Playing to Learn
With busy school days comes what is for most parents their least favorite activity to do with their kids—homework.
Play
Make Time for Yourself to Play
As parents, we spend much of our time entertaining other people. Usually ones much younger and smaller than ourselves. We also “get” that making sure the small people we’re raising know how to entertain, motivate, and creatively challenge themselves once in awhile. We work hard to provide our kids a lovely cocktail of adult-led, peer-led,
Make Time for Yourself to Play Read More »
Make Family Reunions Fun for Everyone Through Play
Summertime is synonymous with big ole family soirees. A season when close friends and relatives travel near and far in honor of beach vacations, campgrounds, backyard barbecues, and family reunions. And with an array of generations trying to connect with one another in a short amount of time, it seems only natural to tap into
Make Family Reunions Fun for Everyone Through Play Read More »
Encouraging Creative Play
If you want to see creativity and imagination, then watch a child play for an hour. It always amazes me how interesting lifeless toys and objects can be to a child. My children are toddlers: Santi a 3-year-old and Cami a 2-year-old. Every day is a learning experience not only for them but also for
Encouraging Creative Play Read More »
Ideas for Backyard Fun
Even though it’s mid-April there are still parts of the country that are buried in snow. Have faith because summer will actually arrive and families everywhere will be enjoying their backyards. As it turns out, whether your yard is a small patch of grass or acres of rolling hills, we all seem to enjoy it
Ideas for Backyard Fun Read More »
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun!
What was your favorite toy as a child? If your children were asked to choose their favorite toy, what would be on the list? Photographer Gabriele Galimberti posed this very question to children around the world. He took a photo of each child as they posed with their favorites. Children from wealthier families living in
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun! Read More »
Time to Play: Incorporating Everyday Life into Imaginative Play
My 9-year-old girl loves to play alone in her room. I peek in at her during her playtime, and I notice she enjoys imaginative play the most. Because her sibling is 10 years older than she is, she has gotten comfortable with playing by herself and using her imagination to create her own world. As
Time to Play: Incorporating Everyday Life into Imaginative Play Read More »
Time to Play: Toys Blurring the Line Between Science and Play
“Kids learn through play” are words we hear all the time now. Playtime used to be brushed off as kids simply entertaining themselves, but today it is widely accepted that through play the foundations of physical and cognitive development are laid. It is almost solely through play that kids learn to interact with the world
Time to Play: Toys Blurring the Line Between Science and Play Read More »
Time to Play: Balancing Electronic Fun with “Old-Fashioned” Play
When I was 11 years-old, my parents could not keep me inside the house. Hot, cold, rain, or shine, as soon as homework was done, I would run outside and meet my neighborhood friends. I don’t remember exactly what we would do, but it did not matter. We wanted to play. We wanted fresh air, our bicycles,
Time to Play: Balancing Electronic Fun with “Old-Fashioned” Play Read More »
Time to Play: Never Too Old to Play
I was not that kid who neglected or out grew her toys. I loved them all and played with them until they broke or got lost. I had all kinds of toys: dolls, kitchen sets, games, stuffed animals, little robots, video games, card games, bikes, scooters and more. I even had a race track set. No such
Time to Play: Never Too Old to Play Read More »
Gender-Appropriate Play
There’s been some controversy around a recent J.Crew ad that has generated a lot of chatter about gender-appropriate play for kids, and what role parents should have in defining those boundaries. The ad featured their style director painting her son’s toenails pink, and included some text about how lucky she felt to have a son
Gender-Appropriate Play Read More »
Educating Through Play
Every parent knows the tremendous value of a good toy, but often overlooked are the educational toys benefits. “Play is an essential component of healthy child development,” says Cindy Haines, MD, Chief Medical Officer of HealthDay News. “Play not only contributes to a child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being, it also offers numerous opportunities for
Educating Through Play Read More »
Why Parents Should Heed The “Restore Play” Movement
I laughed out loud when I read the piece in the New York Times about the movement to “restore play.”
Why Parents Should Heed The “Restore Play” Movement Read More »
What’s So Great About Toy Story 3?
With an estimated opening weekend box office of $109 Million, you don’t need me to tell you that Toy Story 3 is a major hit. Pixar’s biggest opening yet speaks to the power of the franchise-and the indelible mark that Woody, Buzz and the whole crew have left on our culture in just 15 years. In fact, it’s hard to imagine many kids growing up without these films-like Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz, they are now part of the kids’ movie pantheon. Yes, the reviews have all been glowing, and even our reviewer Cynthia Fuchs gave the movie 10 stars. Yet what has intrigued me are some of the subtle-and not so-messages that the movie delivers and the brilliant worldview of Pixar and Disney that offers all of us so much insight and food for thought over and above the sheer entertainment value.
What’s So Great About Toy Story 3? Read More »
TTPM.com: Let’s Build Language
Great toys encourage creative play, building skills in many areas-but let’s talk language. Certain features in a toy promote language learning and pretend play. What toys stimulate a story in a child’s mind, start him weaving a tale, engaging in dialogue and solving problems?
TTPM.com: Let’s Build Language Read More »
For the Good of the Group
A boy in a preschool setting is happily playing with a truck. Another boy comes over and snatches it. The first boy yells and snatches it back. Who got in trouble?
For the Good of the Group Read More »
TTPM: Turn Off the TV!
I am going to start this post with full disclosure, my child watches TV. I know how easy it is to turn it on, but it’s so much harder to turn it off! Young children learn through play and although they may be yelling at Dora or dancing with the Wiggles, watching TV isn’t play. When they play they imagine, they set rules and boundaries, they practice social skills and so much more.
TTPM: Turn Off the TV! Read More »
TTPM.com: Without a Play Room
When I was young, not one of my friends had a “play room”. Instead, our bedrooms were our domains and we stuffed them with toys, games, posters and memorabilia accordingly. Since then, the play room has become the new house must-have and designated rooms for toys and games are popping up in a number of friend’s houses around town.
TTPM.com: Without a Play Room Read More »
No Do-Overs
In the city neighborhood where I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, there were more than 53 kids between the ages of 4 and 12 within the two-block area that was our “base.” There were no organized activities. No little league. The occasional Boy or Girl Scout. Our lives were defined by school, church and home, and though they were different for many of us, we all came together in the neighborhood. There were groups and cliques and subsets, but for the most part, though parents were never far away, we were on our own.
Learn, Baby, Learn
Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology at Berkely in California, and she has a lot that’s important to say about learning. Last week, she wrote an insightful article for the New York Times.
What it boils down to is this: Children learn through play. No, it’s not stop-the-presses revelation, but it is important for parents, teachers and caregivers to recall. In essence, so much of our educational system is results oriented, and what Gopnik and her research show is that learning is a process. As children build mental capabilities through experimentation (aka play), they are putting in place the foundation of an ability to learn.
Learn, Baby, Learn Read More »
Let’s Play
As I’ve always suspected play is not just for children, athletes and weekends, but rather it is as essential to the human condition as water and air. Check out Stuart Browns lecture, “Why Play Is Vital — No Matter Your Age”, and enjoy a very insightful look at why we need to play. See you at the playgroun