How we respond to invitations to play impacts our family relationships. Check out this article from the Gottman Institute blog about responding to bids.
A fun video on the importance of play
What Play Can Teach Us
Playing together with the same materials
California Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Foundations: Symbolic Play
A chart representing ways that children use symbolic play at different ages, from the California Department of Education.
How and Why to Encourage Pretend Play - from the Hanen Centre
The Hanen Centre is a nonprofit organization from Canada that helps to promote language, social and literacy skills in young children.
Here the Hanen Centre presents a great article on the stages and importance of pretend play.
Students Who Play Do Better in School - The Atlantic
A fun video of sensory activities
Games that build executive functioning skills
For more information on what executive functioning is, check out this article.
A video on play from Zero To Three
Play activities birth to three
The Development of Play Skills from Birth to 3
Resources from Zero To Three about how play skills develop, as well as toys and activities at different ages.
The Power of Play
Check out this download on "The Power of Play" from Zero To Three.
Apps to help us with play
Learning Through Play At Different Stages
Check out these links for articles from Zero To Three on play at different ages:
Learning through play: birth-12 months
Tips on playing with babies and toddlers
Block Play
Children generally learn to play with blocks in a sequence.
Check out this PDF from the Montana State Library about the stages of block play.
At 17 months, this little girl is stacking and making block towers.
Peekaboo and hide and seek
Peekaboo is a classic game that is not only good fun but is also a great way to teach object permanence and attention skills and to potentially reduce separation anxiety.
Check out some fun examples:
Early on: Mom moves the cloth
Then baby moves the cloth.
Fun with patterns: This grandma is teaching beginning patterns by popping out from one side to the other.
Ask children get more skilled with peekaboo, they can start to play Hide and Seek!
Let's Play With Baby
The classic video from the Gottman Institute about family play. This video changed the way that I think about family play.
Such a good feeling
Enjoy this video about play courtesy of Daniel Tiger or Mr. Rogers.
Play Challenge Day 2 Update
This month is going to be awesome! So far I:
- Sang along to Christmas music in the car with my family
- Danced to the music while on the elliptical and in the shower
- Experimented with frosting and sprinkle colors on Pillsbury sugar cookies
- Made a race car with our nephews out of a big cardboard box, markers, paper plates, muffin liners, tape, and a plastic bottle for the brake.
Looking forward to more of this!!!
