As a parent, how did you start weaving learning into play? Win a £200 voucher

[EllieSmumsnet]

We all know play is such an important part of childhood, but it can also be a brilliant way to build in early learning. From counting blocks, to spotting colours in everyday objects, or even turning a walk to the park into a mini science adventure, there are so many ways to bring learning into play without it feeling like “work.”

How did you first start weaving learning into play with your child? Did you have any go-to games, toys, or activities that made it fun and easy to introduce learning?

Did you find certain toys helped with this too, for example ones that encouraged problem-solving, numbers, letters or imaginative play?

• Post your advice and go to play and learn tips and toy recommendations below in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw.
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I had a wonderful childhood, but many kids learn best by playing and trying things. It’s like building with blocks. You don’t just read about a tower — you stack the blocks, see what falls, and try again. That’s learning by doing.
Another fun way my daughter and i learned was through stories. When someone tells a story about a frog who loves math or a rocket going to space, your brain pictures it and remembers it better. Games, songs, and drawing also help, because they make learning feel like fun.

Making up games to pass the time in the car whilst traveling to our holiday destinations: lets count car colours, lorry’s, trains, tractors. How many cows can you see in the field? The next animal we need to are find are sheep etc. It helps provide a bit of distraction on long journeys & saves the kids from getting bored while learning along the way

From a very young age with both, getting them to mimick faces, count with fingers etc and lots of songs!

When they first gave eye contact and started to point and things we said what they were pointing to, we count steps, count bricks when building.
Colours and animal sounds with books, from age 5 months ish.

Integrating play into everyday life was the way to go for us.

• Counting on the stairs, hopscotch on pavements,
• Naming nature, collecting leaves, Sticks become swords, leaves become fans or jewels.
• Imagination on walks: imagine if there was a dinosaur, what sound would a lion make
• Toys in the bath: boats, letters, shapes, bath toys (but be careful to wash them out afterwards as some get mouldy)
• Cooking: youre a scientist mixing a potion, turn dough into plasticine, make a face with your breakfast food.
• Snacks: look at the fruit bowl, parent removes two items, uncovers and asks whats missing.
• Wet play: sheets become a den to play, talent show, balloons are wonderful for keepy uppy games or with newspaper to make a papier mache sculpture if youre feeling adventurous. Guess the relative - an acting game where the children role play as a member of your family. Very interesting to see what they think of you too. Find x random items in the house. First one back wins
• Car games: I Spy, What follows: each passenger names an item within the theme. No repetitions allowed, last one standing wins. Concentration: similar to the what follows except you do it to a beat and those who cannot say something in time lose. Im thinking of ---: a person thinks of an item. Others have to ask closed questions to help them guess what it is.
• Simon says, on the river on the bank. These are command games that help with concentration
• Essential learning resources for us: Books, Stationary to encourage them to make their own stories, Violet V Tech toy bear was great for all my children from babies all the way through it got them singing and listening and identifying objects early, Octons (amazing fun), magnetic building blocks, bath toys, lego (classic but eldest still enjoys this as a teen) , snap cards, connect 4, Uno, rocking horse, dress up box (just old clothes but you can buy costumes too), etch a sketch, play mat.
• Lots of sport related 'toys'. Balls, bike, bats, badminton sticks... We like them to be active and outside

All other stuff tends to have a shelf life . They like it for a moment and then its in the corner the next, So I hope this is useful

Active listening and being present in the moment. If my child is interested in something I may tell them a little more but it's great for their confidence when they are teaching me. When they're little any sort of play and conversation is educational. I liked to give them plenty of variety of activities and they would learn.

One of the best ways for a three-year-old to learn is through play — especially outdoors. Nature offers endless opportunities for curiosity, imagination, and discovery. A simple walk can turn into a mini science adventure: collecting leaves, spotting birds, jumping in puddles, or talking about the changing seasons. These little moments teach so much — colours, counting, textures, and language — without it ever feeling like a “lesson.” Children at this age learn best when they can explore with their senses, move their bodies freely, and follow their own interests.
Outdoor play also helps develop vital physical and social skills. Climbing, balancing, and running build coordination and confidence, while sharing space and taking turns on the playground teach empathy and teamwork. Even unstructured playtime — building mud pies, digging in sand, or pretending a stick is a magic wand — encourages creativity and problem-solving. As adults, our role is simply to guide, encourage, and join in the wonder. Every gust of wind, puddle splash, or giggle in the fresh air is a reminder that learning doesn’t just happen inside.

by incorporating activities into our daily routine — reading picture books together, singing songs, naming objects during walks, and letting my little one explore safe textures and shapes. I focus on making learning feel natural and fun, rather than structured or forced, so my baby associates discovery with joy. Even the simplest things — stacking blocks, splashing in water, or pointing out colors on our morning stroll — become opportunities to explore, ask questions, and develop new skills. Watching their excitement and noticing their tiny “aha” moments has been one of the most rewarding parts of early learning.

When they are tiny- counting and talking about the colours of things

Imaginary play is also brilliant for learning. All the time you are playing imaginary games they are learning about language and interaction

We also used to just play silly rhyming games in the car like someone says a word and then we keep saying words that rhyme even if they are nonsense words

And then as mine got older we play board games and chess .

When my little one paints, we turn it into a world of exploration. I ask questions like, “What colours are we mixing?” or “Can you make a pattern with your brush?” This encourages creativity, colour recognition, and fine motor skills while making the activity fun and free-flowing.
With LEGO, learning happens through building and problem-solving. I might suggest, “How many blocks do we need to make a tall tower?” or “Can we build a bridge that can hold this toy?” This helps with counting, spatial awareness, planning, and even teamwork if we build together. By weaving small questions and challenges into play, learning becomes a natural, part of the everyday .

Books - from simple picture books, lift up picture books, activitiy books and we particularly loved looking through encyclopaedias and map books of the world oceans and capital cities.

Books, toys which encourage using hands to feel stack and match, pointing out colours, numbers, words in books, and giving them a pen to scribble on old wallpaper.

Going to a baby and toddler group to be entertained socially and learn and play.
Using a toy library to get new toys to make building and playing more interesting, we count and sing, counting fingers and toes is really cute to do.

Books and counting songs, one two buckle my shoe ....

Just do this without even thinking, counting fingers and toes, reading together, going to baby classes, singing songs and looking though our old encyclopaedias together.

Just constantly chatting!
Every walk I'd jabber about the colours we saw, weather, birds, etc.
Now DC1 does this for DC2 :)

By involving them in every day life, talking to them, sitting them with us from an early age eating, cooking together, tasting new things, reading books together, counting, colours and spellings stuck on every day objects on post it notes so that reading is something that is learned with out being taught.

I wanted to make maths fun. So when my daughter was very young, before schol, we did maths in a funny way- 1- was a carrot, 2- swan and so on. We drew the numbers as characters. And than we did stories about numbers. It was fun. Made us laugh when we saw numbers on the bus - carrot likes snake and they are friends etc. She just loved it when spotting numbers.
She is teenager now and maths always came easy for her, praised by maths teachers. She never had any tutoring or proper maths teaching. She didnt delevop love for maths, and didnt get into it at school more than she had to. But certainly it didnt stress her.

Playing favourite cartoons in french. At young age they didnt care yet. Pepa pig in french was cute :)

My daughter was super good at french later on in school. And she used to say that she has no idea why the teacher is so obsessed with her and praises her so much. She doesnt even like french :)

Hangman is fantastic for helping with learning to read or spell my 4 (going on 5) will play this happily for hours and encourages her to practice letter sounds. She barely uses her tablet god this

It’s part of the conversation as you play. What colour is the apple, how many, what shape etc..

also, I think it helps to use real words so different dinosaurs, body parts, planets etc. Rather than naming things ‘fluffy’ etc.

Counting, describing colours and other things, lots of reading.

A huge box of lego and make believe play, learning colours, counting bricks, dexterity, taking turns, tidying up afterwards and learning too many bricks in a tower can be too many.

I don't think this needed any particular toys - normal life and activities provided opportunities for maths, english and science learning as well as geography, history and creative arts.

Being outside brings an awareness of science, nature, geography and promotes physical activity - vital for things like eye health - children's eyes need to look at distance frequently to develop properly.

Cooking, cleaning, visiting family and friends provide huge opportunities to children for learning.

Words are everywhere and children are often very curious about what things say - signs on the street, packets in the shops as well as the more obvious books/magazines.