Check out this TED talk by Tim Brown about Creativity and Play.
Raising Moral and Happy Children
This is a great video by Richard Weissbourd about raising moral and happy children through play.
Play and Learning
Here’s a great video by Laura Shulz about play and learning.
The Importance of Play
Here’s an excellent video about the important of play by Professor Karen Hutchinson.
Prescription for Play
Here’s a great video featuring Ken Ginsburg on the Prescription for Play.
On Play and Learning
At In a Child’s Path, we base our educational philosophy on the power of play. Watch this great video about children explaining the power of play in their own words.
Play is Powerful
You know how we feel about the Power of Play at In a Child’s Path. An article in the Missourian, says “Play helps your child develop physically, learn about the world, learn to express emotions, develop conversation skills, develop creativity and learn how to be sociable.” It also says, “The lessons children learn through playing are really more profound than anything you could teach them.”
So, how do we embrace this philosophy at In a Child’s Path?
1. We make an effort to be aware of our own feelings and are sensitive to others. When we play, we consider how our actions affect others.
2. The children are in charge of their own activities, seeing tasks through to completion. They can play any number of activities and determine when they have had enough of any activity and when they’d like to move on to the next activity.
3.We encourage self-regulation, controlling oneself. When children play, they learn how to play fairly and interact well with others.
Play is your child’s work, and we’re here to encourage them to play hard.
Read more from the Missourian and learn more about The Power of Play.
Building Skills – Box House
If you’re looking for a great activity to do with your child, consider building a box house. There are a number of skills your child can learn from creative play with a cardboard box.
Fine Motor Skills
- Building small pieces of furniture
- Ripping small pieces of paper
Cognitive Skills
- Develops abstract thinking
- Using an imaginative family to represent a real family
Social and Emotional Skills
- Acting out who is living in the box and what they are doing in the house
- Provides release of emotions for children
- Connects real family and imaginative family
Language Skills
- Building a structure with others
- Using cooperative language
Sensory Skills
Creating a space for living too small for a real person opens imaginative play.
If you’re looking for a good use for those old cardboard boxes and a way to entertain and delight your child, consider building box houses with them.