Thursday, August 28, 2014
CU-Boulder Study Shows the Value of Play in Goal Achievement for Children
What is the value of play? Is structured activity best for kids, or do their goal achievement capabilities excel with more free time? These are the basic questions parents and policy makers ask each other regularly.
The Importance of Self-Directed Executive Functioning
To find the answers, the University of Colorado - Boulder led a study exploring children’s abilities to set and achieve goals based on whether their days are filled with structured activities or less-structured play. The study, which is published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, begins to unravel the value of play when it comes to goal achievement.
The ability to establish and reach goals independent of parental nagging is thanks to a child’s high level of “self-directed executive functioning.” That is to say, the child has the ability to connect previous experiences with current decisions, to exhibit mental control and self-regulation.
For example, a child knows to wear a coat without a parent’s coaxing and gets her homework done before dinner because she has plans that night. Because these simple acts demonstrate self-directed executive functioning – a skill that can increase wealth, promote health and decrease the chance of incarceration in adulthood – parents and experts are interested in learning how to improve this trait early in children’s lives.
Making the Connection Between Play and Goal Achievement
For the study, researchers asked parents of 6- and 7-year-olds to report their children’s activities for a week and categorize these activities as “structured” (such as doing chores, playing sports and taking lessons) or “less structured” (such as playing alone or with others, going on social outings, reading, and playing video games).
Next the researchers evaluated the children’s executive functioning skills with a verbal fluency assignment where the children chose when to switch to a new category. The study found that when children enjoy more less-structured activities, they apparently have more time to practice self-directed decision making. The results in academic and social situations are children who get better grades, have natural leadership skills and enjoy healthier relationships.
To learn more about the value of play, please contact ListenLoveLearn today.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
When Children Build and Create, Does It Affect Their Brains? Harvard Wants to Know
Schools today place a heavy emphasis on sitting still, listening to lectures and memorizing information. What about creativity? What about interacting with the world around them? When children build and create, they are actively engaged in exploring new concepts firsthand.
Researchers from Harvard are scientifically exploring how building and creating affects children’s brains. The initiative, called Project Zero, has explored child and adult learning processes since 1967.
The most recent work of investigating what happens when children build and create is being conducted in public and private schools in Oakland, California. Researchers have teamed up with 15 participating teachers who meet every six weeks so the researchers can give teachers specific activities to incorporate into the lessons they already teach. Then teachers report back on classroom behavior and other observations gathered through surveys and conversations.
One example of an activity researchers asked teachers to include was to ask students to examine an object, looking at all of its separate parts first and then how all the parts fit together as a whole. One elementary school teacher had the children explore objects in the room, such as tennis shoes. A high school technology teacher asked students to examine the inner workings of a Google Doc. Some teachers asked the students to re-purpose the object so it performed a new function.
The Harvard researchers are excited to see the end results of this branch of Project Zero, a three-year project that began at the beginning of the school year in 2012. By the end of it, they expected to not only have academic research regarding how learning improves when children build and create, but to also understand what works and what doesn’t work in a classroom setting.
Give your children a chance to build and create at home with games and building blocks from LiveLoveLearnToys. Then contact LiveLoveLearn for more information.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Looking for a Fun Activity for Kids? Try Finger Knitting
For illustrations to help your child understand finger knitting, check out these Barista Kids instructions.
Here’s how finger knitting works:
- Step 1: Turn your non-dominant hand palm-side-up. Place the yarn strand between your thumb and palm, leaving a 6-inch tail of yarn on the back of your hand.
- Step 2: Weave the yarn between your fingers: over the pointer finger, under the middle finger, over the ring finger and under the pinkie finger.
- Step 3: Weave the yarn back through: over the pinkie finger, under the ring finger, over the middle finger and under the pointer finger. You now have a loop over each finger.
- Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3, wrapping the yarn around your knuckles.
- Step 5: Pull the lower of the two sets of loops over the top of each finger. This is the first row of finger knitting. The yarn is now secure so you can let go of the 6-inch tail you have been holding with your thumb.
- Step 6: Push the top row down and repeat the weaving actions until you reach the desired length.
- Step 7: Finish the bracelet/headband by removing the final loop from each finger. Cut the yarn 6 inches down and thread this through the final loops. Tighten the yarn and double knot it to secure it in place.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
What Can We Learn from Finland’s Free Play Approach to School and Learning?
As anyone who went to school in the United States can attest to, students don’t receive breaks every hour. To Tim Walker, an American teacher working in Finland, the idea of giving students a 15-minute break every 45 minutes seemed like a waste of time. He decided to get creative with the students’ schedules and teach them for 90 minutes with a 30-minute break at the end.
Just three days into the school year, the teacher received a complaint from one fifth grader who said, “I think I’m going to explode! I’m not used to this schedule.” Once Mr. Walker reversed his schedule alteration, he noticed the students no longer dragged their feet, but instead walked with a spring in their step after returning from the 15-minute break. More importantly, they were extra focused during lessons.
Mr. Walker learned firsthand about Finland’s free play approach to school and learning, which has been the norm in that country since the 1960s. An important part of the break is that students decide how to spend their time. They go out to the playground together or have their break indoors; it doesn’t matter where the students have recess as long as they have free play away from their structured work.
Recess loses the ability to reenergize children if it’s a teacher-directed break time. Recess serves not only as a chance to relax, but as a time of learning important skills, such as cooperation, communication and compromise. While these are skills students need to succeed academically, they are largely learned outside the classroom.
If teachers can stop looking at recess as wasted time, they can stop feeling guilty about cutting instruction short to give their students a break. Perhaps that’s just the thing American schools need to learn from Finland and other countries with high academic success: free play is just as important for learning as listening to a formal lecture in the classroom. And let’s be honest; the teachers benefit from the breaks as well.
To learn more about the connection between frequent breaks, free play and learning essential skills, please contact ListenLoveLearn.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Thoughts on Back To School
Thoughts on Back To School
It is the middle of August and those of us who have children
or work with children start thinking of back to school. School brings structure
to a child’s day and expectations for performance. Current research tells us
that children who perform best academically, socially and emotionally work hard
but also have to “let down” by relaxing and playing. So, I thought I would
recommend toys and activities that put together the two, academics and play,
together.Organization
Days of the week and months of the year- it is important for
our kids to know these sequences so they can then learn the temporal (time
concepts) today, yesterday, tomorrow, before and after. A calendar also helps a child learn to schedule and look ahead to
their week. Organizational skills
are known to be the cornerstone skill for learning. Help you child learn this
important skill while having fun.
Pre-Reading Skills
Phonological awareness skills (letters and sounds) are the
basis for reading skills. Using letter blocks
to learn the letter name and then the sound associated with the letter sets
the basis for reading. Using the blocks you can then “build “words- c-a-t,
blend it together to read cat, m-a-n or s-i-t. Now you can substitute the first
letter with another letter- cat becomes mat and sit becomes hit. You have just
taught your child to rhyme. From there you can play a rhyming game.
Problem Solving
In each grade of school one of the main goals is to teach
children to solve problems. How do we begin to think about problems and
solutions? Puzzles and sequencing games! A puzzle presents a problem- “What
piece fits where?” and we solve the problem through trial and error through
guessing and strategizing. We can begin to teach our children these skills by
presenting them very early in their development with fun and interesting
puzzles. What about story telling? Every story has a sequence, a beginning middle
and end. Teaching a child to sequence
information to tell a story sets the stage for developing this skill.Smarty Pants
Let’s arm our kids with fun facts and funny trivia. The more
they know the more they can contribute to the conversation. Let them be a
Smarty Pants with sets of information for each age group, Kindergarten through
5th grade.
School time is almost here- time for focusing and learning.
But remember- we learn more when we can combine learning with play and play is
FUN!
About the Author
Thursday, August 14, 2014
An Imaginative Child Is a Happy Child
Children who use their imaginations are not only entertained, they also learn something. It’s fairly commonplace to see a child pick up a stone and pretend it’s an airplane or hold out a stick for a swordfight. It’s this type of imagination play that serves as an important step in childhood development.
Many toys today are designed very realistically. While they are certainly beautiful to look at, they take the creativity and imagination out of play. To see some beautiful pictures of really happy, imaginative children having fun around the world with the toys they find around them, click here.
So why is imagination play so important? It’s not as simple as it seems. When your children set up scenarios with various toys in the living room, they are learning some very important skills, including:
- Social skills: Dramatic play, such as playing house, allows children to experiment with their social roles. Cooperative play teaches them how to take turns and share. Pretending to be someone else lets children see the world from another person’s eyes.
- Language skills: Whether playing alone or with others, children use words when playing. You might hear some phrases you didn’t know your children knew while they play. Imagination play also opens the door to learning new words and phrases.
- Thinking skills: Inventing stories, solving problems and finding the right toys to make the game play out just right are all thinking skills that imagination play helps to develop. Even a bit of roughhousing is okay for learning self regulation, as long as you monitor the situation.
At ListenLoveLearnToys, imagination play is very important. Toys are categorized by age and the skills they help develop. There’s an entire category for Creative Play toys in each age range. For example, in the 5- to 7-year range, you can find everything from a coloring castle playhouse and pirate ship to jumbo dominoes and PowerClix to let your children’s imaginations go wild. Check it out!
Then, if you want to learn more about the importance of imagination play in helping your children grow and thrive, please contact ListenLoveLearn.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Even in a Digital Age, Traditional Toys Play a Key Role in Nurturing Childhood Creativity
While Smartphones and tablets are useful tools for entertaining children in certain settings, traditional toys play a key role in nurturing childhood creativity. Mattel, the largest toymaker in the world, wanted to know moms’ opinions about toys, so the company reached out and asked: “Do you still place great value on traditional toys?” Despite this digital age in which we live, moms responded with a resounding “Yes!”
Very little about the way children play has changed over the years. Experts and the media debate whether screens will one day replace dolls, cars and action figures, but most moms don’t think so.
Digital devices and traditional toys don’t compete directly in most homes. Each category of entertainment is distinct from the other. For instance, time spent on a Smartphone or tablet doesn’t compete with time spent playing house; it competes with time spent in front of other screens, such as the TV or computer. That’s why 59 percent of moms told Mattel they think portable screens will one day replace other electronics, not traditional toys.
Dr. Michael Shore, vice president of Global Consumer Insights for Mattel, has some interesting points: “When you walk into a child’s room…you won’t see an app on the wall as an expression of who the child is or what he or she loves…For that, toys will continue to endure as ideal gifts for children. After all, you can’t wrap an app.”
Another difference moms see is in the style of play. Traditional toys are often involved during active playtime when children interact together while a tablet is used for quiet solo play, such as while sitting in a waiting room.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, moms see traditional toys as a catalyst for creativity. Stories laid out on a screen don’t encourage creativity while action figures and toy cars certainly do.
To encourage creativity at home:
- Make sure your child has time to play.
- Provide a safe place to play.
- Encourage kids to use their imaginations.
- Get involved and play with your kids.
Contact ListenLoveLearn for more on the link between traditional toys and creativity.
Image via Shutterstock.com
Sunday, August 10, 2014
How Children Learn to Play Co-operatively
How Children Learn to Play Co-operatively
Play is developmental and children pass through the stages
of play from Interactive Play with an adult, to Independent Play to Parallel
Play and finally to Co-operative Play.
Between the ages of 2-3 children who were playing side-by-side with
other children begin to move towards each other and play together. For many
children this is an easy and joyful transition but many other children struggle
with the idea of sharing a toy, turn taking and playing co-operatively. Parents
can help their child make this transition by playing with their children and
teaching them how to share focus on the same toy, how to take turns and how to
use language effectively for play. Choosing the right types of toys will also help
transitioning from solo play to cooperative play.
Step 1
I know I write about blocks all the time- but blocks are a
natural toy for transitioning to cooperative play because there are so many
blocks and that makes sharing easy. I love softblocks
especially for this transition and since the sets are themed the
children can think together about making a castle or a farm based on the types
of blocks they are using.
Step 2
Choosing a toy, which lends itself to turn taking, but where
each child has a number of pieces, is a good next step. A game like large dominoes has the children matching numbers of dots and one
turn relies on the turn before. This game may have to be modeled by an adult
but once understood is very enjoyable, educational and fun for youngsters.
Step 3
As your child gains more language to understand others and
express herself, her play with others will become more elaborate. Children
begin to use their language to plan their play. Using the cottage they can discuss and plan the colors of the house and which
section each of them will color. This activity actually lends itself to 2, 3 or
4 children playing together. Once their project is finished, it’s time for
pretend play. Who will be the baby, the sister or parents? Will someone be the
dog or cat? The possibilities are endless.
Step 4
This next step might be an opportunity to play a sport
together. I love mini-golf and every
child I know loves it too. This is another game where turn taking is key.
Children also learn about safety and as they get, older-score keeping. Then it
is time to learn about winning, loosing and sportsmanship. Amazing that all these skills are
learned through play in a child’s early years!
As always,
Play and have FUN!
Lois Kam Heymann, M.A. CCC-SLP is an expert Speech, Language and Learning specialist with over 30 years of helping kids reach their full potential in communication and learning skills. She is a recognized leader in the treatment of children with language, learning and auditory challenges. She is the Director of Communication Therapy at the Center for Hearing and Communication in New York City. She has been a professor, is a noted author and a frequent guest speaker. Her book The Sound of Hope has been endorsed by Rosie O'Donnell and many others. Her mission is to teach parents about active listening and how to understand the developmental needs of their children. She's now delighted to be bringing parents the quality toys she believes will enhance children's development on her new website-ListenLoveLearn.com
About the Author
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
When Play Represents Life
When Play Represents Life
Children learn about their world through experiences and
play and creative play can represent life. What do I mean by this? Well, a child can learn about mail by writing a
letter, putting it into an envelope, having an adult address and stamp the letter
and then taking the letter to the post office. Or a child can learn about how
clothes, once dirty, the clothes are cleaned by doing the laundry with mom or dad. Real
life experiences definitely take the child out into the wider world to learn
the activities of daily living. Playing with toys that represent real
objects, helps the child learn about activities of daily living, allow them to practice
these activities and use their imagination about these activities.
The Market
Toys help us build a pretend world based on real objects.
Setting up a market with fruits and vegetables involves so many
learning experiences; your child can sort fruits from vegetables and learn all
the names even the ones they don’t eat! Using a shopping cart
children can set up a scenario where one is the shop
keeper and another the customer. Look at all these new vocabulary words.
Playing “store” keeps children occupied for hours and days. As your child
becomes older adding play money adds the math dimension to this kind of play.
Community
House
Household chores- children see the adults around them
involved in cooking,
washing, cleaning throughout their day. Sometimes they can help you in the
kitchen or cleaning up but more often they are playing representationally. They
are practicing these skills through play and if playing with others are
learning how to cooperate. Having toys to set up and create their play schemes
are powerful ways to learn and grow.
Blocks
Remember blocks!
Children have always played with blocks. As your child uses more sophisticated blocks, her play becomes more sophisticated. Different types of block sets encourage your child's creativity to blossom. Blocks can be a solo play activity, social play with peers or an adult and child activity, all leading to social emotional and cognitive growth through fun, fun, fun!
As always, play and have fun!
About the Author
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