We know that play is a child’s work.The best play provides opportunities for fun, and also chances to build intelligence. Because good play has the power to help children laugh through fears and address their issues, and get connected to the people around them, g rough-housing games and physical play, imaginary play and roleplaying are
Parenting can be all encompassing. It can seem to take us an age to figure out what we can accept and what our boundaries are at home, and then bam! We have to leave the house. What happens when your strategy for sharing between your siblings is working beautifully, but then you go to
 Children’s playful giggles and laughter can soon boil over and frenzied excitement erupts into power struggles, arguments and aggression. So how can you step in safely to diffuse a play situation headed south? Hand in Hand’s Heidi Grainger Russell explains how a burst of spontaneous Playlistening saved a recent play session from turning sour. What would you do?
This really helped each boy to feel more confident and in control and not so tight and stuck in being able to share the chair and other toys with each other during the playdate.
When my son was around four, he had a hard time with playdates. He desperately wanted to play with other children, but these play times would quickly end in conflict. In particular, if a child came to our house, my son could not really enjoy playing with them; he tried to control the play, which
My 3-year old son and his slightly younger friend had a play date at our house. There was a bowl with a snack roll in it made of grains and fruit. Frank picked a muesli roll, as he was hungry. My son wanted to follow his lead and picked what happened to be the last
Our children need us to be open to the intensity and the power of the feelings they are having. They need us to fully hear how hard it is.