Magnetic Picture Play
A creative, open-ended activity where children arrange colourful magnetic pieces to create their own pictures and scenes. Encourages imagination, storytelling, fine motor skills and independent play.
Learn what you need to do for this activity
Learn what is needed in order to do this activity
Learn how you can adapt this activity and reuse
Learn the Benefits of this activity
What do you do:
Place the magnetic board on the tray with the pieces in a small bowl. Invite your child to choose and arrange the magnets to create their own picture or scene.
Encourage them to move, group and rearrange the pieces, creating patterns or simple stories as they play.
What's Needed:
A magnetic board with a collection of colourful magnetic pieces featuring different pictures, characters, shapes and objects.
How to Adapt
For younger children, offer fewer pieces at a time and focus on simple naming and matching. You could ask, “Can you find the bee?” or “Where should the flower go?”
For older children, encourage them to create a complete scene, make a repeating pattern, sort the pieces into groups such as animals, food or transport, or tell a story using the pieces they have chosen.
Benefits of the Activity
Supports fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and finger strength.
Encourages creativity, concentration, decision-making and early storytelling.
Talking about the pictures also helps build vocabulary, descriptive language and imagination.
