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
Yesterday in {Day Twenty Seven} I shared my first books to read to discover play. Today I finish off this list with a brief review. Out of sync child has fun This book and the other books by the author are well thumbed in our home. For what seemed like a long time we were looking at Sensory processing disorder… View Post
We’re often locked in a way of play and playful thinking that’s based on our experience. More often than not that gives us some ideas but things change as our learning about play and young children increases. We also find we have children that behave differently and wish to tackle play in a different way than before.Wherever we are along… View Post
There are times when you have a spare 5 minutes and want to start something with the children. It helps to have an idea about where to find things to reduce the time spent in frustration looking for that one things. And yes it usually is one final thing that derails us and causes us to abandon the activity due… View Post
We do a lot of things on their behalf. We make sure they have good food, good play experiences and good times. I still get battles with my three year old though. He doesn’t often /always appreciate the choices he has…..can we say in a small voice- tantrum or melt down. “It’s not enough to be busy, so are… View Post
Transmitting your values and goals via a mission statement is one of the most effective ways of ensuring a direction for your playtime. You can overcome many obstacles to good play experiences that recur daily. Dan Miller is the creative thinker, career coach, speaker and author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays. He’s appeared frequently in… View Post
Did you get a smartphone, ipod, or Kindle recently? Chances are you are loving the freedom of looking things up at a moments notice. Audio and video is something to look out for in the Early Childhood world. No I’m not talking about our little tots this time. I’m talking about us. We don’t always have time to flip through… View Post
Some days you just get blown away by the simplicity of a message. Today was that day. Do you ever find yourself doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. What about the children do you see that in them? How do you get them to move to a point where they can set simple goals… View Post
Ever been derailed by an outburst or tantrum? Our instinct is to rise above it. Sometimes you need to but not always. We do need a strategy for when a tantrum strikes. A strategy presumes then that you’ve tried many different ways and you have something now that works for you and your family. What works for one doesn’t always work for… View Post
