{"id":60,"date":"2018-01-16T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/"},"modified":"2018-01-16T09:00:58","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T09:00:58","slug":"focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3668 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Play Food\/Dishes <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Teach your host children how to say the names of some of the food and dishes in your language.<\/li>\n<li>Using English and\/or your language play games where you are ordering food like in a restaurant. Take turns with who will be the waiter and who is the customer.<\/li>\n<li>Come up with silly food combinations.\u00a0 For example: Who wants pickles on their slice of cake?<\/li>\n<li>Play a guessing game where the children have to figure out what food you are talking about.\u00a0 For example: I grow under the ground in the dirt.\u00a0 People eat me fried, mashed and baked.\u00a0 What am I? (a potato)<\/li>\n<li>Play a game with setting the table using your language to ask for the different items (plate, spoon, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Ask the children to divide the foods up into the different food groups (vegetables, meat, dairy, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Lego Blocks and Other Building Toys<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Divide up all of the blocks between the people playing, by taking turns for each person to select block by block.<\/li>\n<li>Suggest specific things to build (robots, houses, mountains etc.) and build together.<\/li>\n<li>Challenge everyone to use all of their blocks.<\/li>\n<li>Sort the blocks by color or shape and make patterns with them (red, blue, red, blue or square, triangle, rectangle.)\u00a0 You can create a pattern and ask the child to fill in what comes next to continue the pattern.<\/li>\n<li>Make the tallest block tower you can and let them knock it down (over and over again, if like most kids, they like destroying things.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3669 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/3326901245_14dcb8cf28_m.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"159\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mr. Potato Head<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Teach your host children the names of the different parts in your language and play a game asking them to put on the body parts by name.<\/li>\n<li>Play Hide and Seek with Mr. Potato Head. Have the children cover their eyes and count, while you hide Mr. Potato Head, then they go looking for him. Switch things up by letting them hide Mr. Potato Head and then you are the one to locate him.<\/li>\n<li>Play the same game above, but using Simon Says.\u00a0 Simon Says is a game where the leader gives commands by saying \u201cSimon says\u201d first. For example, \u201cSimon says, put on the nose.\u201d\u00a0 The players are only to follow the commands when the leader says &#8220;Simon says.&#8221; \u00a0If the leader doesn\u2019t say &#8220;Simon says&#8221; first and just says, \u201cput on the nose,\u201d\u00a0 and the player follows the command, they are out of the game.\u00a0 Repeat the game multiple times, so all kids get a turn to be the leader at least once.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Photos: \u00a0Lisa Maxwell (top) &amp; Tom Smalls (bottom)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point. Play Food\/Dishes Teach  <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,6,7],"tags":[47,48,49,50,21,51,52],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-au-pair-tips","category-child-care","category-cluster-meetings","category-fun-things-we-do","category-host-family-tips","category-kids","tag-boredom-busters","tag-child-care","tag-classic-toys","tag-imaginative-play","tag-interaction","tag-legos","tag-playtime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point. Play Food\/Dishes Teach Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christine Connally\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christine Connally\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\",\"name\":\"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/9fb9cc1886c2d66cd166e480ac0b1b3d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/\",\"name\":\"Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog\",\"description\":\"The place to find out about Au Pair in America in Orange County and the Inland Empire, California.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/9fb9cc1886c2d66cd166e480ac0b1b3d\",\"name\":\"Christine Connally\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0384e8d12ff1d5e0dac564347c3206310ff4eedaccc85b709a1bb5da20b7541?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0384e8d12ff1d5e0dac564347c3206310ff4eedaccc85b709a1bb5da20b7541?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christine Connally\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/author\/cicaupair\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog","og_description":"It is good to offer kids a balance of independent play time and play where you are actively engaging with them. You can make toys they may be bored with, feel new and exciting, by suggesting different ways to play with them. Try some of the ideas below as a starting point. Play Food\/Dishes Teach Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/","og_site_name":"Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog","article_published_time":"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg"}],"author":"Christine Connally","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christine Connally","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/","name":"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys - Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-16T09:00:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/9fb9cc1886c2d66cd166e480ac0b1b3d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/mdf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/play-food-300x185.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/2018\/01\/16\/focus-play-new-ideas-classic-toys\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Focus on Play: New Ideas for Some Classic Toys"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/","name":"Barbara&#039;s Au Pair In America Blog","description":"The place to find out about Au Pair in America in Orange County and the Inland Empire, California.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/9fb9cc1886c2d66cd166e480ac0b1b3d","name":"Christine Connally","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0384e8d12ff1d5e0dac564347c3206310ff4eedaccc85b709a1bb5da20b7541?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0384e8d12ff1d5e0dac564347c3206310ff4eedaccc85b709a1bb5da20b7541?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Christine Connally"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/author\/cicaupair\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/lam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}