I’d really rather not go back to the bargain bin face-crayons. Add a base layer first with a dab of water. Pat dry with a little more paint to get rid of any streaks. Add detail but keep it simple. Use big confident brush strokes and - this is important - chatter. Tell the kids what you’re going to do, what you’re doing and what you’ve done. Don’t stop, don’t ever frown and just keep talking.

Enjoy.

Download the Facepainting crib sheet (pdf)

tag... play for today, 5up, printable

Being World Maritime Day, today I’ll be making paper boats with the kids. A quick trawl through the net found a fantastic instruction sheet from Wild over Waterways. Being inland, I suppose its not strictly maritime, but any port in a storm.

you will need:
A4 paper
wax crayons
a little tape
a blob of playdough or tack
this sheet
a bath, big bowl, or paddling pool

remember… children and water are a good mix if you keep them safe and supervised

read on »

tag... play for today, 3up, 5up, printable