Sep
30
2008
Draw a large picture of Eeyore on a piece of stiff card or plywood. Colour him grey. Draw his tail separately on paper, or make it of string or wool or plaited raffia, with a tassel at the end.
Hang the picture on the wall and mark on it where the tail should go. Blindfold the players in turn, and give them the tail plus a drawing pin. As each pins the tail on Eeyore, mark round the pinpoint with a ring and put the player’s initials. The winner is the one who places the tail most accurately. Continue Reading »
Sep
30
2008
This speaks for itself but is a good idea, for instance, on a new housing estate.
For very small children the ‘friend’ could be a Teddy or doll, with a warm welcome for each.
A Pirate Party
Tell your friends to come dressed as pirates. This needs nothing elaborate: a black patch fixed over one eye with elastic or sticking plaster, a coloured scarf tied rakishly on the head, huge rings dangling from ears, T-shirt and jeans, with another scarf round the waist — and cardboard or wooden swords and cutlasses painted silver, or covered in silver paper. Continue Reading »
Sep
30
2008
Invitation cards could be in the shape of an ice-cream cornet. Colour them in pale ice-cream shades, and write your invitations on them.
Even at an Ice-Cream Party though, you need a foundation of something more solid.
When your guests have eaten their first course, take the ice- cream from the freezer and tip it into bowls at the last minute. Hand each guest a small bowl, and let them all create their own individual mixtures by Continue Reading »
Sep
28
2008
Most adults find it easier to involve themselves directly in complex and adult games, like chess or baseball, than in play on simpler levels, such as stacking blocks or riding a hobbyhorse or toy car. Although the terms “play” and “game” are often used interchangeably, they are not identical in meaning. Rather, they refer to broadly distinguishable stages of development, with “play” relating to an earlier stage, “game” to a more mature one. Generally speaking, “play” refers to the young child’s activities characterized by freedom from all but personally imposed rules (which, unless the child is compulsive, can be changed at will); by freewheeling fantasy involvement; and by the absence of any goals outside the activity itself. Continue Reading »
Sep
28
2008
Make sure that all staff are enthusiastic and are encouraged to work outside
Staff need to be briefed and be clear about the reason for carrying out activities (is the aim of the task counting/caring for the environment etc.?) Staff require very specific teaching aims and objectives and need to share these with the children
Staff should be role models for language/behaviours/interaction skills
Children should be expected to do their own work (how many Mother’s Day cards are made by the adults?) Continue Reading »
Sep
28
2008
This sets out in brief format some ideas you might like to think about when planning a challenging play and learning environment. The way in which you organise this is key to children’s learning and development. Some questions you may ask are as follows.
How can I:
Continue Reading »
Sep
25
2008
Some characteristics of play cut across different ages. Play integrates brain functions and blends the rational and the imaginative, the intellectual and the emotional, the linear (logical) and the nonlinear (imaginative, intuitive, and aesthetic), the mundane and the creative. As a process, play serves as a lymphatic system that lubricates, transports, and transforms the transitions of one phase of understanding into another. As a product, play—especially sociodramatic play—enhances development in language, cognition, social competence, and creative fluency. Continue Reading »
Sep
25
2008
Play Is Voluntary
Whichever age group you visit, you might easily identify when children are playing; it seems so evident. When children are playing, they usually appear to be fully engaged and focused on their activity. It is typically an activity that they have chosen. Often, children will select an activity because they want to “hang out” with the other children who are participating. Therefore, the voluntary nature of play exists in relation to a particular context. Continue Reading »
Sep
23
2008
Like most self-invented symbolic play, Goethe’s act, as previously suggested, had meaning on many different, important and urgent levels, whereas play material created by others can only rarely fit so well the always-changing demands of the moment. Goethe’s play expressed his feeling that he had been thrown out; his wish that his sibling should be thrown out; his punishing his mother by throwing her dishes out. But on still another level, Goethe probably wanted to get rid of all the dishes, so that he would no longer be fed from them, or be expected to eat from them. His sibling was being nursed, and his play expressed also his own desire to return to an earlier feeding situation that his competitor was now privileged to enjoy, and for which he envied him. Continue Reading »
Sep
23
2008
When parents have an inner spontaneous empathy with the very special meaning play has for their child, this in itself does a great deal for the child and their relationship, even if the adults spend only limited amounts of time in play. What he needs most is their emotional commitment to the importance of his play, so that it can be fully significant to him. His frequent demand that we play with him represents his effort to gain, from our active participation, a sense that what he does is also important to us. If he gets this emotional message—if our conscious and unconscious interest in and respect for his play quiets his conscious doubts about it—the child will need less of our participation to remain convinced that we truly believe his activity is important. Continue Reading »
