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Courtney | Open Ended Play | Toddler Play

@openendedplayroom

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🌈Invitations to play & Open-ended play
📚 Raising little bookworms
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Mum to 2 boys
🇰🇪 Founder of @ubuntuafrica_

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Our very first invitation to play using our @the.wonderie land before our time cloth 🦕 🌈

Trying to encourage more play for Harris by setting up some small worlds for him to wake up to in the morning and after his naps! ✨

@stapelstein.original mini rainbow
@the.wonderie play cloth
@joguines_grapat nins, rings and coins
@grimmswoodentoys moss pebbles & medium balls
@tors.story rainbow; semi circles and stacking bowls
@holztigergermany dinosaur collection & small tree
@lankakadetoys trees by @openendedplayroom

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3 months ago

A little bit of a different post from me today🩷

I realised I share a lot about our boys, our playroom and the things we love, but not very much about the person behind the posts!

So I thought it was about time you got to know a little bit more about me, our family and the person behind this little corner of Instagram. 🫶🏻

Swipe through to find out a little more about me, some more personal things and what I share on this page 🌈

And if you’re new here, hi! I’m so glad you’re here 💘 by @openendedplayroom

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2 months ago

My kinda chic 🌈🙌🏻 #openendedtoys #openendedplay #independentplay #playroom by @openendedplayroom

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2 months ago

📚A little delivery that means so much!! The excitement in the air today at Safe Haven when they received their books from Little Oaks Library and our generous donations was everything! They have been reading all day long!🥹❤️

We’re starting to build our very own library at school, and this is something so close to my heart. Many of our children don’t have books at home so their access to reading materials is completely limited to school.

If you know me, you’ll know how much I value books for my own boys and how important it is to me that they grow up surrounded by stories that spark their imagination, curiosity and sense of wonder. I want that same opportunity for the children at Safe Haven too❤️

A huge thank you to @littleoaks_library for being part of this first step! It means so much to put books into little hands that are SO excited to receive them.

Little Oaks Library is a small business supporting who chose to support us out of the kindness of their hearts so if you’re looking to build your own children’s library, I’d love for you to check them out and consider signing up and you can also use my code PLAYROOM10 for 10% off your subscription.

One day, I hope to see our library full of children choosing their own stories and falling in love with reading. For now, we’re starting one book at a time. 📚 by @openendedplayroom

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3 days ago

A little bit about Ubuntu Africa and the work I do 🤍🌍

Ubuntu Africa is a Scottish-registered charity supporting children and families in Ngando, Nairobi, Kenya. What started as grassroots work in January 2020 has grown into Safe Haven Education and Community Centre, supporting over 250 children aged 3–14, from preschool through to Grade 6.

At the heart of everything we do is the philosophy of ubuntu which means “I am because you are.” A belief in community, compassion and the idea that we all have a part to play in supporting one another.

Here’s a little of what that looks like day to day:

🤍 Free education and a safe place to learn and grow
🍽️ Breakfast and lunch every school day
📚 School uniforms, books and learning resources
💧 Access to clean water and hygiene facilities
🩺 Medical care and emergency support when families need it
🏡 Practical support to help keep children with their families
🥫 Food and essential supplies for vulnerable families
🌱 Working towards more opportunities for children and the wider community

None of this happens alone. We rely on donations, fundraising and the kindness of people and businesses who believe in what we do. Whether it’s funding meals, donating classroom resources, supporting a project or helping us meet an urgent need, every bit of support helps us keep going.

I've been doing this for 7 years now and watched so many of these children grow up, being Auntie coco is the biggest privilege of my life ❤️🇰🇪🫶🏽 by @openendedplayroom

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5 days ago

This little ocean world 🌊🐢🐋🌺🪸

We were kindly gifted this gorgeous play cloth from @bigbagful and I absolutely love the size of it. It’s the perfect size for little hands and for creating smaller, more manageable small worlds without taking over the whole play space.

The colours are SO vibrant too 🌈🌊 and I’ve found that adding things I know Harris is interested in (hello Moana 🥹🌺) into our small worlds is such a good way of catching his attention and encouraging him to get involved.

A little bit of storytelling, a little bit of open ended play and a chance for his imagination to take over 🐠🐢🐋✨#gifted by @openendedplayroom

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9 days ago

Today’s little invitation to play was all about space and loose parts 🪐🚀💫

I love using things we already have in our collection and giving them a completely different purpose. @joguines_grapat rings and coins became planets and little landing spots, @grimmswoodentoys balls became different planets, and the Grimm’s weather set brought in the sun. ☀️

We added our Hape rocketship, a few little figures and our @the.wonderie space cloth to bring it all together and the living room floor became a whole little universe to explore.

I think that’s my favourite thing about open ended toys is they don’t really have one purpose. The same pieces can become something completely different tomorrow. ✨🪐 by @openendedplayroom

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13 days ago

🍂✨ October’s Little Oaks theme is Autumn Magic and the illustrations in this collection are honestly so beautiful🍄🦇

I love that you can choose to include Halloween books or opt out, so we went for the non-Halloween collection this month. The boys are still so little and don’t really understand Halloween yet, but we still got all the cosy, magical autumn feeling from the books we chose. 🍁📚

I always love seeing what Little Oaks put together each month; the books are so thoughtfully chosen and it’s such a lovely way to bring a little bit of the season into our reading.

And a little extra thank you to Little Oaks for kindly donating some books for me to take to Kenya next week for the children at Safe Haven. 🤍 I’m so excited to pack them up and bring them along with me.

Don't forget to use PLAYROOM10 to get 10% off your first order and bring some Autumn Magic to your home too 🦇🍄🐉🍂

#ad #openendedplay #autumnbooks #autumnmagic #childrensbooks by @openendedplayroom

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14 days ago

We’ve had a few random sunny days this week and Harris has suddenly become so interested in his shadow 😂☀️

So I thought I’d get out our lucite cubes and blocks and show him all the colours and light they make when the sun comes through them. The little reflections all over the living room floor were so pretty 🌈

I love when something we already have suddenly becomes interesting in a completely different way just because of the sunshine. We’ve spent ages playing around with the light this week 🤍 by @openendedplayroom

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22 days ago

I was sorting through our toys today and thought I’d share some of our playroom staples 🌈🤍

These are some of the pieces we find ourselves coming back to again and again: lots of colour, textures and endless possibilities for open-ended play.

I don’t think I’ll ever be a “less is more” mum 😂 I love a colourful, slightly OTT collection and seeing how the boys use the same pieces in completely different ways. by @openendedplayroom

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25 days ago

POV: you’re creating the library of dreams for your babies 📚🌈

Finally upgraded our bookshelf and I’m honestly obsessed. I’ve always loved having books out where the boys can see them, choose them and help themselves, but this has taken our little library to a whole new level 🥹

A mix of old favourites, new finds, books from our monthly @littleoaks_library subscription and the stories we’ve read approximately 400 times 😂

I love that it’s not perfectly curated or “minimal” it’s full, colourful and very much ours. And now that Harris is getting to the age where he can choose his own books, I’m excited to see Brodie grow up with it too🥹

Basically, I just wanted an excuse to buy a bigger bookshelf… and I think I’ve succeeded 😂📚

#childrensbooks #childrenslibrary #playroominspo #kidsbooks #openendedplay by @openendedplayroom

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a month ago

Our @littleoaks_library box for September has arrived 📚🍂 and this month’s theme is Woodland Wonders 🦊🌿

I think this might be one of my favourite themes yet! We’ve got such a lovely mix of stories all about woodland, animals and nature, which feels so perfect as we head into autumn 🤎

I love getting these boxes each month because it’s always a little surprise for us, and I love seeing the different themes and getting inspiration for books and activities we can do around them too. You also get play inspiration and ideas sent straight to your inbox throughout the month to go along with the theme, which I think is such a lovely little extra!

Basically just another excuse for me to add more books to our library 😂📚

The boxes are £19.99 a month and you can use my code PLAYROOM10 for 10% off your first box ✨

#ad #LittleOaksLibrary #WoodlandWonders #ChildrensBooks #BooksForToddlers by @openendedplayroom

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