Category: Play

Tuesday Tip: Learning can be messy, let your child get dirty!

7/25/2016

Welcome to my Tuesday Tip. Each week over the summer I will post a Tip on how to encourage learning through play. Read my recent blog post to learn more about how free play supports deep learning. Today's tip is about letting your child get dirty so they can learn through sensory exploration:

Last week I wrote about baking something real that you can eat and enjoy: Baking to Learn. This week I want to write about allowing your children to get outside, get messy and stimulate their senses.

Sensory play has numerous benefits including fine motor skill development, emotional regulation and learning about sensory characteristics (what is hot, cold, smooth, rough, etc) which helps with classification and sorting skills. But, sensory play can be messy so many caregivers are reluctant to allow children to dive into sensory play.

Some examples of sensory play are:
* play doh
* finger painting
* shaving cream play
* dirt play
* sand play
* bubbles
* water play.

Through sensory play children can experiment with their sense of touch, learn to manipulate materials, create things, write or draw with different materials and self soothe.

Today’s tip is to embrace the mess (as I described in my blog about creek swimming) and let your child get dirty, play in the dirt and the mud and make mud pies. They might not be edible, but I guarantee your children will enjoy the freedom to get messy and let their imaginations go in their outdoor pretend kitchen.

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Turning the mundane into fun!

8/26/2013

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Sometimes I worry I don't have enough quality moments with my children during the day. I definitely spend a lot of time with them. But, how much of that time is quality time? Some days it feels like I go from managing the challenging moments (the whining, tantrums and the sibling rivalry) to scrambling to get the household tasks done (diaper changes, mealtimes, clean up and laundry, to name just a few!)

I try and reserve time during the day - even if it is 15 minutes - when I am 100% focused on playing with the children - no distractions, no multitasking, but sometimes that doesn't feel like enough (or sometimes the day feels too busy for even 15 minutes of fun). For more on play read my past blogs.

But, then, I remind myself of the many opportunities throughout the day to connect with my children and turn even a mundane task or challenging moment into a quality moment.

A child's whining can be turned into a funny game of making silly voices; washing the car can become a family event; driving in the car can become a game of I Spy and mealtimes are opportunities for connecting with each other and talking about the day.

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” ― Jimmy Johnson

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Remember to Play

11/10/2012

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Play is a topic I feel so passionate about that I have written previous posts about play and will dedicate the next few weeks to writing more about it.

Play is a child's work. Through play, children develop gross and fine motor skills; learn academic, social, and emotional skills; build self confidence and connect with others. Reserving some time for play each day is important for a child's development as well as for the parent-child relationship.

Play can also prevent misbehavior. Often when parents are struggling with a child behavior issue I remind them to play with their child everyday using the skills I wrote about in this guide: The Best Ways to Play This small investment in time (as little as 10 minutes each day) can reduce the number of behavior issues.

Happy Playing!

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The Power of Play

6/7/2011

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Play is a child’s work. It is how they learn. Through play they develop language and learn social skills such as cooperation and problem solving. They also develop self esteem as well as learn how to recognize and regulate their emotions.

In addition to these amazing benefits to play, is the impact it has on the relationship between parent and child. Spending time playing with your child not only fosters their development, it also improves the parent-child relationship. Through play you not only have the power to teach your child skills, but also to teach your child that she is important and you are attune to her.

Here are some specific ways you can do this in play:
* follow your child’s lead (don't take over the play)
* describe your child’s play (like a sports commentator)
* reflect their verbal statements
* avoid questions (this one is a tough one to do!).

Spending even 5-15 minutes of uninterrupted play time with your child using these skills can make a huge impact on your relationship. You may even see an increase in cooperation and a reduction in tantrums. Wouldn’t that be nice?

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Tuesday Tip: Learning can be messy, let your child get dirty!

Turning the mundane into fun!

Remember to Play

The Power of Play

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