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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
When you sign up to 5 Plus, our new course for parents of children over five, you get a quick welcome email. Is there anything you’re particularly struggling with? I ask. Everyone replies. And there’s lots of variety in the responses. But the common to almost everyone is screen time. “I’m a lone parent, so …
Pick up a pencil and start to draw. What is your left hand doing? It’s holding down the paper. Now take some scissors and cut out your picture. Your left hand is busy again, holding and turning the paper as you cut. This is bilateral coordination. It is the ability to use both sides of …
Bilateral coordination: using both hands together Read More »