Symbolic play is the highest form of play. Your child has learnt to play with ideas rather than physical objects. But how did she get there? In a previous post we saw that it all starts with imitative play. We saw imitation is a skill that children have to learn. It’s not something they are born with. …
94. Symbolic play: the key to your child’s imagination Read More »
Solitude: solitary play for older children While we all want our children to be sociable and make friends easily, it’s also good to be able to work independently and to be happy in your own company. Solitude is closely linked to Boredom (no. 16), since without anyone else for entertainment, children must draw on their …
While we don’t want to encourage parents to wilfully put your child in dangerous situations, we do also believe that children who are allowed to assess and take their own risks make more confident, curious learners, who can confront their fears and understand they are in control of their own destiny. So much of the …
Transient art is, as the name suggests, a process in which the images, patterns, and sculptures children create don’t last beyond the end of their play session. Drawing in the sand at the beach is a transient art activity, as is drawing in chalk on the patio or making a face with pebbles. Loose parts …
As children approach school age they begin to participate in cooperative play. This is the final stage of the six stages of play and the most sophisticated. It’s the kind of play you get when children play together, assigning roles and agreeing the rules of the game, however arbitrary they may be. You will find …
Sometimes I think the 100 Toys approach to play is a bit like the Paleo Diet. I find myself wondering how children would have played before there were any toys. The impulse to explore would still have been there. Toddlers would have enjoyed schema play. Babies would still have dropped their food on the floor. …
The pioneering Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget famously said: ‘Play is the work of childhood.’ We all need an occupation, something that engages and challenges us, and for the under-fives play is just that. Piaget was also a firm believer in allowing children to discover things for themselves, instead of instructing them – and we are …
As your baby becomes accustomed to life outside the womb, you’ll find that she starts to take an interest in the world around her. At first, that’s not much more than the difference between light and dark or your face coming into view (from no more than a foot away). But even though her vision …
From threading to needlework, drawing to collage, fine motor control is central to many favourite preschooler activities. Not to mention vital for pen control. Finger isolation Finger isolation comes first. Think of this as the ability to play scales on the piano, one finger at a time. If you can’t move a finger by itself …
And so we’ve reached the end of the 100 Toys journey. As Maurice Sendak might have said if he’d run an online shop: Through birth, in and out of the toy box, over five years and into the light of our very own imaginations. It’s been fun. But now we must part. Our hope is …
