For a moment it all looked so nice. There was coloured rice and soil, sticks and stones and straw. You bought a beautiful toy wolf and three little pigs. You built charming houses. It was a lovingly-constructed scene. What fun your child would have recreating the story of The Three Little Pigs! Cue the big […]
Don’t overcomplicate invitations to play | 5 ways to keep your child engaged Read More »
You can lead a horse to water. And you can give a child a pencil. The result is the same. What happens next is out of your hands. Around the time of her fifth birthday, my youngest daughter created a menu for her ‘café’. Not bad. She had to check some of the spellings with
Learn to write through play Read More »
When I started teaching, one of the first things I noticed was that preschoolers were slackers. While the older children were busy in their classrooms, the youngest pupils – my pupils – were taking it easy, playing outside in the sand and mud. That’ll never do, I thought. I’ll soon whip them into shape. There
Developing fine motor skills through outdoor play Read More »
Open-ended play is good for your child. Everyone knows that, right? That means closed-ended play must be bad. There’s nothing creative about puzzles or Ludo. Closed-ended play is play minus the creativity – and that sounds all wrong. But puzzles and games are good for you. They teach problem-solving, perseverance and the importance of finishing, vital skills
Closed-ended play: Learn to finish what you start Read More »
Have you tried playing board games yet with your child? If your child isn’t ready, it can fall apart quite quickly. She makes mistakes, doesn’t understand the rules, gets frustrated. Having fun has never been so stressful! What went wrong? You didn’t choose a developmentally appropriate game. How to choose the right board game The
How to choose the right board game Read More »
Have your keys ever gone missing? Or perhaps your phone? You were sure you put them down on the coffee table but suddenly they were gone. Cue an hour of increasingly frantic searching. Where could they be? Things don’t just disappear. So you go to your computer and log in to ‘Find my iPhone’. Ping! Ping!
The ‘posting’ schema Read More »
The new toys are out of their wrapping. And the excitement has faded. What’s left? What has changed? Did you get the result you wanted? It’s nice to give a gift. Sometimes that’s the only thing that matters. Here’s something special. I got it for you. I hope it makes you happy. It doesn’t have
Mindful play the wabi-sabi way Read More »
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 »