I love play silks!!! They are right up there with blocks and, to date, have not resulted in bruises or bloodshed… So maybe that alone, would place them above blocks. And actually now that we’ve owned ours for several years and are getting a bit further into our homeschool journey, I’m loving them more and more!
Because so much of our learning is hands-on and dramatic, we find that we are using them all the time and I don’t envision this slowing down anytime soon!
A play silk is simply a silk square (most commonly 36×36, but can be purchased/found in other sizes. Durable, beautiful, and useful in so many ways, play silks are an affordable way to inspire creativity and pretend play often absent from today’s toy box. They are probably the most used toy in our home and promote open-ended and imaginative play in a way that scripted toys simply cannot.
Play silks are perfect for: playing peek-a-boo, a doll blanket, sling, wings, a cape, a river, a turban, pirate’s headscarf, skirt, toga, belt, knights uniform, fort, or anything else a child dreams up…
Here are some peak into some of the ways our boys have played with them:
A Toy Garden is my favorite place to buy them. The quality is superb and her customer service is amazing. I don’t think there are any better deals on this quality of dyed silks out there.
[Open-Ended Play Series, PART 6]
PART 1 ~ Free to Play
PART 2 ~ Sounds Easy Enough
PART 3 ~ Micro-Managing No More
PART 4 ~ Keep It Simple
PART 5 ~ Block Play: Building a Child’s Mind
PART 6 ~ Playsilks: Inspiring Creativity
PART 7 ~ Open-Ended Costumes
PART 8 ~ Kitchen Play
PART 9 ~ From Trash to Treasure
PART 10 ~ Making It Work
Adore this post! I am sharing it in a roundup of playsilks!
Love meeting a fellow-playsilk loving famly!
Hello Heather: It was wonderful meeting you at the homeschooling convention. I found your (and your mother’s) remarks at the workshops inspiring and a true validation that everything I am doing to educate my young children through play and games is “on-track.” I “liked” your blog on facebook. I think these silks would be a wonderful addition to our current exploration of music. I could see my two kiddos dancing around with the silks to the rythm of the music. I hope we win. Thank you and God Bless. Claudia
cmplumb1@yahoo.com
Oh, I wanna win these! These look really fun! Love your blog. Just your book recommendations alone are really helpful to me.