Icky Outside?  Plan a Fun Magical Mystery Tour

It may be snowy and cold, or rainy and muddy, but one thing is certain—nothing will dampen a child’s imagination.  Here’s a plan for giving the children a magic carpet ride that can go anywhere at all! 

Materials Needed:

A flying carpet (a colorful towel or small blanket).  Materials to decorate the space (maps or a globe, posters from a travel agency, tourism materials) children's binoculars (can be homemade with toilet paper rolls), compass, backpacks, books about places around the world, etc.

Directions:

Create a "flying carpet" in your play space. Spread out a colorful towel or small blanket. Hang travel posters around the "flying carpet" and provide other "travel" supplies such as small backpacks, a compass, children's binoculars, maps, books about places around the world, and so on.

Introduce the space to children. Explain the possibilities—talk it up! Say, "We have something new and fun to play with today. Can anyone guess what this is?  It's a flying carpet. When you sit on this flying carpet, you can travel all over the world. Don't forget to take a map with you, so that you can find your way back. And just so the flying carpet doesn't get too heavy, only 3 people can ride on it at a time."

Have the flying carpet space available for children to use during free play. You can encourage children to share their "travel stories" with the group.  What did they see?  Where did they go?  You can even keep a log that shows where children travel by placing small, self-sticking notes on a map.

Learning Goals:

Children will use their imaginations to go on pretend journeys.

Children will play with others cooperatively.

Children will create their own stories using the picture cards. 

Following Up:

Read books about places around the world, such as Tonight Is Carnaval by Arthur Dorros, and Here Is the African Savanna by Madeleine Dunphy.  Give children travel notebooks (a sheet of paper folded twice) and crayons so they can write about or draw their adventures.

source: PBS.org