What Our Kids Like to Play {With Some Fun Crafts and Activities}

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Kohl’s. We were compensated for this post and received the included Carter’s clothing as compensation.

As moms, Julie and I both feel very strongly about the importance of play. We both allow our children to play freely. Free play is important to their growing minds and independence. Our same stance on play if probably how we became close friend so quickly. We met at a playground where we were letting our toddlers burn off some afternoon energy while we stood by and watched. We started chatting and that led to days and days of our kids playing together.

Our kids would explore our backyards together and on rainy days, we’d take turns letting them go wild in our playrooms. There were days when they were little that they would just all play on their own in the same room. Then as they got older, we’d watch them pair off and play in pairs and eventually all together. We don’t live near each other anymore, so sadly our daily play dates have ended, but when we get together, the kids pick up right where they left off. Just like when they were toddlers, we let them run off and play what they’d like while us moms enjoy some time chatting.

Free play whether solo or with other kids lets kids explore their interests, get creative and have fun.

It’s fun to see where kids’ imaginations take them and how their interests and the ways they play can differ so much from their siblings. We like to let our kids help pick out their clothes and they almost always pick items that go along with what they currently love to play. Carter’s always has cute, playful clothes that make creativity and their individual self-expressions come to life. Currently here are a few ways our kids are playing and the Carter’s styles they picked from Kohl’s (with some fun activities!):

Coupon Code Alert! From 3/17 – 4/2 $10 off a $40 purchase with promo code KIDSALE10

Maggie: Loves to play anything and everything animal related. She likes to pretend she is an animal, play with animal figurines and create animals with crafts and drawing. She prefers ALL of her clothes (even pajamas) have animals on them. Here’s a fun idea to make a puppy puppet (Maggie has made this quite a few times before!).

Paper Bag Puppy Dog Puppet

Supplies: Brown paper bag, white, pink, brown and black construction paper, marker

Directions: Cut out the puppy parts in the different colors shown. Have the child glue them onto the paper bag to create a cute little puppy puppet!

Alex: Wants to be a photographer when she grows up and loves taking pictures of everything she plays. She’s been asking to use my “big camera” lately and I’ve been slowing teaching her. She takes some great pictures! She was beyond thrilled about a t-shirt with a girl & her camera. If you have a little one that loves taking photos, I’d recommend: a Polaroid InstaMax, a VTech KiddiZoom or an old iPhone that doesn’t work as a phone but the camera still works. All three offer hours of creative play!

Andrew: Loves sharks! He likes to wear clothes with sharks on them as often as possible. He knows a lot about sharks too. Below is a free printable of shark facts for fellow shark fans.

Click here to download the Shark Facts printable to print or right click on each individual image to open it in a new window.  You can save it or print from there.  Make sure to scale it to size when printing!  

Whatever your little ones like to play and wherever their imagination takes them, just let them #PlayAllDay when you can. Happy play time everyone!

Don’t forget to shop Kohl’s tomorrow (3/17) to April 2nd with code KIDSALE10 for $10 off a $40 purchase .

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These affiliate links are not associated with Kohl’s.