Well, as we just wrapped up our series on the importance of and how to foster open-ended play with our children, I’m delighted to bring you all an opportunity to bring some play silks into your home!!!!
I talked extensively about them and shared examples of how we use them in our home in my post, Play Silks: Inspiring Creativity. I just love how this pile of silks has transformed their play and our learning adventures in so many powerful ways. A playsilk + the imagination of a child = endless possibilities!
Can’t you just tell by the look on his face that we love these compact and yet powerful play silks?!?!?
As I’ve said before, A Toy Garden is my favorite place to buy them. The price is low (especially when you buy more at one time), the quality is superb and her customer service is amazing. A Toy Garden has graciously offered to give to give one of my lucky readers TWO playsilks of their choice. That’s right, the winner will get to select their two favorite colors!!! This giveaway is open residents in the US and Canada only. You can see all of her color options here.
Here’s how to enter:
Mandatory entry: Leave a comment telling us how you think your children would enjoy using them or HOW your children have been creative in their play recently! Be sure to leave an email address if you don’t have a blog so that I can contact you if you win!
Additional Entries:
- Subscribe to Cultivated Lives through a reader, through Google Friends Connect or via email. (See sidebar). Leave a comment letting me know you have done this or are already subscribed.
- “Like” Cultivated Lives on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know you do.
- Subscribe to A Toy Garden’s email list to receive updates on sales 2 or 3 times a year. (Option to subscribe in top right corner of their website.) Leave an additional comment letting me know.
The giveaway ends on Wednesday, August 3th at 7pm, PST and the winner will be randomly selected. The winner will have 48 hours to get back to me with their contact information. If I don’t hear back from the winner within that time frame, another winner is selected.
When I told my boys about the giveaway this morning, they were so excited that they just had to pull the silks out and pose for some silly pictures… Xander (with the red playsilk) wanted you all to know that he is a crazy parachute guy.
GFC wasn’t working for me so I signed up via my email. Subscribed!
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Lately my son is all about cardboard boxes. He builds things with them. Last week our neighbor bought a futon and gave him the huge box it came in. He was in heaven playing in it.
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Right now, my oldest two are obsessed with Super Heroes! So, I know exactly what they would use the play scarves for first. 🙂 My DD loves to play dress up and her older brother and her come up with the most complex plots for their adventures! Playsilks would be such a welcome addition to their dramas!
Yesterday my daughter grabbed old neckties, scarves and a rope, knotted them together end-to-end and then tied one end around her hair to instantly become Rapunzel. It was precious seeing her climb on the couch calling out to her brother (who happened to be a knight) imploring him to climb her hair (3 neckties, 2 scarves and 1 rope long).
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I learned how to juggle with a similar item and would love to teach my brothers how to juggle with them also!
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Katie
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Katie
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My daughter loves gymnastics and dance (movement in generally). I think these would be a great way to tie in her “girlyness” and let her play a little while she practices her skills.
Katie
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sarah brown
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sarah brown
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I’m sure my daughter would turn the silk into a fairy tent.
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Danna
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Without a doubt, my boys (3 & 5) would tie the play silks like capes to be superheros! They are currently in LOVE with superheros. These play silks would complete their ensembles, capes, pan lid sheilds and felt masks.
Danna
ddlockerby@gmail.com
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I attended one of your classes at the AFHE convention. It was great. I’d love to win the play silks. I subscribed.
Danna
My little guy loves to make tunnels for his little train set out of blocks, or he is really putting sheets over chairs and tables to make a fort. I think play silks would help him pretend to fly like a superhero or disguise himself!
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I signed up for their e-mails. enlehman86@ gmail.com
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The uses are endless! My toddler loves to play dress up, build forts, and “clean” with me; these would work for all of those things! enlehman86@ gmail.com
I subscribed to a toy garden e-mail updates.
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I subscribe to your blog through e-mail:)
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I like your facebook page Hailey Ramsey
Oh my, the many ways these would be used at our house:) I see lots of super heroes and animal rescues going on. My little guy loves making sprinklers out of play dough and waffle blocks, so the blue would most likely become puddles!!
We have a couple of plain solid colored play silks. They get used to wrap baby dolls by the 1 yr old, dresses and crowns for 7 yr old and mostly as exploding bombs for the 4 yr old 🙂
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Jack would use them as capes or whips or to throw in the air!
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you already know how my kids love them! and we only have 2, but 4 kids… starts lots of fights 🙂 most common use is capes for super-hero action…
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Hurray! These look like so much fun! I can only begin to imagine all they would be used for, but probably a big one would be for “Jack” to hide from the giant. That happens all the time around here 🙂
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I just subscribed to my email : ) YAY!!
My kids LOVE blankets and I am SURE they’d love these silks!! Just 2 days ago they had flannel receiving blankets all over the floor….Kenzie was “decorating” for company. Ryken was using them to jump around the room and not touch the floor (it was fire or dangerous or something). I am sure these silks will be nursing covers, capes, tails, bags, and many other things that I am not creative enough to think of (but I am SURE my kids will be) 🙂
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I think Averi would maybe wrap her baby doll(s) in the play silk or wear it for a hat!
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The ever popular “stuff it in and pull it out!”
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I just subscribed to A Toy Garden’s email list.
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I already subscribe to Cultivated lives.
I just signed up to follow you via email. Can’t wait!! I love your site already!!
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These would be such a wonderful addition to our play. Princess capes, picnic blankets, dance props, head scarves…..the options are truly limitless!!
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I just found your blog while searching for info on playsilks!
I am now following you site! Thanks so much!
I think these would get used as forts and capes.
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Thank you and God Bless. Claudia
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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
Can never have too many play silks!!!
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My 4 & 6 year old children have been doing a lot of creative play with their little trains & people-figures, making up stories and adventures. I think play silks would be a fun way to have them enter into these stories themselves.
And Facebook… 🙂 What can I say? I can’t get enough of your ideas! 🙂
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I think the girls would love to play dress up with the play silks. And I think Jack will end up putting it over his head and enjoying the feel of it.
I saw your post on how the kids play with them. And I checked out A Toy Garden too. I would love to win a couple! How fun!
I’m a newbie to your blog, and was very much encouraged by two of your speaking sessions at the homeschool convention. My three children 4 and under would put the play silks to good use, I’m sure. Thanks for all the great information 🙂
My kids would love these… for dancing with, & for dress up!
Jessica
How would my kids use this? How would they NOT use them? I see superhero capes, Bible costumes and of course, PRINCESS outfits! 😉
Forgot this part…
One daughter said she’d tie them together to make long vines for a jungle in her room. Another daughter said she’d use them for creating different hairstyles or wrap them around her body in various ways, for a fashion show. Another daughter said she’d use them as privacy curtains for playing! 🙂
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Hmmm… how the kids have played recently… how HAVEN’T they?! 🙂
My kiddos LOVE playing Natives, Pretend-church, house, building forts, teacher and students, Daddy at work, etc., etc. All of these games involve “stuff” they find around the house. It’s glorious to be able to say they’re not really into popular toys.
The last time you posted about play silks, I thought about making some but never got around to it. Will you wrap that little girl in one? 🙂
Superheros is our family favorite. Also ballerina, tea party (tablecloth), and rescue device would be top ways for us to play with play silks!
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Judging by how the heat is making everybody a little kooky, I imagine my boys would turn their playsilks into a make shift bomb or a sister torturing device. My daughter on the other hand would use them as costumes, baby slings, baby blankets, clothing accessories or as ropes to tie up her little brothers.
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My daughter would love some play silks. I’m sure her first order of business would be to use them for some butterfly wings.
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I have 4 fun boys and a dainty little gal. I’m sure the playsilks will be made into invisibility cloaks, capes, mermaid tails, forts, and of course props for our weekly family dance party. What a fun idea.
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oh…my kids get into their meme’s scarves ALL the time and create ALL kinds of things!! she would love it if they won their own i’m sure 😀 thanks for the opportunity!
My daughter is only 5 1/2 months old but is already loving having soft fabric drawn over her face and starting to understand “peekaboo!” games! I think these would be so much fun for her, for now and for years to come. I love this kind of imagination toy!
ebickell at hotmail dot com
And I subscribe via email. Enjoyed this series!
Amanda
Possible have been on our list for awhile! What a great giveaway. We have an old scarf of Nanas that all three of my children love. Probably used everyday – peekaboo (6mo old), “ghost” (2.5 yr old) or as an ocean for te train track to go around (4 yr old) 🙂 Love it.
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My youngest is always pretending. He would love something has soft and versitile as playsilks to pretend to be a superhero’s cape or a swashbuckler’s belt or…the possibilites are endless.
I just found your blog while searching for info on playsilks! I think my almost-2 year old will find MANY ways to play with these, including using them with her own baby dolls and her soon-to-be-born baby sister!
Our children are constantly building forts. We are studying animal habitats this year, so we’ve already made rabbit burrows, wasp hives, polar bear dens, etc. We’d love to have the silks to build with and dress up with!
I already subscribe to your blog, thanks for al your great ideas!
crazy parachute.. love it!
With 5 boys, I know without a doubt there would be capes and probably some bull-fighting!
I have really enjoyed this series. Your ideas are always inspiring!
trheath@bellsouth.net
The girls would love to play with playsilks. Already I see many baby blankets, super girls, and spider girls!
I think my kids would love them! We don’t have any playsilks but they like to use scarves and towels for dress up, and they use different colored towels to mark different types of terrain for dolls & action figures (i.e. “the blue towel is the ocean, the white is the beach and this wadded up purple towel is Mount Everest!”)
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My kids are always drawn to colorful things… and these play silks look so bright and fun! They already try to wear their favorite blankets, but they are heavy and tend to fall off. I imagine that dress up would be a favorite activity.