Family Life
Managing Rainy Days With Young Children
A run of rainy days with young children can feel like a slow-moving disaster — cabin fever sets in by mid-morning, the house gets progressively worse,...
6 min read
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Showing articles tagged with: #play
14 articles found
Play
Why Play Is the Primary Way Young Children Learn
The idea that play and learning are separate — that children play when they are not learning, and learn when they are not playing — is one of the most...
2 min read
Family Life
The Role of Play in Family Bonding
The version of "playing with your child" that earns the relationship payoff isn't the half-distracted, building-blocks-while-checking-email version. I...
7 min read
Play
Why Repetition in Play Is Important for Development
A 2-year-old who has filled and emptied the same bowl 47 times in 20 minutes is not bored or unimaginative — they are doing exactly the cognitive work...
6 min read
Play
Music Time: How to Use Music in Play
Music does not need a dedicated instrument, a playlist, or a scheduled activity time. It can be woven into feeding, nappy changes, transitions, and pl...
3 min read
Play
Music Games for Babies Under One
A 3-month-old will turn toward a singing voice across a quiet room within seconds. The same baby, on a recording of the same song, will give a noticea...
8 min read
Play
How to Play Together When Time Is Limited
A working parent who reads to their 3-year-old for ten focused minutes, phone in another room, eye-level on the rug, is doing more developmental good...
8 min read
Play
Dance Games for Children Aged 1–3
Young children dance. Put on music and watch a toddler respond — the whole body engages. This is not just fun; it is developmentally meaningful moveme...
2 min read
Play
Play and Learning in the Early Years: The Complete Parent's Guide
Adults treat play as the soft category — the thing you do after the real work. For young children it is the real work. The fastest brain growth happen...
8 min read
Play
Signs a Child Is Bored During Play
A child wandering around the living room picking things up and putting them down is not necessarily bored. They might be ten minutes from the best blo...
4 min read
Play
Bath-Time Water Games for Toddlers
Bath time gets framed as a hygiene chore that has to happen before bed, which sells it short. From a toddler's point of view, the bath is a small, war...
5 min read
Parenting
Connecting With Your Child Through Play
Play looks like the optional part of the day, the thing that happens between the necessary stuff. It isn't. For young children, play is the work — it'...
6 min read
Family Life
Outdoor Family Activities for Different Ages
The bar for "enough outdoor time" with young children is lower than parents tend to think, and the activities are simpler. A 9-month-old strapped to y...
13 min read
Play
Block Play and Construction: Why Building Things Matters for Development
Blocks may be the most studied toy in educational history. From Friedrich Froebel placing wooden blocks (the "Froebel Gifts") at the centre of his kin...
4 min read