Make, Create & Play
Free things to make, build and explore, using what is already at home or out on a walk.
What's here
Make, Create & Play is part of Activities & Days Out: a growing set of activities for SEND families, using everyday household items and things found in nature. Every idea can be done at home or close by, with no special equipment.
Everything is free, and every activity can be adapted. Where an activity might be tricky, the adaptations explain how to make it easier, quieter or shorter, so your child can join in at their own pace.
Each activity card opens to show what you need, the steps, roughly how long it takes, ideas to make it work for your child, and the safety bits to read first. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to pay for.
Make at Home
Things to make at the kitchen table with what is already in the cupboard, from playdough to a box of comforts.
7 activities
Homemade playdough
Soft, squishy playdough you can make in one pan, in colours your child chooses.
15 minutes to make, plus coolingCardboard creations
Turn delivery boxes into castles, rockets, shops and car ramps with tape and imagination.
30 to 60 minutesSock puppets
A lost sock, two eyes and a big mouth become a character who can say the things that are hard to say.
20 to 30 minutesIndoor dens
A quiet, cosy corner built from things you already own, ready whenever the day needs a calmer place.
10 to 20 minutes to buildSensory bottles
A bottle of water, glitter and colour to shake, watch and settle: a calm-down tool that fits in a bag.
15 minutesMy Time Capsule
Decorate a shoebox and fill it with the things that say who you are right now, for your future self to open one day.
45 minutes to an hour, plus the decoratingMy Overwhelm Box
A decorated box of comforting things, ready before a hard moment, so nothing has to be found or explained in a hurry.
30 to 45 minutesExplore Outdoors
Simple ideas for a walk, a park or the garden, using leaves, sticks and colours you find along the way.
5 activities
Autumn leaf collecting and collages
A walk to gather leaves, then a collage that keeps the colours of the season.
30 minutes out, 30 minutes makingLeaf and bark rubbings
Lay paper over a leaf or a trunk, rub a crayon across it, and watch the pattern appear.
20 to 30 minutesNature treasure hunts
A simple list turns a walk into a hunt for colours, shapes and sounds.
30 to 45 minutesStick and twig art
Sticks, twigs and a few finds become a picture, a little raft or a fairy house.
30 to 45 minutesColour-spotting walks
Choose a colour, then find it everywhere on the way: a calm and steady way to walk and notice.
20 to 30 minutesSeasonal Crafts
Crafts that fit the time of year, ready for a window, a tree or a shelf.
4 activities
Paper pumpkins
Strips of paper, a split pin and a pumpkin that opens and closes, ready for autumn.
20 to 30 minutesSalt-dough decorations
A simple dough that dries hard, ready to paint and hang on a tree or in a window.
20 minutes to make, 3 to 4 hours to dryAutumn pictures
Paint, print and collage the colours of autumn onto one big picture.
30 to 45 minutesHomemade seasonal decorations
Paper chains, stars and garlands made from what is already in the craft box.
30 to 45 minutesEnjoying these ideas?
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