What is private speech? Do you remember talking to yourself as a child? You spoke as you played, narrating the action but also guiding yourself and talking through problems. This is private speech. It can take the form of dialogue between characters or commentary upon the action. As we’ve seen elsewhere on the blog, social […]
Private speech and the importance of narrating play Read More »
How does your child play? If you ever have the chance to sit down and observe, have you noticed the kinds of play they engage in? There are lots of theories about play and, like relativity and quantum mechanics, they make sense on their own but no-one has yet come up with a way to
The Four Types of Play Read More »
How do you play with Grapat? The simple shapes and lack of obvious purpose make them a mystery to most adults. But your child will know exactly what to do: explore. With Grapat, the focus is on discovery and experimentation. The materials invite open-ended play, that is play without a fixed outcome. What is Grapat?
An Introduction to Grapat Read More »
How do children learn? How does your child learn? Like circles in a Venn diagram the answers to these questions overlap, but not entirely. Every child is unique and though what you’ll read below applies in general, it’s vital that you take the time to observe your child’s play and see what works for them.
How Children Learn Read More »
Are you finding it hard to devote enough time to your children during lockdown? Sarah Thompson, our copywriter, shares her experience of a positive parenting course where she learnt some helpful techniques. Being a self-employed writer who works from home, going full lockdown hasn’t been too much of a leap for me. But having both
Five minutes might be all the attention your child needs Read More »
Do you ever feel like your home is full-to-bursting with toys that you don’t want and didn’t ask for? The children in the 100 Toys house are 6, 5, 4 and 2 years old. That’s 17 Christmasses and 17 birthdays in total. Gifts from parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, plus stocking fillers. It’s not unusual
A guide to toys for the first five years: a complete list Read More »
Can you tell the difference between a good wine and a bad one? What is it that marks one from the other? Have you ever tried tasting two wines side by side to see which was best? Did you have the skill to notice and the vocabulary to label what you discovered? When you taste-test
Sensory discrimination: What wine-tasting can teach us about play Read More »
How do you feel about educational toys? And what are they, anyway? Children instinctively know what’s good for them. Objects that can teach them lessons they are ready to learn are intensely interesting. It could be a wine cork, a marble or a muddy puddle. It could also be blocks, a wooden figure, or (very
What are the best educational toys? Read More »
A baby’s most important toy is you, which is why we don’t recommend many toys for babies, and for under six-months very little at all. A mobile, a baby gym and a couple of activity toys to scatter on the play mat is more than enough. But there are a few items in our range
Gift Guide: Babies Read More »
The two or three years before children enter primary school is a period of incredible wonder, when they develop their own personalities, learn to make friends, to chat, to play. Your toddler will move away from experimentation to intention, from making marks to holding a pencil and maybe even writing, from dependence on you to
Gift Guide: Preschoolers Read More »