Chad Valley 100 tips for 100 days of play 1. Set up an obstacle course in the garden and let the children examine the course. Let them work their way through the obstacle course, the child to make it through the fastest wins. 2. Go into the garden and play hopscotch by using chalk to draw the court. 3. Tie a series of strings in a zigzag pattern between 3 or 4 trees to make a string maze. Get the children to climb through trying not to touch the strings. 4. Drill holes in a plastic bottle and attach a hose pipe to it to create a sprinkler for your toddler to run in and out of. 5. Hang an apple from a tree using some string, the kids must get the apple down without using their hands, and whoever is the quickest, wins. 6. Create a water balloon piùata by tying a water balloon to a branch using string. With a stick or bat get the children to hit the balloon until it bursts. 7. Have a teddy bears picnic in the garden using your child’s favourite toys and snacks. 8. With a piece of chalk, allow your children to draw on the outside walls and fences; they make perfect canvas as the chalk washes off with water. 9. Create a volcano in the garden by building a small mound of dirt with a deep hole in the middle. Put two teaspoons of baking soda in the hole. Then slowly pour in vinegar and watch your volcano erupt! 10. Make a den in the garden using sheets, blankets and cushions suspended from branches. 11. Have a treasure hunt by hiding some toys in the garden and a series of clues to help them find them. 12. Set up backyard bowling using plastic bottles and a tennis ball. 13. Put together a scavenger hunt for the children to find a list of objects in the garden. 14. Have a sword fight using wrapping paper rolls wrapped in tin foil as swords. 15. Make toy parachutes by attaching napkins to toy soldiers with string and releasing them from the top of climbing frames or windows. 16. Draw a target on the floor in chalk and get the children to toss water balloons at it, trying to get as close to the centre as possible. 17. Make puppets out of wooden spoons and put on a puppet show. 18. Make stamps using potatoes and allow the children to use them to paint. 19. Freeze your child’s favourite action figure in a block of ice, let them retrieve it using a water gun. 20. Play a game of dodge ball using water balloons. 21. Make your own fresh lemonade and lemonade stand. 22. Tie-dye a t-shirt. 23. Stack up some paper cups in a pyramid shape and using a water pistol, try and knock them down. 24. Make and decorate frisbees by sticking together 2 paper plates. 25. Make homemade cards using felt and coloured paper to decorate them. 26. Make a skipping rope by threading string through pen lids. 27. Make sock puppets and put on a show. 28. Draw a race track on your drive to race all the cars you can find. 29. All build different paper planes and have a competition of whose can fly the furthest.
30. Make your own mini bean bags by wrapping crumpled up napkins in a napkin you’ve decorated and securing with an elastic band. 31. Do some nature painting by collecting leaves and sticks from the garden and using them as stamps and brushes to create a masterpiece. 32. Make telephones out of cups and strings. 33. Set up glow in the dark bowling by putting glow sticks in water bottles. 34. Using a skipping rope and a cup of water, have a competition to see how many time you can jump before you’ve spilled all the water. 35. Using pillow cases as sacks hold a sack race in your back garden. 36. Whilst skipping, think of a rhyme and try and act out the rhyme as you skip. 37. Do some ice painting by filling an ice tray with a mixture of paint and water, once frozen, use the cubes to paint. 38. Melt some wax crayons onto a canvas to make art. 39. Tape together a cluster of straws and dip one end in bubble solution to produce loads of tiny bubbles. 40. Decorate a milk carton and turn it into a bird feeder. 41. Have a mummy dressing competition, take turns wrapping each other in toilet paper to see who is the quickest. 42. Go on a bug hunt with a magnifying glass to see how many different bugs you can find. 43. Paint by splashing some paint on paper, and to spread it out you can only blow through a straw. 44. Take the top off an egg and hollow it out, put some damp cloth inside and spread your cress seeds evenly. Put in a warm place and wait for the egg to grow cress ‘hair’! 45. If the weather is bad, why not create a den indoors and read stories aloud to each other? 46. Cut out fish shapes from a piece of foam and glue them to your flip flops- when you walk in the sand you will leave a fish stamp! 47. After a day at the beach collecting wood, shells and pebbles, use wires and string to create a holiday wind chime. 48. Lay a large plastic sheet / ground sheet outside in the garden (ideally on a slight incline) and cover in a mix of water and washing up liquid to create a slippery water slide. 49. Give your kids a massive pile of newspapers and some sellotape and challenge them to make different things e.g. a sail boat that you can all fit into, pirate costumes, or a shelter you can all sit inside. 50. Make your own bubble mix using water and washing up liquid. 51. Use two sticks and two long pieces of string to create a giant bubble making machine to dip into your washing up liquid mixture! 52. Make pasta pictures using different types of dried pasta and glue to stick to paper. 53. Give your kids a small container (old plastic film canisters used to be ideal) and ask them to go outside and find 26 items, one starting with each letter of the alphabet, and they’ve all got to fit in the container e.g. a blade of grass for g, a daisy flower for d. The first one to complete the challenge is the winner. 54. Using an old skipping rope and two friends, take it in turn to make your own limbo. How low can you go? 55. Create your own bushtucker trials by taking it in turns to wear a blindfold and trying ten unusual fruits and veg. 56. One person hides whilst the others count to 100. Find the person hiding and join them... see how many people can fit into the hiding place until there is only one seeker left.
57. Play the memory game - pick ten objects and cover them with a cloth, remove one each time. Whoever can identify the missing object is the winner. 58. Why not grow sunflowers and see whose sunflower grows the highest- this could be a fun competition for your children and their friends. 59. Get creative in the kitchen by decorating your pizza with an edible ‘face’. Use peppers, sweet corn and pieces of ham to create a face good enough to eat. 60. Have a dance off! You will need two teams and your favourite music, get dancing and put your routines to a vote. 61. Create a map of your local park and plan a bike route or a route to walk and take your kids on a magical mystery tour. 62. Get your kids to shut their eyes and draw pictures of one another from memory. They will laugh when they open their eyes and see the results. 63. Collect leaves, feathers, flowers and twigs from outside and use them to create a collage of your favourite animal. 64. Why not use old wrapping paper to make colourful paper aeroplanes that you can race against one another? 65. You can even decorate them and race them against one another! 66. Hide an alarm clock and give your children a series of clues that will have them running all over the house to find it. If it goes off before they do then they have to do a forfeit! 67. Create a beach collage on canvas with interesting pebbles and shells you have found whilst beachcombing. You can choose some photos from your holiday to stick on too, and it can be a lovely memento of the summer. 68. Put two hula hoops on the ground and mark one ‘true’ and the other ‘false’, read out anything from facts to statements and get your children to answer true or false by running into the correct hoop! 69. Use glitter glue, gems and stickers to create cardboard photo frames to give to friends and family at Christmas. 70. Play catch with a water balloon. 71. Using salt, water and plain flour, create salt dough which can be easily moulded into shapes. 72. Your children’s mission is to find interesting textures to take rubbings of on a walk – the next day will they be able to identify which tree, brick or leaf the rubbing came from? 73. Using household objects, create an obstacle course for your children to navigate around. 74. Make animals from fruit and vegetables using toothpicks and paint. 75. Using clay or dough, play Pictionary and create what you are trying to describe in the dough. A great and interactive guessing game. 76. Fill up glasses with different amounts of water and dye them with food colouring, when you tap the glasses gently with a spoon, they will make different sounds – you now have your own multicoloured xylophone! 77. Use up old plastic bottles by painting them and making a homemade skittles set. 78. Using couscous and dried beans, fill old plastic bottles and cans to make your own musical instruments. 79. Build a fort outside using picnic blankets and bed sheets – if its summer time why not try camping outside in your back garden! 80. For a twist on the traditional treasure hunt - hide little objects in sand and get your little ones to use a sieve to find them...
81. If you have made shapes out of salt dough or clay with your children, you can bake them and when they are cool they can be painted. They make great gifts for the family! 82. Use old cardboard boxes to create your dream playhouse, or castle or fort... the possibilities are endless. 83. Make your own cocktails with different types of fruit juice. 84. Why not start planting some vegetables in the garden, ready for spring? 85. Recreate famous paintings through collage... try to make your own version of Monet’s sunflowers from coloured paper and pages from magazines. 86. Turn designer for the day and use old plastic bags, crisp packets and newspaper to make eco-fashion outfits. 87. If you are on a long car journey, why not play a classic game of eye spy? 88. Harness your child’s entrepreneurial spirit and play shopkeepers with them. 89. Play a game of 5-a-side football in the local park. 90. Why not try out handball? It is a popular children’s game in India and unlike football, you aren’t allowed to use your feet or lower body to touch the ball! 91. Play ready steady cook with your children. Give them a bag of 5 ingredients and ask them what they would like to make. Perhaps the dish could be served as part of a picnic lunch! 92. With large groups of children why not play a game of tag rugby? 93. Buy plain white bathroom tiles from your local hardware store and paint them to create homemade coasters your children can keep forever. 94. Ice rich tea biscuits with different coloured icing and sweets. 95. Decorate fairy cakes with edible icing and sprinkles. 96. Feed the ducks at the local pond. 97. Play stuck in the mud. 98. Turn your paddling pool into a mini ball pit with plastic play balls. 99. Design bunting with your little ones to customise their room. You can use magazines, paints and photos for a funky look. 100. No need to use a paintbrush. Fill balloons with poster paint and get your children to create their own work of art together by throwing the balloons at a white canvas! - ENDS Notes to Editor: For more information please contact Aoife Sweeney, PR Manager, Argos Republic of Ireland on 087 6670534 and aoife.sweeney@argos.co.uk Follow us on Twitter @ArgosIreland_PR About Chad Valley Founded by Anthony Bunn Johnson in Harboure, Birmingham in 1860, Chad Valley is one of the oldest toy retailers. Over the years Chad Valley has been selling toys to eight generations of children and has one of the highest toy maker satisfaction rating with an average customer review score of 4.2 out of 5. Chad Valley toys are designed to be affordable, durable and inspiring, fostering greater creativity and development by encouraging imaginative childhood play. With over 300 products available exclusively at Argos stores nationwide, you’ll be sure to find that perfect toy for your little one. Argos Chad Valley Range