Play invitations can be simple, such as a poster board and paint, or something more complex. They are designed to spark curiosity and invite play. If you provide materials with no goal in mind, these are open invitations. Your child can do with the materials whatever his or her creative heart desires. Suggestive invitations, such as my Box Town Invitation, obviously point toward a desired goal. Inspire your child's creativity to blossom with these kids activities.

Play invitations can be simple, such as a poster board and paint, or something more complex. They are designed to spark curiosity and invite play. If you provide materials with no goal in mind, these are open invitations. Your child can do with the materials whatever his or her creative heart desires. Suggestive invitations, such as my Box Town Invitation, obviously point toward a desired goal. Inspire your child's creativity to blossom with these play invitations.

1. Box Town Invitation: Display 2 or more boxes of different sizes, construction paper, glue, scissors, crayons or markers, and various little toys. Our box town provided hours of fun and got transformed many different ways!

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2. Build Invitation: There are endless materials one can provide for an invitation to build, and it can be left entirely open or suggestive. Invite your child to create something using toothpicks and marshmallows. My children ended up creating all sorts of things from letters to people to constellations.

3. Construction Site Invitation: There are a variety of materials that can be used for a construction site. Anything from your backyard, the sandbox or blocks can used to spark your child's imagination. Cloud Dough is easy and fun to use. Set it out in a container along with construction toys for digging, scooping, and dumping.

Cloud Dough Recipe: Mix 1 cup of baby oil with 8 cups of all-purpose flour.

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4. Play Dough Monster Invitation: Display play dough, toothpicks, gems, googly eyes, and craft sticks. This invitation requires no explanation. Children will make a lot of creative creatures from this. It's one of our favorites!

5. Felt Creations Invitation: Creating a felt board or felt notebook is easy. Simply staple felt to a foam board (or heavy card stock if you're creating a notebook) and provide plenty of felt cut-outs in varying shapes and sizes. This is a favorite activity in our home.