Fun with Den Building

Children love den building - provide them with some space and a few basic tools, and they'll be off making great little hideaway dens. But den building isn't just good fun - it's also a great way to get children to socialise and practice their creative play skills.

The benefits of den building

Challenging & creative play

Den building is a challenge that tests children's physical and mental skills - from planning out the perfect den to making the most of the resources available to build a great hideaway.

Social & imaginative play

Dens are most fun when shared with others - children love to get together and act out stories, whether their new den is a hobbit hole or a fairy cottage. As well as encouraging imaginative play, the act of den building is great to get kids to cooperate and work together to build the best den possible. 

Independent play

Den building is a great way to get children playing in a safe environment without adult supervision, encouraging independent play and creative thinking.

Natural play

Den building is a great way to get children interacting with their natural environment - the best dens are those constructed from the world around them. Involve trees, twigs, rocks and leaves in your den building and get children involved in the natural world.

Some simple den building tips

Children really don't need much encouragement or many resources to start den building - they can build a den almost anywhere! Try taking them out to a safe natural environment and providing them with some simple equipment - sticks, poles, blankets, that kind of thing. You'll be amazed how quickly they can put a den together from next to nothing.

Red Monkey provide a great range of play equipment especially designed to encourage den building - from simple den poles to ready-made outdoor den environments. If you're interested in adding some creative den building equipment to your play area, get in touch in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter, or simply give us a call on 0116 366 9922.

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Winter Outdoor Play Ideas

Winter is a great time for children to play outdoors. Wrapped up against the chill, children love to play out in the frost and snow. We've written about the necessities of keeping children's play safe during winter months - now we're brining you some great play ideas to help you make the most of winter playtime!

If we're lucky enough to see some snow this winter, here are a few games your kids will love:

Footprint tag

It's just like tag, with a snowy twist; the chasing player can only step in others' footprints! An extra bit of challenge that only the snow can bring - it's a wintery take on a classic outdoor game.

Snowball target practice

The first thing children do when faced with a garden full of snow is roll up a snowball - so why not give them some target practice? Set up a target and a point to throw from, and they'll have great fun honing their snowball-chucking skills.

Snow hurdles

Snow makes for a natural obstacle course - why not roll up some small balls of snow and use them to set out a hurdle course. Children will love running and jumping over snow mounds, and it's a great way for them to get some exercise too.

Hat frisbee

First you'll need a snowman - that's a whole extra game in itself! Then you'll need a hat. Children take turns throwing the hat frisbee-style onto the head of the snowman - they score a point every time they successfully land it on his head.

These are just a few of the ways you can make the most of the winter months. Winter doesn't mean your children have to stay cooped up inside - get out there and start playing!

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Winter Play Safety Tips

Winter can be a great time for outdoor play, but with temperatures dropping and the long nights setting in it's important to take a few extra safety precautions to keep children safe at play during winter months. Here are a few measures you can take to keep outdoor play safe and fun all winter long.

Wrap up warm

It may seem obvious, but keeping kids wrapped up warm in vital when they're out playing in cold weather. A thick waterproof coat, some good gloves, a hat and scarf are all important. Keep them bundled up underneath, too, with good thick jumpers and thermal underwear for those really bitter days.

Get some good wellies to keep their feet warm and dry in snowy conditions, and try to keep the rest of your child's clothes as waterproof as possible. Wool is better than cotton for this, as well as being warmer to boot. Of course, you can't always guarantee they'll stay dry, so...

Pack a change of clothing

If you're heading away from home for play time, you should pack some spare clothing just in case the children get wet. Nothing brings on a chill quicker than shivering in cold, wet clothing - if your child gets wet in the snow, then they should change out of their damp clothing as quickly as possible. Keeping a spare set of clothes in the boot of the car can save on some very damp and unhappy homeward journeys!

Supervise their play time

It's always important that children's outdoor play should be supervised, but this goes doubly for winter play. Always keep an eye on children playing around snow and water, and make sure to keep them away from any icy patches. And you should take extra care when it comes to outdoor play equipment...

Inspect outdoor play equipment

All good play equipment is designed to be used in any weather, but in wintery conditions you should always check the play equipment your children are going to be using before they play on it. Clear any buildups of snow or leaves, and check for any icy patches or sloppy surfaces. Metal play equipment in particular can become slippy when wet, so make extra sure that the equipment your children are going to be using is safe before they start playing.

Red Monkey Play equipment is designed to be safe and fun in any weather - with robust play-grade timber and non-slip decking, our equipment is perfect for play all year around. Click here to find out more about our great all-weather play equipment.

Follow these simple tips, and you're on your way to keeping your children safe and warm at play this winter. The cold weather doesn't mean you have to keep your kids shut up inside - get out there and play!

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Learn through play with Play Blocks

We've written before about how play blocks can play an important part in a child's growing up - more than just a toy, they encourage creativity, cooperation and improve spatial awareness.

To help you make the most of play blocks as a fun learning tool, we've put together these simple tips to turn playtime into an exciting and educational adventure!

Play Blocks - Learning Tips

Encourage cooperation.

Having children build together is a great way to improve their social skills and encourage cooperation. Try to set cooperative building tasks with your play blocks - perhaps you could give different children different roles - Alice could be in charge of building turrets, while Jimmy is on bridge-building duty.

Set a building goal.

Challenge your children to improvise and work towards a specific goal by setting them a building goal. Task them with building a castle with three turrets, or a tower more than four blocks high. This exercise will help improve their focus and their problem-solving capabilities. 

Involve toys and stories.

Introduce an element of role-play to playtime by including play blocks as part of a story-telling experience. Other toys can easily be added to help tell the story - the children could be building a tower for Rapunzel, or houses for the three little pigs. Introducing guided role-playing is a great way to fuel children's imaginations. 

For more role-playing ideas, check out our article on teaching with role-play.

Play together.

Get down on the floor with your children and help guide their play directly. Not only will your children love playing with you, but research has shown that children benefit the most from creative play when they have someone there to guide their playtime.

Red Monkey Play Blocks - Built Just For You

Looking for the best way to introduce play blocks to your learning environment? Our new Play Blocks are designed specifically with learning and play in mind, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes to encourage creativity and role playing.

Built from the same play-grade timber as our playground equipment, these are a first-class play product. At only £19.90 for a box of 25 blocks (including delivery!), adding some creative play to your playtime won't break the bank!

To get yours call 0116 2813 975 today, drop us an email to service@redmonkeyplay.co.uk, or simply get in touch in the comments or by social media.

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Pumpkin Ideas

Well October is upon us and the nights are drawing in, and that means one thing for the Red Monkey kids - it's nearly time for halloween!

This charming image was provided by our friends
over at Nurture Store.

Cathy James over at the BabyCentre blog has some wonderful ideas for helping your kids decorate their pumpkins this halloween - you should check some of these out! I don't think I've seen pumpkins quite as colourful as these before.

Always prepared for a creative challenge, I set about coming up with my own pumpkin design. You can see the result below.

Okay, so it isn't a real pumpkin, but it does give me something to aim for when the 31st rolls around!

The Red Monkey Team would love to see what you lovely people can come up with - so send us your pumpkin pics!

You can reach us on Facebook and Twitter, or right here in the comments.



Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

The Importance of Play Blocks

Sometimes the old ways really are the best - it's been 100 years since wooden building blocks were first mass-produced as toys and learning tools for young children, and yet recent studies show that they are still one of the most effective ways for children to learn basic skills. Don't believe us? This BBC report highlights just how important play blocks can be in aiding learning development.

Generate, Concentrate & Communicate

Red Monkey Play Blocks come in a range of sizes and
shapes, to encourage imaginative play.

It's often modern technology that attracts children's attention these days - bright screens and colourful games - and there are some excellent digital teaching aids out there. However, experts believe that there's nothing to compare with the physical act of basic building for developing children's spatial and social awareness.

So how do play blocks help children's learning? Well, by building even basic structures, children start to understand things about the world around them. When gravity pulls their new tower down, they'll instinctively build it less top-heavy next time. When a bridge won't support any more blocks, they'll look for ways to reinforce it. These are things they'll pick up innately, just by by playing. The more they build, the more the learn about the basic physics of building.

Play blocks are also a great way for children to develop their social skills. After all, we can build bigger castles faster if we work together, right? As children start to appreciate the benefits of cooperation, they also begin to develop a greater sense of empathy for those around them.

Introducing Red Monkey Play Blocks

Play blocks may prove to be an invaluable tool for children's development; so how about getting your hands on your very own? Well, Red Monkey have you covered. We've just launched our new Play Blocks; chunky wooden blocks in a range of sizes, especially designed to inspire imaginative play in young children, and provided in a handy box.

Our new Play Blocks are available now!

A 25-piece box of Play Blocks costs only £19.90 including delivery; if you're interested in getting your hands on some, give us a call on 0116 2813 975, or alternative send us an email to sales@redmonkeyplay.co.uk and let us know you're interested!

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Childcare Expo 2013

We are happy to announce that we're exhibiting at this year's Childcare Expo in Coventry on the 27th and 28th of September. The Childcare Expo is an inspiring and informative free event for all those working in the early years, childcare and nursery sector.

You can expect to see stands from loads of the UK's top nursery suppliers - including Red Monkey Play! We're going to be exhibiting some new products - it's the first time you'll be able to see our new Kitchen Units outside of the workshop, and we're also launching our new range of Play Blocks, designed to inspire creative play and improve spatial awareness. They'll be available to purchase from our stand, so be sure to drop by!

Our new Play Blocks are a fun and flexible teaching tool.

As well as our products, we'll have free gifts to give away and we're running a competition to win some great Red Monkey play equipment - so visit us and say hello, and who knows, we could be delivering a spark of imagination to your play area soon!

You can find this year's Childcare Expo at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, and you can find Red Monkey Play at Stand E13. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information on the Childcare Expo, why not visit the website?

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Teaching with Role Play

Inquisitive children will come
up with all sorts of stories.

Why role play?

We know that role play is an important part of a child growing up and developing. Creative play can teach children so many things about the world and about each other. These advantages are now acknowledged in the National Curriculum.

So it makes sense to include role play as a part of your children's learning and playing experience. But how can you incorporate role play into your teaching schedule?

Let children direct their learning.

Every teacher knows there's a fine line between fun and chaos when it comes to teaching with play - the trick to successful role-play is to control the teaching environment without getting in the way of children's ability to express themselves.

Children will play by themselves - give them any tools and they'll be away creating worlds and stories in their heads. This imaginative play is crucial to learning, and it's important to let children play out the fantasies they come up with.

Get involved.

Our Play Stage is the perfect space
for creative play.

But that's not to say you shouldn't get involved. Try suggesting ideas that complement their role playing - if they are playing house for example, are they playing in the countryside? In the city? How many people are in their imaginary family?

Asking open-ended questions is a great way to fire up their imaginations while still letting them control the direction of play. With questions like these, you can start introducing important themes - things like empathy, cooperation, and teamwork. Get them thinking, and then let them figure it out for themselves!

Why not become a part of their story yourself? Play along with them, dress up with them, let them direct you in their story. You'll find it much easier to direct their play when you're a part of it yourself, so don't be afraid to get involved!

A bit of help from Red Monkey Play.

Of course, having the right props makes imaginative play all the easier, and Red Monkey is here to help. We have a great range of role play products, from simple play blocks to get their minds working to huge pirate ship play units for a swashbuckling pirate adventure! Why not visit us online to see how we can help.

But when it comes down to it, role play is all about the children; their stories, their imaginations, their learning. Let them take control of their playtime, and you'll be surprised what they can learn outside of the classroom!

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.

Role Play & Learning

The importance of role play.

Role play is an important part of growing up. It's how children learn to communicate, how they learn to relate to each other and the world around them. That's why it's so important, especially for Early Years and nursery-age children, to encourage healthy, imaginative play as much as possible.

Children learn important social
skills while they play.

The importance of role play is something that's now being acknowledged by UK teaching authorities; the three key pillars of the 2013 Early Years Foundation Stage framework are 'communication and language; physical; and personal, social and emotional development.'

Every one of these areas can be bolstered by including role play ideas in children's play time. And it's not hard to do! Given some simple tools, most children will naturally come up with their own imagined worlds, with their own rules and ideas to explore. All you have to do is provide them with the means to get creative!

Introducing our Early Years Kitchen Units.

At Red Monkey Play we recognise the importance of role play to children's learning and development. All of our Nursery and Early Years play products have been designed with children's imaginations in mind, and make great additions to a role play setting.

Our Kitchen Units make the perfect addition to any role play area.

These are the Kitchen Units, our latest Early Years role play products. Children love to play house - it's a way for them to learn to cooperate and empathise with one another, and just as importantly, it's plain old fun!

Our Kitchen Units are the perfect addition to an imaginary house set, providing three key features of the kitchen - a sink, an oven, and a washing machine. They're the perfect size for Early Years children, and are built from robust play-grade timber, so they can stand up to rough-and-tumble play sessions.

And in the true spirit of role play, our Kitchen Units don't have to be kitchen units at all - they can be the controls of a space ship, or machines in a laboratory, or treasure boxes at the bottom of the sea, or…or anything else you can imagine. I'm sure the children will be able to come up with better ideas than I ever could!

With role play, the only real limit is their imaginations!

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.