If you’ve been following PLAY & GROW for very long, you know one thing for sure about me. I’m more than passionate, closer to obsessed about, providing play-based activities so children PLAY! And why? The reason is twofold. First, PLAY is instrumental for children to gain the knowledge, skills, concepts and capabilities that they need now. Second PLAY lays this important knowledge/skills foundation from which children build upon for use in the future. The basic developmental domains in … [Read more...]
What to Do with Lost Teeth
"Life is short, so smile while you still have teeth.” ~Unknown~ Crawling, saying their first word, getting their 1st tooth—these are a few of your kiddo’s typical milestones. Another milestone that equally tugs at my heart are those toothy and toothless smiles. At the time, kids may not appreciate them, but I think every parent (and grandparent) cherishes those goofy smiles. The World Always Needs a Smile... Of course we love … [Read more...]
Dreamy Days and Random Naps–A Review
I received a PDF version to review of Mawson the Bear’s new book, Dreamy Days and Random Naps. Do you think picture books are only for children’s literature? Mawson has gifted parents with some! Curious about this author? Mawson is a big-hearted, soul-searching Writer-Bear of little books with lots of heart. His books are stuffed with moments of happiness for frazzled grown-ups. Mawson and his friends write about and highlight the simple joys of Life. In addition to Dreamy Days and Random Naps … [Read more...]
Puzzles If You Don’t Think They’re Important Think Again
Puzzles give a child the opportunity to experience and manipulate the world around him/her. This contributes positively towards their brain development. WHY? Because putting puzzles together has a child actively engaged, manipulating his/her world. And the very important next step of that: Seeing what results from their actions. Additionally, when children PLAY they typically develop skills and gain knowledge across more than one domain. As you'll … [Read more...]
The ‘Perfect Toy’: PLAY Comes in Unexpected Ways
You’ve heard about it before—parents going through considerable time, effort and expense to select just that perfect toy. Usually it's the latest and greatest, but , more often than not, their little one seems much more interested in playing with the packaging it came in. How about you? Did your kiddo have more interest and fun ripping wrapping paper off and away than playing with the gift inside? Children don’t need a lot of bells and whistles to PLAY. In fact, I’d go so far as to say all … [Read more...]