For a moment it all looked so nice. There was coloured rice and soil, sticks and stones and straw. You bought a beautiful toy wolf and three little pigs. You built charming houses. It was a lovingly-constructed scene. What fun your child would have recreating the story of The Three Little Pigs! Cue the big …
Don’t overcomplicate invitations to play | 5 ways to keep your child engaged Read More »
Open-ended play is good for your child. Everyone knows that, right? That means closed-ended play must be bad. There’s nothing creative about puzzles or Ludo. Closed-ended play is play minus the creativity – and that sounds all wrong. But puzzles and games are good for you. They teach problem-solving, perseverance and the importance of finishing, vital skills …
Closed-ended play: Learn to finish what you start Read More »
Have you tried playing board games yet with your child? If your child isn’t ready, it can fall apart quite quickly. She makes mistakes, doesn’t understand the rules, gets frustrated. Having fun has never been so stressful! What went wrong? You didn’t choose a developmentally appropriate game. How to choose the right board game The …
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 …
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 »
A boy is on the beach. He squats down to fill his bucket with sand. A while later, a little girl appears alongside him. She too has a bucket, but also some moulds and a scoop. She digs and fills, tips out and shapes. They don’t talk. They barely acknowledge each other’s presence. They simply …
Here is a boy. He is doing his own thing. His sister is nearby and they are happy to be together. They trade toys, they share materials, they talk, but they don’t co-operate, they aren’t working towards a shared goal. This is associative play. It is the fifth of the Six Stages of Play. The …
Associative play | Doing different things, together Read More »
Onlooker play, a term that might seem contradictory at first, plays an integral role in your child’s developmental journey. While it might appear as though your child is merely standing on the sidelines, there’s a lot more happening beneath the surface. This stage, marked by observation without direct participation, has myriad benefits for your child’s …
Unoccupied play, though seemingly simple, plays a crucial role in your child’s early years. It lays the foundation for various developmental milestones and offers parents unique insights into their child’s world. The six stages of play Mildred Parten identified six stages of play, from unoccupied to co-operative. They chart children’s progression from playing alone to …