But first!
Read Our Monthly Themes for Play:
for our full list of themes
and to learn why we loveeee monthly themes.
august’s themes:
transportation
rescue vehicles, construction vehicles. school buses, airplanes - whatever!
Activities + toys:
Note: this month was easy, given that we already have so many vehicle/transportation/construction-type toys. So below is what we have, but please feel free to use what you already have and love!
I can’t wait to try all of busy toddler’s ideas with these.
I added these to this month’s rice bin - more on this near the end of this post!
See a quick tour of our playroom (and how we store our toys) in this reel.
Here’s how we store monthly activity items the rest of the year.
Magnetic activity for our big ol magnetic chalkboard near the kitchen:
I’d love to print, laminate, and add magnets to these free transportation puzzle cards.
Books:
Here's the three ways we store our toddler’s books.
We have a little bookshelf in our den, where we do a monthly book rotation. See a quick reel here!
And a gentle reminder that we love to ask for books for holiday/birthday gifts. Here’s the five gifts we love to ask from loved ones.
And we love these PaperPie books. Any time you purchase through my PaperPie links, I earn free books for our home library - KK and I send you the biggest hug of gratitude!
Art supplies + activities:
Here’s how we store our art supplies + activity books in our home.
this water wow! vehicles activity book
see more about our Water Wow Caddy for storing our Water Wow books and supplies here!
this mighty trucks dot marker activity book or these free transportation printables
we use these markers or these dot stickers
all the amazing transportation-themed craft ideas on Pinterest
We also love to work on these as apart of our beloved Evening Quiet Family Time ritual.
We only offer our transportation-themed art supplies during August, our transportation-themed month - so we reuse these things year after year. Here’s how we store monthly art items the rest of the year.
A gentle reminder that we love to ask for these things for holiday/birthday gifts. Here’s the five gifts we love to ask from loved ones.
Play dough activity:
some of these mini vehicles (KK’s favorite!)
(the rest are being used in our rice bin - see more below!)
some peg doll people and/or some popsicle sticks
a few plastic pattern blocks (or here’s a smaller pack)
when KK’s older I may add:
Also:
Here’s how we store our art supplies and our play dough tools.
Here’s how we store these monthly play dough items the rest of the year.
Here's a post on our favorite play dough, our favorite tools, and when we use play dough.
Sensory bins:
KK loves her two sensory tables! For this month’s sensory bin, I added:
oats or beans or lentils
See a quick tour of our playroom with KK’s two sensory tables in this reel.
Here’s how we store these monthly sensory bin items the rest of the year.
We have a separate, simple rice bin - like this Busy Toddler post! - that KK LOVES.
If I feel up to it, this month I’ll add to our rice bin:
but only add the yellow/orange pieces so that KK can scoop them, bury them, or color sort them into the above bowls
and maybe these shovel spoons, too
Here’s how we store these monthly rice bin items the rest of the year.
Play kitchen:
Here’s a quick reel on the 13 things we keep in our play kitchen. And then each month we rotate 2-3 “new” food or cooking toys. This rotation works really well for us!
So in August, I will add…
a play cake as a nod to our First Day of School Cake Tradition. Food traditions make the best play food inspiration!
Also:
Here’s how we store these monthly kitchen toy items the rest of the year.
See a quick tour of our playroom with our play kitchen in this reel.
Here’s a blogpost on our DIY-ish Play Kitchen with a Phone and Mailbox.
Resources + other ideas:
It’s so hot - this time of year is usually when we prioritize our special trips to the children’s museum, the aquarium, the shaved ice place, the beloved ice cream shop, etc.
I use My Local Places List for this!
Our Packed Pool Bag + Outdoor Adventure Bag for alllll our pool trips + splash pad trips.
Whew!
Want to see photos? Follow me on Instagram - I’m always sharing peeks into our home and our daily life on my stories. I’m always tweaking our home and our routines and our systems to best meet our current needs in our current season, so my Instagram has the most up-to-date photos.
Loved this post? I highly recommend the “play area” highlight on my Instagram!
Read Our Monthly Themes for Play for our full year of play themes.
I created these monthly play themes as part of my baby prep for Baby #2. See the full list of other things I’m SO happy I did to make Joey’s arrival easier here!
And see my Amazon storefront for more of our favorite things.
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