When I was little, I used to like eating Coco Pops for breakfast. The chocolate-coated puffed rice would sometimes throw up some unusual shapes. That one looks like a hippo! This is something we humans have been doing since the beginning of time. Can you see the face of a man? Photo credit: Etan J. […]
Finding patterns in disorder | Pareidolia and hirameki Read More »
We’re going to take a philosophical turn today. It may seem odd to start a series on Christmas activities with a meditation on impermanence but stick with me. In my usual, circuitous way, we’re heading somewhere. I visited Japan a few years ago and encountered an interesting idea: mono no aware. As I understand it, the
I spent Saturday morning trying to explain the idea of working memory to my son at the breakfast table. We had been looking at a maths problem and focus was in short supply. He was cracking jokes, rocking on his chair and making up an impromptu rap about my thinning hair. He is a bad
How to improve your child’s working memory Read More »
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea, To see what he could see, see, ___ One hundred, two hundred, three ___ Clap, clap, click, clap, clap, ___ x, xx, xxx, xxxx, ___ Patterns are everywhere. And without patterns we would be lost. They help us to predict what’s coming next. They save us from having
Pattern activities for preschoolers Read More »
Turn over a card. Now turn over another. Do they match? No? Turn them back over. But try to remember where you put them. You might need to find them again if you find the same pictures on other cards. We are playing matching pairs, a simple memory game. It’s fun when you’re four. And
Learn better with simple memory games Read More »
Google ’Small world play ideas’ and you’ll see a lot of builders’ trays filled with slime and coloured rice. There will be some figures, of course, and many of the activities look like great fun. But what a pain to set up! Do you really have the time to do it? And what a mess
33 simple small world play ideas Read More »
It is the spring of 1945. Mussolini is dead and the people of Italy survey wreckage of their country. For two decades, fascism has been the ruling ideology: individual rights and democratic values were suppressed in favour of the state. In a village near the town of Reggio Emilia, the people decide to build a
The Reggio Emilia approach Read More »
One of the first articles I wrote after launching 100 Toys was Three Goodies and a Baddie: Tell Almost Any Story with Just a Handful of Figures. It’s a descriptive title and it gets to the heart of what 100 Toys used to be about – more fun with fewer toys. But it’s a bit
How archetypes help your child’s play Read More »
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything. And so begins “Where the Wild Things are”, by Maurice Sendak. Like The Three Little Pigs and The
The hero’s journey: The story behind your child’s play Read More »
I want to tell you about the benefits of snakes and ladders and how it is great for teaching children about numbers and the number system. But people don’t like maths. The website’s analytics data prove it. Write about creativity? Lots of engagement. Write about maths? Not so much. I’m running a business, so why
Learn to count with Snakes and Ladders Read More »