Laugh and Play Today

Remember Schoolhouse Rock?

2009-05-12T22:18:00.005-04:00

I loved Schoolhouse Rock videos when I was a child. They played between cartoons on Saturday mornings, and were short, fun videos with catchy tunes that taught kids about things like planets, nouns, laws, and the Preamble to the United States Constitution.

Though I don't usually recommend videos for children (I'd rather they play outside, pretend to be kings and queens, build a fort, etc.), Schoolhouse Rock videos are great, short, and educational. On a rainy day, they are good for a few minutes of fun, singing along and learning. And, if you are my age, it is just neat to see them again.

You can find them on www.youtube.com/ by searching for "Schoolhouse Rock." Below are a couple of my favorites that my kids love too.

Model unstructured time for children

2009-05-10T21:44:00.006-04:00

Scholastic.com has a helpful article for parents about unstructured playtime for children. It talks about why such time is valuable and how to make sure your children get enough of it. One of the experts relied on in the article is Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and co-author of Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less. According to Hirsh-Pasek,

"'There is a myth that doing nothing is wasting time, when it's actually extremely productive and essential,...During empty hours, kids explore the world at their own pace, develop their own unique set of interests and indulge in the sort of fantasy play that will help them figure out how to create their own happiness, handle problems with others on their own, and sensibly manage their own time. That's a critical life skill.'"

The article recommends that parents model unstructured time for their children:

"You are your child's best teacher. If she sees that you value unstructured time, she will, too. 'The world is a rich learning environment, without all the frills,' says Hirsh-Pasek. Carve out time to turn off your cell phone, stop checking your email, and just hang out, without lamenting that you 'should' be doing something instead of 'wasting time.' Create retreats in your home to beckon everyone: a window seat lined with pillows, a corner filled with art supplies, musical instruments, CDs, a deck of cards. Eliminate, limit, or refuse to buy more high-tech gear such as video and computer games. See what happens."

Click here to read the rest of the article and learn other ways to promote unstructured play time in your home.

Imaginative play helps children learn self-control

2009-05-06T22:59:00.004-04:00

National Public Radio reports that imaginative play helps children learn self-control. According to the report, children today are not learning the self-regulation skills they used to, because imaginative play is being squeezed out by television, video games, and organized activities. Here are some highlights from the report...

"For most of human history, children played by roaming near or far in packs large and small. Younger children were supervised by older children and engaged in freewheeling imaginative play. They were pirates and princesses, aristocrats and heroes.

But, while all that play might have looked a lot like time spent doing nothing much at all, it actually helped build a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of elements, such as working memory and cognitive flexibility. But perhaps the most important is self-regulation — the ability for kids to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline....

Unfortunately, play has changed dramatically during the past half-century, and according to many psychological researchers, the play that kids engage in today does not help them build executive function skills. Kids spend more time in front of televisions and video games. When they aren't in front of a screen, they often spend their time in leagues and lessons...when kids are in leagues and lessons, they are usually being regulated by adults. That means they are not able to practice regulating themselves.

'As a result, Leong says, 'kids aren't developing the self-regulation skills that they used to.'"

Click here to read the full NPR report, "Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control." Click here for a related NPR report, "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills."

Two Great Children's Books for a Rainy Day... Or Any Day

2009-04-28T13:23:00.015-04:00

On a rainy day like today, my children and I like to curl up on the couch and read a whole stack of books! They pick the books and I read. Two books in particular always seem to make it into the stack. They have such fun with these book, I wanted to share them with you

The first is We're Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. It takes you on a bear hunt through "a deep cold river," "thick oozy mud," "a big dark forest," and more. My children love it for its sing-songy meter and it's wonderful descriptions of noises. Here is an excerpt from the book...

We're going on a bear hunt.

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We're not scared.

Uh-uh! Mud!

Thick oozy mud.

We can't go over it.

We can't go under it.

Oh no! We've got to go through it!

Squelch squerch!

I often hear my three year old daughter reciting this book to herself as she plays.

The second book is Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, by Richard Scarry. It is filled with all sorts of strange and hilarious made up automobiles. Some of our favorites are the pickle truck, bananamobile, and carrotcar. On every page there is small gold bug hiding, and you have to search to find him. We always have a ton of fun with this book.

If you click on the images of the books, you will link to them on Amazon.com. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

Is Your Child Overscheduled?

2009-04-27T01:01:00.004-04:00

According to an article on Parent & Child Magazine's website, the following 12 questions can be used in assessing whether your child may be overscheduled:

"• Does he act grouchy, mopey, or irritable?
• Can she fall asleep at bedtime?
• Are his grades slipping? Does he finish his homework?
• Has she started overeating?
• Does he zone out in front of the TV?
• Is she complaining of stomachaches, headaches, or mysterious illnesses?
• Does he grumble about being bored?
• Is she over-anxious about getting approval from authority figures?
• When you're heading out the door, does he throw a tantrum or "lose" equipment?
• Does she pick fights with her siblings or complain you don't love her as much?
• Can he keep track of where's he's supposed to be?
• Is her schedule draining you or your family members?"

The article concludes that you may want to re-assess your child's after-school schedule if he "exhibits a few of these behaviors on an ongoing basis." It also provides a link to more tips on evaluating extracurricular activities.

Taking Indoor Play Outdoors

2009-04-26T08:15:00.003-04:00

A teacher in Kansas has a great idea for making indoor activities more fun and enriching for children... take the activities outdoors. The Fort Scott Tribune reported that during the National Association for the Education of Young Children's 2009 Week of the Young Child, preschool teacher Angie Simon set up a space for her students to create large colorful paintings outdoors.

"According to Simon, allowing the children to create their artworks outside can heighten their senses of creativity and generate a greater awareness of nature. Also, children find new enjoyment in familiar activities when they are done with a little twist of something new, Simon said." Click here to read the rest of the article.

"Play Is Education"

2009-04-18T17:14:00.001-04:00

An article in the Kentucky Post reports that "play is education." According to the article:

"Through play, children practice real life. Play, especially unstructured outdoor play, helps children develop the ability to focus, plan, make decisions, develop a positive self-concept, take risks, develop social interactions, organize and develop empathy. When two children play with blocks, for example, building a block tower or city helps them to learn about sorting sizes, geometry, negotiation, compromise, and to recognize their ability to be challenged."

Click here to read the entire article.

Thanks for your patience

2009-04-17T02:57:00.000-04:00

This blog was down for several hours today, as I was moving it from GoDaddy's Quick Blogcast to Google's Blogger. One quirk of the change is that it appears that the entries posted over the last few days were all posted today. Thank you for your patience during the transition!

PBS Earth Day music videos for kids

2009-04-17T02:51:00.000-04:00

These music videos by PBS encourage kids to celebrate Earth Day, take care of the Earth, and plant a garden.

Earth Day fun for children

2009-04-17T02:48:00.000-04:00

Earth Day is just one week away -- Wednesday, April 22. It's a great opportunity to have some fun with your children while teaching them about Earth Day and reminding them to reduce, reuse and recycle. Here's what I plan to do with my children...

REDUCE the use of paper towels in my home. I admit we use far too many paper towels. It is amazing how many times during the day my daughter thinks her hands are "sticky" and needs a wet paper towel to clean them. We also use them to clean up spills, crumbs, washable marker on the wall, messy faces, etc. I'm going to buy fun colored wash cloths and wrap them up as gifts to my children on Earth Day. I'm sure my 3 year old daughter who loves all that is pink will be happy to replace the white paper towels with a pink wash cloth... plus, it's always fun to open presents!

REUSE Crayons. We seem to have hundreds (okay... maybe not that many... but A LOT) of crayon pieces. We are going to follow a suggestion on AmazingMoms.com and melt them down and make new crayons: "Peel the paper off of the old crayon pieces. Place paper muffin liners into a muffin tin. Place the crayons into the muffin liners, but not too full. Heat the crayons in a 200 degree oven until complete melted. Cool and remove." If you are up for a bit more of challenge, you can follow the instructions on instructables.com and mold your new crayons into cool shapes.

RECYCLE in a recycling monster. A recycling monster "eats" things that can be recycled. You take two paper grocery bags and place one on the floor right side up. You cut a large hole in the bottom of the second bag and place it upside down over the first bag. So what you end up with is a container with a hole in the top that you can put recycling in. Kids can use markers, crayons or paint to decorate the hole in the top like a mouth and the rest like a monster. Then feed your recycling to the monster. My son made one of these in preschool a couple of years ago and loved it. I eventually recycled the recycling monster, but he keeps asking to make another.

You can go to AmazingMoms.com for other fun ideas for Earth Day.

USA Today reports "Kid's lack of play time may affect development"

2009-04-17T02:44:00.000-04:00

A recent USA Today article reports that the trend of squeezing play time out of kindergarten curriculums in the United States may be adversely affecting the development of children...

"Child-driven play has fallen out of favor in early U.S. education, replaced by more teacher-directed activities that emphasize mastering academic material from the first moment in school, but many studies show that kids who engage in complex social and dramatic play develop higher levels of thinking, better language and social skills, and they're also less aggressive..."

According to the report, this trend may be the cause of the recent increase in kindergarten student failure and behavior problems.

"A recent upsurge in behavior problems and school failure among kindergarten students may be due to unrealistic standards that are beyond many young children, the report says. China and Japan -- often envied for academic success -- have an experience and play-based curriculum until second grade, say report authors Joan Almon and Ed Miller of the Alliance for Childhood."

Experts say bubbles and blocks better for children than educational toys, e-books, and too many structured activities

2009-04-17T02:14:00.000-04:00

According to this Today Show report, experts say children need more unstructured playtime with simple toys like bubbles and traditional books.

If you don't have time to watch the entire video, here are some of the highlights:

1. Blowing bubbles is more likely to lead to future success than educational toys.

2. In last 2 decades, children have lost up to 12 hours of playtime a week.

3. Child experts at Temple University say educational toys have been overemphasized. All the "bells and whistles" can stifle a child's creativity. Children get more out of play with simple toys like blocks and traditional books. Play with such simple toys teaches children to be more innovative.

4. Hal Runkel, marriage and family therapist and author of Scream Free Parenting, says children under 10 need less structure, because the brain develops through play. He says unstructured play helps children develop creativity and self-direction.

Fun Ideas For Playing Outside

2009-04-17T02:07:00.000-04:00

I love spring...warmer weather, birds chirping, flowers blooming...time to start playing outside again! But, when I look around my yard and garage, I find all the same options for playing outdoors that we had last year. My kids and I want something new to do! Instead of heading to the local toy store to buy more outdoor toys, I looked online for some creative, less expensive, and more natural options.

I found an associated press article listing these great ideas for outdoor fun:

• Create a wildlife observation area by hanging birdhouse and feeders in a quiet spot in the yard.

• Designate a flower or vegetable bed for the children to tend.

• Find spots where low branches, shrubbery or groupings of trees have created secluded alcoves for children to play.

• Create a science center with a thermometer and water gauge where children can track changing weather conditions.

• If you don’t have a water element in your yard, allow your child to play with the hose or watering can.

• Plant herbs and other scented plants in the ground or in pots and let children use them to make mud pies.

If you follow the above link to the article, you'll find that I left out the idea about building a brush pile "to attract snakes, moles or other critters." I'd rather the critters stay away from my 3 and 5 year old, and my yard!

Having Fun While Avoiding Toy Clutter

2009-04-17T02:01:00.000-04:00

When my family moved into a new house a few years ago, I was thrilled that it had a playroom! I was convinced that my children would want to play in their playroom, and the rest of my house would magically stay clean and free from the clutter of toys. Wow, was I wrong! For some reason my children find it much more fun to play with their toys in the living room and kitchen.

I recently found an article on familyfun.com that talks about this common problem, and gives some great ideas for keeping the fun going while avoiding the toy clutter. According the article "segregating the toys to one room won't work if that's not where your family tends to hang out. Odds are, the kids will just haul their stuff to the more densely populated areas of the house. Our strategy? We let the kids play where they may, but make it easy for them to do so independently and tidily." Here are some of the "creative play stations" that the article suggests setting up:

• a cleaning station in the kitchen, with a small dustpan and broom, a sponge, and a spray bottle of water

• a reading nook with a beanbag chair, a good light, and a stack of books

• a drawing area with a small table or easel, a stack of paper, and a plastic tote full of coloring supplies

• a raceway with a rug or floorcloth decorated to look like a road and a bin of toy cars• a puzzle or board-game platform --a piece of foam core or cardboard that lets you move everything intact in a pinch

For my kids, a reading station and drawing area have been big hits. They use the drawing area several times a day, and even tidy up when they are done. I think they like the independence of having their own organized area and supplies.

The article also gives these "clutter control tips":

• Keep attractive baskets around--under a coffee or side table--for easy, instant cleanup.

• Put on a great song and ask your kids to spend its duration in a tidying frenzy.

• Finally, if rogue toys persist in loitering, jail 'em in the basement or garage.

Let your kids bail them out with chores or by swapping in other toys. If you have found ways to encourage your children to play independently and tidily, please share by leaving a comment.

Play is Good!!

2009-04-17T01:52:00.000-04:00

Does your color-coded family calendar look like you tried to fit the entire text of Gone With the Wind on one page, and then threw highlighters at it like darts at a dartboard? If so, we have something in common. I sometimes feel more like an air traffic controller coordinating flight paths than like a mom trying to nurture two young children.

While there are hundreds of reasons people end up overscheduled, for me, the reason is fear -- fear my children won't reach their full potential if I don't stuff their lives full of enriching activities.

I recently learned that experts say I should give myself and my children a break and set aside some time just to play. According to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics "it remains imperative that play is included along with academic and social enrichment opportunities."

Here are some of the benefits of play described in the report:"Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. ...When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue."

blog is all about play and fun for young children. I hope to share helpful information that will add to the joy and laughter in your home.