During playtime we all get excited by what they’ve done. Our kids do great things ….Is there a right or wrong way to praise them? Seems like there is,as there’s mounting evidence that the way we praise them during their under 5 play will have lasting effects into school and future life. Ashely Merryman joins the show today to talk… View Post
Toilet roll or bandage Soft toy Doctor kit ( optional) Preparation: Carefully wrap up your soft toy so they look injured. Leave in an obvious place. Set the scene using your surprised and concerned voice. ( Now’s the time to overact!) We played out a scene of looking after our stuffed animal. Through lots of questioning we got to… View Post
Is a Forest School or Forest Kindergarten right for my child? Today Juliet Robertson of Creative Star Co. gives us the scoop on the benefits of Forest schools, Outdoor education and preschools who operate outdoors. This was a whole new world for us and we explore it together in this 63 minute podcast. Visit Juliet’s twitter :: facebook :: website Complete… View Post
Giving choices isn’t always the first thing we do when a child is non compliant. We usually take away choices. There’s then a terrible power struggle where one of us will have to win at all costs. In the last post I shared some tips about cultivating a home where choice was expected and standard. It takes time and a… View Post
During the toddler and preschool years the word, “No!” becomes a very powerful word. It derails the happy atmosphere, stops a quick exit on errands, means we scoop our little one off the floor in that shop and march out. They want an input. They want a choice. As a parent you can allow for extra time for the No!… View Post
Ever wonder if the play activities you do and the values you teach really stick with your child? Ever played with a child and been beaten in a simple game? It happened this week and really illustrated something to me worth sharing. We need to teach our kids sportsmanship intentionally. It can’t be a happy accident or rob them of… View Post
Today I’m talking to Sue Gascoyne , Author, speaker, consultant and owner of PlaytoZ about Sensory play activities; one of our favourite topics. Follow Sue on Twitter Listen:: Listen to this week’s show | subscribe through iTunes | on-the-go device Show notes:: We learn in this 32 minute podcast: inspiration with the small things about treasure basket play about problem solving with resources watching listening… View Post
Today we’ve come to the last day of 31 days to a more playful tot. Each day there’s been a chance of thought, growth, action and reflection. While we’re not aiming at making perfect playful children and recognise that we have to do, fail and learn ourselves; I hope we’ve all found some new things to try. {Image credit }… View Post
There is something to be said for children being bored. The problem though is can you direct them or inspire them to engage in longer periods of unstructured play? How to Keep Unstructured Play Flexible? It almost seems wrong in many eyes to set up an environment for unstructured play. But for most of us we have our default go… View Post
When you say yes to something you say no to something else. The power of that statement impacts so many parts of our lives but when we look at our children’s play lives we can quickly see how saying yes to too many things will have a negative impact. The power of this statement is in the choice. The choices… View Post
