As the toy catalogs start to arrive in the mail and family members start to ask what they can buy your little ones, try to think outside the box. As a mom of two boys (with birthdays right AFTER Christmas!), I’m not ready for one more car racing set that requires elaborate set-up. Matchbox cars litter the entirety of our floors most days and they love to build, build, build! They are also at the perfect age to really incorporate learning into playtime. Lakeshore Learning offers some great options this upcoming holiday season to make playtime fun and educational.
One of our favorite new gifts that the boys had a blast exploring is the Read Around the House! Treasure Hunt game. Set up the clues around the house and encourage the kids to discover them. At the end, 30 gold coins await your little pirates! The clues and riddles provide great opportunities to boost letter recognition, discover vowel sounds and work on rhyming. We love to take turns trying to guess the answers to the riddles.
The first time we opened the box my son Charlie loved rolling the riddles up into little scrolls with the small bands. I placed them all over the house in their designated spots and we had a blast discovering them each step of the way. My son Jack loved placing the coins in the little pouch and counting them. This is a great rainy day activity, good for a slightly bigger group, and can be fun practice for reinforcing what they are learning in preschool and at school.
Make the afternoon even more fun by adding in some fun pirate goodies! Think cannon balls, fish & chips, crocodile blood to drink, or get ambitious with this pirate ship cake.
What’s on your child’s wish list this Christmas? Share with us on Pinterest.
The Read Around the House Treasure Hunt game is not designed for children under 3 because it has small pieces.
