Prep Small, Play Big: The Magic of a Play Kit.

Finding good play ideas for kids shouldn’t require hours of preparation, expensive equipment or a cupboard full of specially bought activities.

In fact, some of the best games for children need absolutely nothing at all.

That’s a big part of the thinking behind OK, Let’s Play!

We created the OKLP Playbook to make it easier for parents and carers to answer one of the most familiar questions in family life:

“Will you play with me?”

The Playbook Library is full of quick, simple and imaginative activities for children that are designed to fit around real life. Many of them are no-equipment games that you can play almost anywhere. Others use ordinary things you probably already have at home.

But if you do have a bit of time to plan ahead, there are a few simple items that can make tomorrow’s spontaneous play even easier.

That’s where the concept of a Play Kit comes in.

What is a Play Kit?

A Play Kit is a small collection of useful, open-ended items that can be used for lots of different games and activities.

It isn’t a box full of complicated craft projects or items with one specific purpose.

Instead, contains things like:

• Paper and pencils
• Chalk
• Dice
• String
• Different sized balls
• Pegs
• Masking tape
• Playing cards
• A scarf or bandana
• Paint

None of these things are particularly exciting on their own. But pair them with the right play idea and suddenly they become incredibly useful.

A piece of chalk can create an obstacle course. A ball of string can become a laser maze. Dice can decide the features of a ridiculous creature. A tennis ball can become an alien baby that must be protected at all costs.

The clever bit isn’t the equipment. It’s knowing what to do with it.

And that’s where the OKLP Playbook is especially useful.

You don’t need equipment to play

Before we talk about what to put in your Play Kit, it’s important to say that you absolutely don’t need one.

Many of the ideas inside the Playbook are designed as games with no equipment.

You might play a guessing game, invent a story, create silly characters, take on physical challenges or turn an ordinary walk into an adventure. No setup. No shopping. No carefully prepared activity tray. Just an idea and a few minutes together.

That’s particularly helpful when you’re:

• Waiting in a restaurant
• Sitting in the car
• On a train journey
• Walking to school
• At the park
• Camping
• Stuck indoors on a rainy day
• Trying to fill ten minutes before dinner

At OK, Let’s Play! we aim to help you find quick activities for kids that suit the situation you’re actually in.

Because often the hardest part of play isn’t playing, it’s thinking of what to do.

The smallest Play Kit: paper and pencils

If you want to start small, there are two things we think are worth keeping with you almost everywhere:

Paper and pencils.

A tiny notebook and a couple of pencils can unlock an enormous number of easy activities for children.

You can:

• Draw together
• Create treasure maps
• Design imaginary animals
• Write secret messages
• Play word games
• Create menus
• Draw mazes
• Play noughts and crosses
• Design awesome new inventions

Paper and pencils are particularly useful when you need things to do with kids while waiting.

Keep them in your handbag, backpack or car and you’ve immediately got the tools for dozens of activities.

Then open up the Playbook and let us provide the ideas!

How to build a simple Play Kit at home

At home, you can create a slightly bigger Play Kit.

You don’t need anything fancy. A box, basket, bag or drawer is enough.

The best items are things that can be used in lots of different ways.

Here are some of our favourites.

Chalk

Chalk is one of the most versatile things you can put in a Play Kit.

It’s brilliant for outdoor play ideas for kids because it lets you transform the ground into almost anything.

You can create:

• Obstacle courses
• Target games
• Giant board games
• Roads and cities
• Hopscotch variations
• Race tracks
• Safe zones
• Treasure trails
• Drawing challenges

It also disappears after a bit of rain, which makes it perfect for temporary play.

The Playbook includes lots of ideas that turn ordinary outdoor spaces into something much more interesting.

Dice

Dice are small, cheap and endlessly useful.

They can decide:

• How many jumps someone has to do
• How far a player moves
• What body part a creature needs
• What happens next in a story
• Which challenge someone must attempt
• How many points something is worth

That makes dice ideal for quick family games and activities that need just a little bit of randomness.

Instead of buying a new game, you can often create one with a pair of dice and a good idea.

String

String is another brilliant example of an everyday object that can become almost anything.

It can be used as:

• A finish line
• A trail
• A maze
• A boundary
• A measuring tool
• Part of a den
• A pretend laser
• A spider’s web
• A piece of artwork

Open-ended materials are powerful because they don’t tell children what to do, they create possibilities.

Balls of different sizes

A couple of balls are also useful additions to a Play Kit.

You don’t need an entire sports cupboard. A tennis ball alone can create dozens of active play ideas involving:

• Throwing
• Catching
• Rolling
• Aiming
• Balancing
• Racing

Add a larger soft ball and you’ve got even more options.

The important thing is that the equipment stays simple; the variety comes from the game ideas themselves.

Paints and basic craft materials

Some children love artistic play, so it’s helpful to have a few basic art supplies too.

You might include:

• Paint
• Brushes
• Paper
• Child-safe scissors
• Glue
• Tape
• Cardboard
• Recycled packaging

The trick is not to think of these supplies as individual activities. Think of them as tools.

Then let us here at OK, Let’s Play! provide the creative challenge.

Maybe you’re making puppets. Maybe you’re building something from recycling. Maybe you’re designing a superhero gadget. Maybe you’re painting with something that definitely isn’t a paintbrush.

The materials help you make it. The idea gives you somewhere to start.

Why simple play materials work so well

It’s easy to feel like good play needs to be elaborate.

Any quick search online for children’s activity ideas returns endless beautifully prepared craft stations, sensory trays and themed activities. They can be brilliant, but they can also take longer to prepare than they do to play.

That isn’t what most parents need on a Tuesday afternoon.

At OK, Let’s Play! we focus on easy play ideas for kids and families that are realistic.

That means ideas that can work:

• With very little preparation
• With ordinary household items
• In small pockets of time
• Indoors or outdoors
• With different ages
• When you don’t have endless energy

Because play should feel like play, not like another task on your list.

Find a play idea that fits your day

This is one of the biggest benefits of our Playbook. You don’t have to scroll endlessly through generic lists of children’s activities and work out whether they’ll suit your family, you can filter and find play ideas based on what you actually need.

Need a 5-minute game for kids with endless energy? You got it.

Looking for something calm? No problem.

Need an outdoor activity? Easy.

Want something silly? Definitely.

Need something with no equipment? There are plenty.

At a restaurant, on a journey, at the park or waiting for a doctors appointment? We’ve thought about those moments too.

And if you want something even more specific, our Genie can help generate play inspiration to suit what you’re looking for.

The aim is simple: less time searching for things to do, more time actually doing them.

The best Play Kit is the one you actually use

Your Play Kit doesn’t need to look beautiful. It doesn’t need labels, it doesn’t need matching storage boxes, it definitely doesn’t need to become another project in and of itself.

Start with what you already have already. The point of a Play Kit is not to own more stuff, it’s to make it easier to use the things you already have to create moments of play.

Less prep. More play.

A number of awesome plays in our Playbook library are designed to use these play kit items to help you create magical memories for your family. So keep a few useful things nearby, keep the OKLP Playbook in your pocket, and the next time you hear “Will you play with me?” you’ll have an easy answer.

“OK, Let’s Play!”