August 10th, 2007 More time for play Posted by Melitsa in Articles, Education, Media

With school out in the UK the teaching unions have their annual conferences and what has come up this year but the discussion “Should children have more time for play?”

Although it sounds like a silly question there is an awful lot of testing going on earlier and earlier with selection tests and preparing for the test. Children are sitting down and the focus is not on them experiencing learning actively but being able to pass the test satisfactorily.

While I think that testing is a good idea, in principle, as it gives baselines and data you can measure which is an effective way to see how a child is progressing. Testing mustn’t be so pervasive that it determines the type of activities your child does in early childhood settings.

Neither does testing provide an ultimate answer- just how well they performed on the test that day, at that time. Tomorrows test in the same way may produce worse or better results and it’s not just the weather or their mood that are important factors but at this tender age kids don’t learn in a linear fashion but stops and starts; bursts and stalls and sometimes they just tick along.

Testing results should be a more comprehensive assessment than it is although I don’t know how that could be done without it becoming cumbersome for the teachers. All they want to do is teach for goodness sake!

But testing in it’s current form – nope I don’t agree for the little ones.

So yes, there should be more time for play- meaningful play. This article by the Guardian newspaper focuses on changing the year of kids joining school from 4 to 6 or 7. Why? to have more play opportunities?

They say that starting later would be better as ” ….this would give them more time to learn essential lessons for a successful life through playing, which helps children learn to be sociable, make friends, share, negotiate and sort out arguments – the tools they will need for life, not just school.”

Couldn’t agree more but how do you do this in a busy world when there are so many pulls and pressure.

How?

• You have to socialise yourself and your child and enjoy play dates where they can learn cooperation and negotiation.

• You join playgroups or church groups.

• Go to parks and talk to other parents. Let your kids mix and see if they can work out differences, with you watching and intervening as needed. These provide excellent opportunities to teach after the event as well.

• Find friends online and in your area. There are many different forums for all the different types of parent. What do your friends recommend? Try here and here. Arrange meet ups or start your own play group.

• Instead of being a helicopter parent try to allow your child to lead. Naturally within sensible boundaries.

• Provide ample opportunities for unstructured play. I can’t emphasis this point enough. Leave things out that inspire them to do what they want with it. E.g. empty boxes, sheets, kitchen equipment, old clothes, dressing up clothes. You’ll be surprised at their creativity. It may take them a while but it will come!

• Look into teaching methods at your preschools and nurseries. Do they fit into your philosophy or your child’s learning style. Learn about Montessori, Waldorf, Charlotte Mason as a start.

• Put away flashing, battery toys that are all singing and dancing from time to time. Box them all up and stash them one night. Bring them out when you want them out rather than having them in the toy box all the time.

• Leave books out everywhere. They will look at them and bring them to you.

• Build flexible time into their schedule so you both have downtime together side by side with you working on a project and they on a project. How else will they learn how to do things without you?

• Do some activities together. If you’re stuck for ideas try the daily email of activities. Good starting points for mostly open-ended play.

As Alfred Adler states “Play is a child’s work and this is not a trivial pursuit.”

In my opinion, the most important thing about play is about the balance of stimulation by us the parent and how much time your child spends experimenting and experiencing play for themselves. A point illustrated by Kathy the parenting coach in the recent podcast by the Manic Mommies.

How is your balance?

Time to evaluate your child’s play life…

***What play opportunities do you create for your child? How do you manage to keep the balance of structured and unstructured activities? ***

I’d love to hear your ideas. Leave your comments below.

August 6th, 2007 6 kid things to do at a hotel when on a road trip Posted by Melitsa in play activities

I’m sure you are sensing a theme with my posts…..yes we’ve been travelling and we’ve still not quite made it to home.

There are many posts about road trips right now. For some great ideas try GNMParents post here as well as the so called me here. Of course my previous post as well here.

Getting from one place to another is hard enough with kids although the above posts address that well.

What do you do when you arrive exhausted at destination 4 of 6 or your ultimate destination………….?

Here are some activities that have kept mine sane and not climbing the walls. Please add your ideas….always in need of new ideas.

1. Hand prints on the mirror. This is a cheeky one as I hate cleaning the mirrors after they’ve been fogged up and you see hand prints. But away from home we have a blast in the hotel making hand prints and feet. Ever made footprints? Make your hand into a fist. Place the flat part (little finger side) on the misty mirror. Use your thumb for the big toe and your index finger to add the four toes. Alternating hands give you the look that someone walked over the mirror.

( Acknowledgment: as taught to me on a school journey bus ride over 20 years ago by Miss Butcher)
2. Caves. We have 2 double beds so it makes a perfect area to join together with the blankets/sheets. We read in our cave and retell stories.
3. Balls. I always carry at least one. all different shapes and sizes. Mine love to bounce them and roll them off things.

4. Get out and walk in the neighborhood. We found some great playgrounds and parks.
5. Treasure hunt. Hide Pjs, socks, toys, balls, or familiar things in the draws, under the bed, in the shower. We played it like hide and seek for bedtime and they had to find toothbrush, paste,book, PJs etc. All the running around got them a little tired- and ready for bath then bed. It allowed them to explore the room………and they went to bed.
6. Collect together the freebie hotel stuff (soaps, shampoo etc) build a tower. Take them from hotel to hotel and you can get a really big tower.

*******Now it’s your turn- what kid things do you do in your hotel room on a road trip?*************

August 2nd, 2007 Childhood games Posted by Melitsa in Good reads, Media, play activities

Here’s an interesting article I came across this week. I ‘d love to know your thoughts on it. There’s a chance to fill in a survey and/or reply here about your thoughts.

Looking forward to reading them.

***************

“There was a time when children played games that were more physical and helped to develop their social skills. Today, children often play games that are less challenging, both physically and socially.”

Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter for the Jamaican Gleaner.

Read the full article here, to learn about some play activities adults reflect on that they used to play and a few kids who still play them.

Why I like this article?

• It shows me new games from another country.
• The reflections of the adults are reminisces of their childhood rather than generalisations about play.
• They seemed to have a lot of fun!
• It reminded me to share my childhood games with my children.

Please share your responses to the article in this quick survey.
Click Here to take survey

******What childhood games do you share or intend to share with your children?**********