Almost 50% of kids aged 3 to 5 years lack even a single parent-supervised outdoor play session per day, according to a recent study done by the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. In fact, kids aged 10 to 16 years only spend 12.6 minutes each day on relatively vigorous outdoor activities. We’re raising a young generation […]
The Scarcity Factor and Children I came to an amazing realization today after almost 19 years of parenting about the scarcity factor and children. Do you know what the scarcity factor is? It is basically the fear of missing out. If there is less of something, we seem to want it even more right? Marketers […]
5 Surprisingly Simple Things That Entertain Kids for Hours Do you find that you have way too many toys that your kids just don’t play with? Parents constantly say “go play with your toys” but find kids wandering around begging for the iPad. I know this happens in our house especially when I need to […]
How Play Can Ease Your Stress – Children and Adults Need to Play Do you ever stop to think about how much play can ease stress in your life? I am not just talking about children. Adults need to play as well. Stuart Brown, MD, founder of the National Institute for Play, reminds us that […]
I wanted to follow up on my previous post on giving children the gift of play where I discussed how important it is to provide children with time to just play but how difficult that can be sometimes as a busy parent. Trust me, I know how difficult it is, especially with our fast paced schedules […]
Let’s face it – as parents we are ridiculously busy and overstressed. Whether you work outside the home or not, family life is a whirlwind. The morning routine is insane here getting everyone out the door. Things settle a bit during the morning sometimes and then kick into high gear when the older kids get […]
Play is such a powerful tool for children to explore, discover, wonder and most of all LEARN! I created this play typography art freebie to give us all a reminder of the power of play. It does not take much to entertain children during play time. A cardboard box, an imagination and the outdoors is […]
There was an excellent article posted on nprEd entitled What Kids Need From Grown-Ups (But Aren’t Getting). The article is a summary of a conversation with Erika Christakis the author of the book The Importance of Being Little. Here are a few of my favorite points: 1. “I think the No. 1 thing is for kids to […]
Many times, as adults we may not always remember how necessary play is for children including teenagers. There is a purpose for play. Here are 5 reasons why children and teens play: To develop social skills and interact with adults and peers. To explore objects – touch, hear, taste, see and learn from objects. To […]
Growing Play (a division of Your Therapy Source Inc) has a mission to bring back play time to our children. All too often, busy schedules, the push to drive academics at a young age and organized sports interfere with traditional playtime. Our books and activities are great resources for parents, teachers and other professionals to […]