As your child transitions from a baby to a toddler, the number one characteristic you’ll notice is their growing need for autonomy... Independence and self-determination comes through loud and clear: “I do it!” or “MINE!” Asserting herself and expressing himself verbally is completely normal for children this age and something parents need to encourage. The more you can support their desire to make decisions and to figure things out the better! In fact, studies indicate this strategy of … [Read more...]
Make Time for Forts! Fort Building for FUN
FORT Building 101 Fort building is FUN—obviously, but also: 1. Building forts channels and develops your child’s inner engineer. I have to support that! Fort building requires problem-solving, divergent and creative thinking--all skills needed in engineering! 2. Fort building will consume your child’s interest and focus for long periods of time! Time needed for decision-making and planning—making use of rudimentary architectural skills; Time for actual construction—employing … [Read more...]
Why Puppet Play is Important
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...]
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...]