Today we share 7 different ways to play with a thing everyone surely have at home – a blanket! We hope these blanket games will inspire you and your child to find even more ways to play with other common items you have at your home.
I’m really excited about sharing 7 ways to play with a blanket, one for each day of the week. We have a room full of toys but so many of them are left untouched. Harry loves imaginative games and a simple blanket has so many possibilities. You will notice lots of these activities also feature Harry’s cuddly toys, one of the few toy that find their way out of the toy box and onto our sofa every day.
Day 1 – Build a Simple Blanket Den
We love making dens and this blanket den is simple enough to make (and take down) in a minute.
How to make a simple blanket den:
- just bring two chairs into the lounge,
- throw a blanket over the top of both chairs to make a den.
- Let a child bring in cushions and toys
Harry (age 3) loves collecting all the cushions and cuddly toys from around the house and filling his den with them. He often gets so carried away and forgets to leave room for himself!
Day 2 – Play Hospital
Playing doctors can keep Harry entertained for ages. Doctor Harry loves tucking up his teddies and using his doctor kit to make them better. You can even make homemade bandages for sick animal friends.
What he loves even more though is becoming the patient, tucking himself up under a blanket and waiting for Doctor Mummy to come and make him better.
Day 3 – Superhero Blanket Game
Harry is a huge superhero fan (with Batman as a definitely favourite). He loves taking on the role of a superhero and going off on adventures to fight villains and save the world. We used a blanket to make a superhero cape. It’s really simple, just tie 2 ends of the blanket around child’s neck.
He loved his blanket cape and it helped him really get into his role, (I had to be the bad guy of course!).
Day 4 – Have a Teddy Bear Picnic
What child doesn’t love a teddy bears picnic? We often lay a blanket down, collect a few cuddly toys and have a jam sandwich picnic together.
Here we are having a yummy chocolate picnic and learning to count and recognize numbers at the same time.
Speaking of teddy bears, child will also enjoy throwing a teddy bear race!
Day 5 – Ten in the Bed Nursery Rhyme
After tucking Harry’s toy into a blanket, we sang the nursery rhyme ten in the bed. This was great number practice for Harry and he loves singing, but the highlight was definitely the teddies falling out of the bed (which Harry thought was hilarious).
Ten in the bed lyrics:
There were ten in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were nine in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over And one fell out There were eight in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were seven in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were six in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were five in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were four in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were three in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There were two in the bed And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!" So they all rolled over and one fell out There was one in the bed And the little one said, "Alone at last!"
Day 6 – An island blanket game
After laying our blue blanket on the floor Harry decided the blanket was to be the sea with cushions as boats. He really used his imagination and got into the idea of sailing off to a far away island.
His cuddly toys and Daisy (6 months) boarded the boats and he loved making sure they all had dinner (which he decided was potatoes!)
Day 7 – Movie time
Who wouldn’t love relaxing on the sofa under a blanket whilst watching a movie? We made some yummy biscuits, Harry got himself cosy and we enjoyed cuddling up together. Perfect!
So grab a blanket or two and let your child use their imagination. I wonder what adventures you will have?
Hello, I’m Louise. I am a primary school teacher and I LOVE anything arty, Harry loves making a mess and Daisy just smiles at everything. We have lots of arty, crafty, messy fun together and I would love to share our creations and activities with you. I blog at “Messy Little Monster’ and I would love you to pop over to see all the crafts, activities, and adventures I get up to with my little monster Harry (3) and his baby sister Daisy (6 months).
In Less Toys. More Play. article series we share ideas how to reduce toy consumerism, unclutter child’s rooms and bring more engaged play to our children.
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