✨ Tiny Try-It: Bring a Wonder Guide on your next walk, trip to the grocery store, or even a drive across town. Ask, "What should we show our friend today?" Sometimes seeing the world through someone else's eyes helps us notice the wonder that was there all along. — Pip 🩵 #WonderPlay #TinyTryIt #FollowPipFindWonder #EverydayWonder #WonderBeginsWithNoticing

🐦 Meet Pip. Over the past couple of months, WonderPlay has been quietly growing behind the scenes. I've been refreshing WonderPlay and building wonderplay.life—not changing what WonderPlay is, but finding an even better way to share the philosophy that's been at its heart from the very beginning. Today, I'd love to introduce you to someone special... 🐦 Meet Pip, WonderPlay's Wonder Guide. Pip reminds us to slow down, look closely, ask curious questions, and notice the little things that are so easy to miss. A feather on the sidewalk. A cloud that looks like a dragon. A tiny flower growing through a crack. A puddle reflecting the sky. Pip believes wonder is often hiding in the ordinary. Sometimes we discover it. Sometimes we create it. Swipe to join Pip for your very first Tiny Try-It and see what you notice today. ❤️ Follow Pip. Find wonder. #WonderPlay #FollowPip #WonderGuide #TinyTryIt #EverydayWonder #PlayBasedLearning #ChildhoodWonder

🌼 Tiny Try-It #4: Wonder Walk – Finding & Sharing the Beauty of the World Today's Tiny Try-It was inspired by the beautiful picture book Baby Bunny and the Flower by Nina Kondratenko. This gentle story reminds us that every flower, tree, butterfly, and tiny creature has an important place in our world. Through Baby Bunny's journey, children discover that caring for nature means protecting its beauty so everyone can enjoy it—not just today, but for years to come. 🌿 Try this together: Take a slow Wonder Walk around your neighborhood, a local park, or even your own backyard. As you walk, challenge yourselves to notice five beautiful things: 🌼 A colorful flower 🦋 A butterfly or busy bee 🍃 An interesting leaf 🐦 A bird or bird song ☁️ A cloud that sparks your imagination Instead of picking flowers or collecting treasures, practice leaving them where they are so someone else can discover them too. Sometimes the kindest thing we can do is simply admire nature and help care for it. As you explore, wonder together: ✨ What caught your eye today? ✨ Why do you think it's beautiful? ✨ How can we help protect this place? ✨ How might leaving it here bring joy to someone else? Sometimes the greatest gift we can give is leaving a little more beauty in the world than we found. 💛 Wonder Together: What beautiful thing did you discover today? Check out this amazing little story from your local library or grab from the Amazon Affiliate link in the first comment. #TinyTryIt #WonderWalk #WonderPlay #ChildhoodWonder #NaturePlay #PlayBasedLearning #EverydayWonder #WonderTogether #OutdoorLearning #FindWonder

🩷 Tiny Try-It #3: Homemade WonderDough Yesterday afternoon, we hit that familiar after-nap slump. I almost didn't make play dough because I couldn't find the cookie cutters, I didn't have any rollers nearby, and honestly...I had just finished washing all the dishes and didn't feel like pulling out the kitchen tools. Then I thought... What if we just used our hands? So we measured, poured, and mixed together. She carefully added each ingredient, chose blue and red food coloring, and decided our play dough should smell like blueberries and strawberries because, in her words, it needed to "smell yummy." Then the real magic began. With nothing but our hands and a whole lot of imagination, we made: 🦖 Dinosaurs (by squishing the dough between our fingers!) 🐍 Snakes 🪱 Worms 🪺 Bird nests with tiny eggs 🐻 Even a bear I simply stayed present, asked questions, listened to her ideas, and followed where her imagination led. What I thought might be a quick 10-minute activity turned into 45 minutes of joyful, connected play. It was a beautiful reminder that sometimes we don't need more materials. Sometimes we just need a simple invitation. ✨ Wonder doesn't begin with having the "right" supplies. It begins when we slow down, notice, imagine, and create together. And the best part? Everything we needed was already in the kitchen. 💛 Save this post for the WonderDough recipe! #TinyTryIt #WonderPlay #PlayDough #InvitationToPlay #PlayBasedLearning #EarlyChildhood #WonderEveryDay #SensoryPlay #OpenEndedPlay #LearningThroughPlay #WonderPlayLife

🍦 Tiny Try-It #2: Ice Cream Shop Yesterday, we created the cone... Today, let's fill it! 🍦 All you need is: 🥣 Sensory sand (or play dough) 🍨 An ice cream scoop 🍦 A bowl or cone 📚 A favorite ice cream story Then simply invite your child to play. Will they open an ice cream shop? Will they make the tallest scoop? Will they count, serve, pretend, and tell stories? There isn't one right way. Just an invitation to create together. ✨ Tiny Try-Its are simple, open-ended ideas designed to bring a little more wonder into everyday moments. What flavor would your child invent first? 🍓🫐🍫 #wonderplay #tinytryit #sensoryplay #playbasedlearning #invitationtoplay #earlychildhood #readplaycreate

I've been a little quiet around here... 💛 If you've noticed I've been missing from social media these past few months, I promise I haven't disappeared. I've been creating. For the past several months, I've been pouring my heart into building WonderPlay's new home: wonderplay.life. It's still growing (and if I'm honest, it probably always will be!), but it's finally at a place where I'm excited to open the doors and invite you in. This new space is built around a simple idea: ✨ Wonder isn't something we have to buy. ✨ Wonder is something we can notice, create, and share every day. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, therapist, or simply someone who loves watching children discover the world, I hope you'll find encouragement, inspiration, and practical ideas to bring a little more wonder into everyday life. To celebrate, I'm doing something fun... 🌈 For the next three weeks, I'll be sharing a new Tiny Try-It every weekday! These will be simple, open-ended invitations to play using everyday materials—activities designed to spark curiosity, creativity, conversation, and connection. Today's printable is the first one! 🍦 I'd love for you to print it, try it, and if you do, share a photo in the comments. Seeing your children's ideas is one of my favorite parts of this community. Thank you for sticking with me while I was busy building behind the scenes. I can't wait to share what's next. 💛 Welcome to WonderPlay. Life is full of wonder. Sometimes we find it. Sometimes we create it. 🌐 wonderplay.life

Try this Little Blue Truck Springtime activity we used in library groups and classrooms I support. First, children followed playful movement directions with soft blue trucks: “Put the truck on your head,” “Fly it through the air,” “Hold it between your legs.” As they grew more confident, they took turns being the “direction leader,” choosing where Little Blue Truck would go next—building listening, prepositions, and turn-taking through movement and laughter. Then we shifted to the table and used those same skills to follow a three-step routine: color, cut, glue. Children created their own Little Blue Truck pages, practicing sequencing, fine motor skills, and independence with a clear beginning, middle, and end. You can try this in small groups, classrooms, or therapy sessions—just grab a copy of Little Blue Truck’s Springtime, a toy truck, and simple make-and-take pages. #WonderPlay #BooktoPlay #StoryPlay #EndofYear

Beautiful Birth-to-Five Night at Tracey’s Elementary 💛 We loved creating playful, sensory-rich invitations for children and families to explore together as part of this community school event. From water play and color exploration to spring dough invitations and process art, the evening was filled with curiosity, connection, movement, and joy. One of our favorite parts of WonderPlay experiences is watching children of different ages engage side-by-side — each finding their own way into play. Development first. Theme second. Joy always. ✨ WonderPlay Learning

Today’s library group reminded me why “development first. theme second. joy always.” matters so much at My WonderPlay. 💚 Within minutes, all 3 children in our small group became dysregulated at the same time. Big feelings. Busy bodies. Overwhelm. Instead of pushing through the original plan, we shifted. Out came a simple pond invitation: 🪷 lily pads 🐸 tiny frogs 💧 calming blue sensory base 🥄 scoops + cups 🤲 open-ended play And alongside it, a quiet play dough invitation. No flashy directions. No pressure to “perform.” Just sensory-rich, child-led exploration. Slowly, breathing changed. Bodies softened. Conversation returned. Connection came back online. This is why I believe so deeply in process-based play environments. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can offer children is not more instruction — it’s regulation through beauty, sensory experience, movement, and wonder. The environment became the co-regulator today. And honestly? The children showed us exactly what they needed. ✨ #MyWonderPlay #BookToPlay #SensoryPlay #ChildLedLearning #ReggioInspired #PlayBasedLearning #CoRegulation #EarlyChildhood #WonderPlay #ProcessOverProduct #LibraryPlayGroup #WonderPlayLearning

Sensory Sunday ✨ Simple play dough invitations + open-ended materials + a little imagination = pure magic. One of my favorite moments from community events? Watching children naturally combine invitations together. A farm setup became a princess kingdom. Animals moved into castles. Tiny treasures became “magic gems.” No complicated directions. No “right way” to play. Just story, sensory exploration, and joyful connection. 💛 This is the heart of Book-To-Play™ — development first. theme second. joy always. Sometimes the best invitations are the simplest ones. #SensorySunday #BookToPlay #WonderPlayLearning #PlayBasedLearning #InvitationToPlay #ReggioInspired #WonderPlay #ProcessPlay #EarlyChildhood #PlayDoughInvitation #SmallWorldPlay #LearningThroughPlay