A world of imaginative, open-ended PLAY opens up when your kiddo plays with puppets. Puppet play, a sub-set of pretend play, is a type of PLAY young children are naturally drawn. Like dolls, children have been playing with puppets for a long, long time. For a toy to have that kind of staying power they must be very special. And such is the case with puppets! Puppets engage and entertain children. They have FUN all the while growing and learning in several key areas of development! Puppet … [Read more...]
Mother Nature Knows Best
Mother Nature is a wondrous thing. Mother Nature, mothers and their children are nothing short of miraculous. I’ve been reminded of it recently with the birth of my first grandbaby just 3 months ago and now awaiting the birth of my second grandbaby in about 1 ½ months! I recently read a Scientific American article on changes that happen in a woman’s brain when she’s pregnant. It’s plain to see a woman’s body undergoes massive changes as it hosts her growing baby…some women’s bodies get a … [Read more...]
PlayAbility: The Word for 2017
For me PlayAbility™ has four components: Children, adults, toys and the play environment. Young children inherently 'know' how to play when given the time, materials, space and freedom to play. Dr Lawrence J Cohen said: "The single most important skill that parents can acquire is playing." To facilitate that this year, along with PlayAbility™, I’ll be adding more PLAY-based learning activities parents, grandparents and/or caregivers can use with the kidlets. To help them become more confident … [Read more...]
Growing Up Made Easier with PLAY
I was driving around my neighborhood recently. As it happened, it was while school was letting out. Stopping at a crosswalk for kids to go across, I thought: WHEN did it happen that adults had to be in charge of school crossings? I remember how proud I was being part of the school patrol—entrusted with the responsibility for the safety of fellow students. We didn’t have sidewalks; we weren’t always within viewing of the school; and some of the streets we covered were main arterials. And yet, … [Read more...]
Sticks and Stones: Play for Resilience
Remember the nursery rhyme: “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” WHAT has happened to that sentiment? Before going on, I want to emphatically state that YES, words can hurt, and hurt deeply, especially when it’s within the context of demeaning, belittling, or hateful words spewing from a loved one. So let me emphasize, I expect parents to talk to their children with kindness, compassion and/or respect. They should speak that way even if they are disappointed, … [Read more...]