Play Together Learn Together (PDF)

This simple, accessible printable resource includes lots of fun activities that you can do anywhere, anytime, using whatever you have around you. Play Together Learn Together is perfect for creating stimulating and fun learning environments where parents and carers can connect with their babies and toddlers through play.

Play Together Learn Together was created when a group mothers and children, many from refugee families, joined in the ‘Fun and Free’ supported playgroups at Broadmeadows Women’s Community House in Melbourne, Australia.

Using objects found in any home, the mums and children created cushion mountains, bounced teddies on blankets, explored the soft touch of paint brushes and scarves on their skin, drummed on upturned containers, and explored dinosaur footprints in the garden.

For many of the mums, playing in this way was a new experience, one they wanted to share with other parents, which is why they created Play Together Learn Together.

This resource is far more than a set of ideas for activities. It’s about laying the foundations for life-long learning.

This printable PDF resource includes:

• 20 cards divided into 5 suits (Let’s Move, Let’s Be Close, Let’s Follow, Let’s Explore, Let’s Talk and Listen) each with 4 activity cards.
• Three pages of colouring for children featuring everyday objects for play at home.
• The background story and practice wisdom behind Play Together Learn Together.

There are English, Turkish and Arabic words on each card, reflecting cultures of the original group. Feel free to add words in your language too!

Ideal for use in early childhood settings, supported playgroups, parenting groups, at home, and any other place where parents and carers and their children come together.

• 20 cards (front and back of cards on separate pages)
• 3 colouring pages
• A5 printable book (downloadable PDF), 210 x 150mm, 68pp

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• In playgroups: Choose a suit to focus on each term and work through the activities.
• Building new skills: Which card shows an activity you would like to try? Who could help? What activities do you do at home with your child you could share with other parents?
• At home: Randomly select a card each week and do the activity with your child. Rate each activity on a scale of one (for least enjoyable) to 10 (most enjoyable). Which activities did you and enjoy the most? Which activities do you think your child enjoyed the most? What other activities would you like to try?

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