Pretend You Are Playing...

"Mommy, what did you play when you were little?"
In the recent months, my boys have become particularly interested in hearing about what my own childhood play experiences were like. S in particular loves to hear stories of what types of toys I played with and what topics and stories I played about. Trips to our local thrift shop started to result in a growing collection of original cabbage patch kids (I am one doll away from having more cabbage patch kids than actual kids). I may or may not have begun grooming my boys to play with vintage My Little Ponies. They got the surprise of the summer when two brand new Pound Puppies arrived for adoption at our house in retro 1980s true-to-the-original packaging. And yes, I had to retro-actively order one more for myself, because I'm still jealous that my big sister had a big Pound Puppy, Cinnamon, and I only had a newborn, Fudge. I finally got my big Pound Puppy, a similarly colored breed with different ears and spots unlike the original Cinnamon, and if anyone asks, her name is Nutmeg.

And yes, I felt just a little bit foolish standing in the line to pick up my order from Walmart's Customer Service desk, holding onto my wallet and 30 plus years of little sister toy envy, but you know what? As soon as the grown man standing behind me saw what was inside my box he gleefully shouted
"Is that a Pound Puppy? In original 1980s retro packaging???"
"Yes, sir! And it still comes with the sticker sheet..."

And when I got in the line at the thrift store to buy two more original cabbage patch dolls so the boys would stop fighting over mine, the cashier had her own fond memory of being stationed overseas in Asia when cabbage patch dolls first came out and being able to purchase them at insanely inexpensive prices for the time since she was near the factory where they were manufactured. [Sorry to burst anyone's bubble who thought like I did that they were actually harvested from a garden bed...] Another woman remembered standing in line at midnight outside of the toy store when they first came out to buy one for her then two year old daughter. And when I posted a question to my Facebook page about earliest memories of play, the responses flooded in from favorite toys, games, play scenarios and more. How is it that on a good day, many adults cannot remember what we ate for dinner the night before or why we walked into the kitchen just now, but we can all remember playing as a child?

I believe this speaks volumes to the importance of play in childhood. Truly, child's play is more than just child's play. And the world's greatest pioneers of early childhood spoke to this truth. Voices like those of Fred Rogers, Maria Montessori and Vivian Paley all sang the same glorious tune, albeit in slightly different keys: play is the work of the child. It is where they discover and learn. It is where they feel and grow. It is where they grieve and overcome. It is where they worry and resolve. Play is the foundation upon which all else is built and it is truly the integrity of everything that emerges from it. If the foundation of a building is weak, the building itself will lack integrity. Play is where our children thrive, and yet, it is all but disappearing from childhood (not to mention all the years that follow).

Whereas early childhood classrooms once were a space of fantasy and storytelling, perhaps with some meaningful props offered and opportunity to reflect through various artistic, mathematical, literary, musical and scientific lenses, now there are desks and chairs and bodies made to sit still in them that are no more ready to sit still than a baby who's yet to sit at all is ready to walk. We've got so much. We've got research and data. We've got technology and industry. We've got scores to achieve and standards to maintain. What we don't have is time. There is not time for the luxury of play. What was once seen as the work of the child is now seen as an escape from that work. What once was the rule is now the exception to it.

My father is a psychologist, professor, lecturer, author and advocate. His area of expertise and interest is the world of work. His latest book, The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty: The Eroding Work Experience in America talks about the massive climate change in our country's work and career force and how that has so greatly affected people across the board--from the CEO to the janitor and everyone in between. My father is truly passionate about the world of work and how it shapes who we are. So how did I end up an advocate for play? One might argue we speak from opposite ends of the spectrum, but I would argue that we are likely seeing and saying the very same things, albeit from varied stages of life.

And likely my own passion stems from the fact that two of the greatest advocates for my own childhood play were my parents. My mother also works in the field of early childhood education and greatly valued the role of children's narrative through play both in her classrooms and in our home. We did not have video games, though we did watch TV. We had plenty of toys and they spanned from those that are more open ended to those we craved and coveted as seen on TV. We did not always have someone standing over us and directing our play or dictating the story. We had times when we said "I'm bored." And we were allowed to dwell in that space and discover what could become of it.

We had two of the greatest assets any child can have when it comes to play: TIME and SPACE. We had the opportunity to engage in deep, meaningful and continued play and we had the ownership of that narrative. Certain games continued on and off for months and even years. (Don't get me started on the Barbie Sagas of the Early 1990s.) When something was worrisome or scary, we played about it. My dad played about allergy shots with me more times than I can account for. There were plenty of areas I was not particularly confident in as a child, but play was a safe haven. In play, I could be whoever I wanted to be. In play, the story could end when it stopped being fun. In play, all things were possible in a world that would gradually close in to cross at least a few of those things off the list: I would not be a ballerina, monopoly money does not work in the mall, unicorns are not, in fact real, and husbands do not really sleep in the bathtub (sorry, Ken, but on Barbie's behalf, Jerry Seinfeld said it best: sleep is separate).

This past July, the world lost a powerful voice in play advocacy and early childhood education when pioneering teacher, Vivian Gussin Paley passed away at the age of 90. In one of my favorite books of hers (and really, they are all favorites), A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, she writes the following:
"...we discovered that play was indeed work. First there was the business of deciding who to be and who the others must be and what the environment is to look like and when it is time to change the scene. Then there was the even bigger problem of getting of getting others to listen to you and accept your point of view while keeping the integrity of the make-believe, the commitment to the other players, and perhaps the loyalty of a best friend..."

Indeed, the chasm between the cubicle and the playroom is not nearly as wide as we may perceive it to be. Playground politics and office politics are not so different. And the dialogue of play has not changed one bit in the last 100 years although the stage scenery may have. Listen in on any group of 5 year olds and you'll  hear it:
"Pretend you are the mommy and I am the baby. And pretend that the baby wants to play but it's time for bed."
"No, I want to be a puppy! We are all dogs. Pretend you are the mommy dog and I am the baby dog and the baby dog wants to play but it's time for bed."
"Yeah, and the baby dog is really mad. Pretend you run away because you don't want to go to bed."
"And pretend when you're running away you get lost in the woods and it's really scary."
"And there's a witch!"
"And she's got a house made out of candy and cookies and dog treats...."

The characters' names and the plot lines may have changed subtly and significant world events have shaped the stories as they occurred. But one thing always remains the same and it truly fills me with wonder. It always begins with the words "Pretend..."

In "Pretend..." it is safe. Don't get me wrong--it can get dangerous. There are fires and storms and villains and weapons and people get sick and people die and people also come back to life and the plot can also change and the characters can shift and the story can even start over. And in a decade of teaching and working with children and now in 5 plus years of parenthood what has changed? Pedagogues come and go. Tools and technology emerge and just as quickly are replaced by updated versions. Across the board, most children do learn their letters and numbers and will read and write, albeit in their own pace and space. There's not one foolproof method to success, but more often than not the utilization of multiple methods is most successful. What is lacking? For many, it is the ability to "Pretend..." Who knew that was a skill? More and more, the absence of that TIME and SPACE has resulted in the absence of the ability to engage in and maintain that play narrative. And what is lost when we lose the story?

Perhaps we could argue that children don't need to play about being grown up and going to work--they are practically born already doing it, or at least with the expectation that they must be ready to by kindergarten. Blowing bubbles outside has been replaced by filling in bubbles on a Scantron sheet. Children do not lack for lessons on how to do that. They do lack for lessons on how to play--so much so that "play therapy" has become a common resource offered in schools for children displaying a deficit in this area. A deficit in play? How does that even happen? How did the world of "Pretend..." become a world in which children are taught to Pretend they are playing?

And Perhaps the nostalgia we all feel at the sight of a mint condition Care Bear sitting on the thrift store shelf or the vintage toy section displaying replicas of playthings past is not about the toys themselves, but the times that they represent. The days when bedtime always came too soon and even then, the game could always continue again tomorrow--right where it left off. The days when recess was not a privilege to be earned and likewise, taken away, but a standard segment of the daily routine--as necessary as lunch time and using the bathroom. The days when play was not an escape from the task at hand but, rather, was the task at hand. It wasn't a way to pass the time, it was the purpose of the time. And what I truly wonder is this: thirty years from now, what memories will come back to our own children when their little ones ask them "what did you play when you were little?"

Happy Playing!

The Pedagogy Police

If you’ve been around these blog parts for a while, you’ve likely noticed I feel strongly about one thing when it comes to parenting and education: the importance of play. And beyond that, I’m pretty eclectic in my approach. Perusing bookshelves and philosophies when it comes to choosing how we parent and educate can feel like standing at the counter of the ice cream shop when there are 692 flavors to choose from. How many scoops can you get? Will you be back here soon? Will you choose only one flavor or maybe try a few? What if you have buyer’s remorse? And what if that only emerges once you’ve eaten all but one bite? Or maybe you’ll really like mint chocolate chip and you’ll choose it again and again and again but never try rocky road. You’ve heard it’s good but how do you know? Mint chocolate chip is familiar, you know you like it, it’s predictable and satisfies the urge, but you may go your whole life on one flavor never experiencing the 691 others (not to mention several limited time only seasonal varieties that come and go throughout the years)…

I have been in and out of classrooms over the years where pedagogy ruled over the play. Strict adherence to one particular model was of the utmost importance, to the benefit or to the detriment of the key players—the children themselves. We have names and faces and texts and evidence and data and documentation to support our approach. And at the end of the day it is a game of who said it best? Rudolph Steiner? Maria Montessori? The community of Reggio Emilia? You begin to hear statements with words like “always,” “never,” “should...” There is going to be a lifetime ahead of “always,” “nevers,” and “shoulds.” Why are we already applying them in the early years and, of all things, to children’s play and learning?

On the one hand, we all agree that play is the work of the young child. We’ve seen it in every theory and pedagogical model phrased in one way or another. We disagree, however, on how this looks in action. Children should use loose parts for play, only open ended materials and objects without a particular function or purpose. They should use these creatively and learn through moving and manipulating them within their environment. Children should engage in symbolic play using toys and props that mimic those used in “real” (re: adult) life scenarios. Children should learn through provocations and invitations to expand on their ideas and curiosities about the world. Children should be given access to a variety of intentional materials to use in learning. The purpose of these materials is singular, serving a meaningful function--that stick is always to be used to measure the distance between ascending blocks and never to be used as a drumstick. Children should always work seated at a table, sitting at an unrolled mat, outdoors, indoors, while moving, while sitting still. Children should have ample and adequate time to engage in play and learning; they should choose how to spend their time and if and when to shift gears. Children will grow bored if they remain at one activity too long, we need to push them along to avoid this. All art should represent something created by an adult. No art should represent something created by an adult. 

Even the aisles of toy stores tell us what we should introduce or not introduce to our children: Toys should be gender role specific. Toys should make noises and light up. Toys should be made from natural materials. Toys should be colorful and durable to engage a child's interest and withstand his strength. Children should play with their own things. Children should play with our things. Children need a lot of toys so that they will never have to share or become bored. Children need only a few toys so that they will learn to focus and persevere. Children should be given access and exposure to real objects so they will learn how to use them and how to be safe. Children should be given access and exposure to objects that mimic real objects so that they can play and imagine about the real thing within the safety of plastic.

We may resonate strongly with a particular pedagogy or educational model. We may resonate so strongly with it, that within it we become rigid and at risk of hijacking our children's play and learning process. I compare early education models to nutrition. I view nutrition as a holistic approach. For me, personally, it works better to add in foods that are nutritionally dense without restricting foods that are less so. Some of my friends do very well to see food only as fuel, energy in, energy out. Some do very well to adhere strictly to a diet with certain nutritional components and without certain others. I, myself, must adhere to a diet free of wheat and gluten and I also choose to keep a strictly kosher diet. However, I see a place at my table for both ice cream and carrot sticks. They serve different functions, but I value food both as fuel for my body and nourishment for my soul. I like the experience of enjoying flavor and company at the table. And while there is a biologically different value to a carrot than to an ice cream cone, both play a meaningful role. 

I want to share a funny little anecdote from my own childhood, growing up as the daughter of an early childhood educator. My mother was quite progressive in her teaching and parenting style. We were given old VCRs to take apart and tinker with. We had ample time to play independently in our yard. And, in the corner of the playroom in a cardboard box never to be unpacked no matter how many years went by between a move were a tall stack of coloring books. The one that was always supposed to stay on top was a more "progressive" coloring book with drawing prompts rather than classic black and white images to color in or mazes to complete. My mother favored process art activities and we did quite a lot of this on our own or with her. But once in a while, I hid down in that corner, removed the top coloring book from the box and sat for hours filling in the lines of a classic, cheap coloring book. We also had a huge bin of Barbie dolls and accessories we could play with but my mother would not assist in dressing/undressing. Rather, if we got into a bind, she might give us some fabric and ribbon and scissors to create an outfit we could put on easily. We knew she "hated" Barbie and we played deeply into our dramatic plots for days and weeks at a time.  Years later when I began my own teaching career, I walked into my new classroom as the lead general Ed teacher (we were an inclusive program) and got ready to revamp the classroom inventory, the first things I hauled off, one under each arm, were a stack of coloring books and a bin of Barbie dolls. About an hour later, I met my co-teacher, a special educator with 15 years of experience on me. She was carrying two things, one under each arm: a stack of coloring books and a bin of Barbies. And so began my year of cowering under her glory, a year I would describe as the most difficult and most rewarding in my career. I learned more from watching her and the children than anything else I can pinpoint. My own children have full access to open ended materials for play and process art and having two boys, I don't currently have any Barbie dolls yet, but they practice early writing skills, spatial awareness and even plain ol' relaxation coloring in coloring books right out in the open, no box needed. Sometimes, I color with them...

And if there is one thing I have learned and observed in working in a range of environments with a range of children it is this: they will play. If the room is set up to explore loose parts, they will play. If there are toy fire trucks and pretend food and baby dolls that have eyes that close when you lay them back, they will play. If they outdoors and there is a playground, they will play. If you are outdoors and there is no playground, they will play. If everything is painted in hushed and neutral tones, they will play. If it is brightly colored with fluorescent lighting, they will play. And when they play, they learn. Are they playing the right way? Who are we to judge? Is playing with a fire truck that lights up and sounds a siren when a button is pushed on the top less valuable to my sons than building a fire from red, orange and yellow play silks, collected sticks and stones and roasting a playdough marshmallow over the flames? Who am I to say? I can say that I personally have a limited amount of patience for the noise of that fire truck, but thank goodness for Bubbies who stray from the birthday wish lists and know that my boys love these noisy toys just as much as they love sticks, stones and scarves.

If our intent as parents and educators is to foster an environment that is conducive to a child's learning and play processes, we need to let go of the idea that we (adults) know or even remember what that looks like for a child. Each child is different and within that, each child is different from moment to moment. Her needs, her curiosities, her fears and her wonders shift and change throughout life. In one moment, she needs to rock a small baby doll, wrapped in a blanket and help her to sleep. In another moment, she needs the large body movement of lifting heavy blocks and building towers to knock and ramps and tunnels for balls to roll. He needs the opportunity to climb up the playground ladder and slide down the twisty tunnel just as much as he needs to use a stick in sword play while standing on top of a large boulder. She needs a tray of paper and access to real artists' pastels just as much as the Paw Patrol coloring book and name brand crayons. The only thing that matters, or at least the one that matters most is that the play is theirs. They apply the boundaries, the meaning, the length of time and the purpose. When we come in, whether it is to helicopter over them or to dictate their space or the function of their playthings or the length of time to engage (and what that engagement should look like), we hijack their play. It is akin to plagiarizing someone's work and even defacing/rewriting what they have created to meet our own personal agenda. 

Social media provides an incredible canvas of support for parents and educators alike. And it also can be restrictive. Pedagogy Police troll these bridges of communication between people who are at once experts and novices in their fields. I think that we must establish firmly our intention and then, at the end of every day, establish it again. My intention as a parent and an educator is to provide an environment--both physically as well as emotionally/spiritually that nurtures my children's process of learning through play. I understand that within that framework, their environment will frequently change and evolve. I understand that within that framework their attention and focus will frequently shift. I understand that their version of play will look different from moment to moment and it will also look different from mine. I understand that all play has value and all play has purpose. All play is theirs, however, and not mine. I am blessed to be invited into their world of wonder and when I am invited, I do join in. It is a gift to be welcomed into a world of wonder I've all but forgotten, if even only for a moment. When we honor our children in their process of play and self discovery, we nurture the child still within ourselves, still exploring discovering this world for the very first time. For even if this is your 12,426th rotation around the sun, it is still the first time you've made the journey at 12,426 days old!

Happy Playing!

Days of Creation Play Stations: Day 1 Dark & Light

S is early in the stages of understanding how to
play the game of Dominoes, but this family
heirloom set of Bereishis dominoes is a great
starting point! He loves making a "train" of
matching pictures and "reading the directions."

The first parsha read in the Torah each year is, arguably, one of the most important. Parshas Bereishis chronicles the events of Creation, day by day, as well as the stoPry of Adam and Chava. And although this is one of the most significant parshios of the year, it occurs in our annual rotation right on the heels of a huge holiday season. As a teacher in Jewish classrooms, I grappled with whether to teach this parsha "in time" and rush through the opportunities for learning and play so we can make it to the next several and equally significant parshios, or whether to extend the lesson beyond its week in the limelight. There are benefits to both ways. It is nice when children can learn the Torah portion of the week as it comes up. Particularly in homes where children go to synagogue on Shabbos or discuss the parsha at the Shabbos table, even preschool aged children like to feel a part of the action! There are benefits as well to having the time to explore in depth these early parshios, particularly through the lens of hands on exploration and play based learning. The best part of either route you choose is that the cycle repeats itself again and again. In other words--there's always next year, G-d willing!

Revisiting some of our favorite learning materials from last year is a fun way to play and learn together!

This year, S is learning about the first two parshios in school, Parshas Bereishis (the story of Creation), and Parshas Noach (the story of Noah and the ark). We explored these parshios in depth at home last year, as well. You can check out our Bereishis activities and Noach activities from last year if you wish. This year, we are enjoying a more relaxed flow of play-based activities in the afternoons. S has already had a morning of more structured learning and projects, which he loves and a more child-led approach in the afternoons really works for us right now. In addition, Y is able on his own level to join in our play adventures. I decided to extend our time exploring the theme of Parshas Bereishis into seven afternoon play stations to visit each day of Creation through sensory exploration, family field trips, themed snacks, process art and dramatic play.



Here's a peek at our first day of Creation Play Stations: Day 1, Dark & Light

While the boys were napping, I gathered a white pillowcase to attach to our puppet theater, a selection of flashlights/small lights and LED decorative lights, and transformed our play area into an exploration of darkness, light and shadows...

Some lights strung over our play tunnel added a whole new element of wonder to this already beloved gross motor activity!

Y got a kick (or enjoyed kicking) some lights strung above his activity mat. Adult supervision is definitely required when allowing very little ones to play with items that contain batteries and cords!

What's more fun than crawling through a tunnel? Crawling through a tunnel that lights up in a dark room and chasing after a light up ball!

S was both fascinated and bewildered by the shadow puppet station. He kept looking behind the curtain of the puppet theater where the action usually takes place, but was confused as to why the shadows weren't there! We observed together how the shadows are formed in front of the light by the objects placed in front of the white curtain. He brought in a variety of other objects to try besides the animals I had set out. We tried our hands (literally) at some shadow puppets as well. Much of the fun was just in playing with flashlights on their own!

Y LOVED the light up ball! I have found these on and off at our local Dollar Tree and they are always popular!

Adding in some of our translucent magnetiles to the mix gave way to some especially colorful shadows and fantastic buildings. This was a great way to introduce some STEM and building activities into the mix.

S has had little interest at home in doing "art projects." He does amazing art activities at school and at home I try to introduce more opportunities for process art (which he also does in school). Both brothers are participating in our Days of Creation Process Art Book. Day 1 was an invitation to explore white chalk and crayons on black paper. 

S was not interested in this station at all until Y and I sat down. He Loves showing Y how to do things!

We had a surprise themed dessert of "Dark & Light" pudding (chocolate and vanilla pudding). This is a great early cooking activity that toddlers and preschoolers can help with in the kitchen and although I made it in advance because we were short on time, S was so happy that he thanked me repeatedly without being prompted and told me it's his "favorite!" Alternatively you could make/buy black and white cookies, have hot cocoa with marshmallows or even chocolate sandwich cookies with white cream filling...very healthy, I know! Maybe pumpernickel and white bread??

We are having so much fun exploring the days of Creation through play that I am already excited for our second day! We will certainly be back soon and until then, happy playing!

How To S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Story Stretchers

I previously touched upon how to whip up a quick story stretcher (or even a longer one) when you're short on time in this post, but what if you want to stretch those activities across the span of a week or longer? Well, this is the post for you! Our play at home camp this summer is taking us beyond several of our favorite children's books with themes, authors and stories that my older son is particularly fond of. When you look at this blog, it may appear that we are engaged all day in play and learning activities and this is simply not true. Particularly during the summer, I like to move at a slower pace and make plenty of time for outdoor play and park visits, family time and free/independent play. Fall will be here before we know it and S will begin preschool. I'd love to continue story stretcher activities with him as a way to continue our play at home adventures and even connect the school to home gap, but I will follow his lead with this. For now, we are enjoying the summer swing of things and with some thoughtful planning, it's easy to stretch your own extension activities and themes across the span of several days, a week, or whatever feels right to you!

We kicked off our Story Stretchers Play at Home Camp by decorating a book bag!

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

You don't need to reinvent the wheel! I may post a variety of extension activities for each of our story stretcher themes, but I don't whip them all out on the same day. When it comes to more structured play and learning activities, I go with the flow. On days we have a lot of time, I can spend more time engaged in structured activity with my toddler--that is if he is interested in it! If he doesn't seem enthusiastic about a particular activity or is showing signs of wanting to do something else altogether, I go with it. I put away the activity and we try it again later. There is no reason to battle over something that is meant to be fun and to connect us. When I sense frustration or disconnect, it's definitely time to move on and try again later. On the other hand, if S wants to spend longer with an activity or repeat it, I do that, too! I prepare a selection of my activities in advance in such a way that I can have one (or a few) sessions of working on it with S and then he can access it and do it again on his own as desired. Repetition is the essence of learning and S loves to repeat favorite activities. I may present one or two novel activities on most days, but throughout the week we play more freely and revisit our favorites as desired. That more "structured" time is sometimes as short as half an hour or spread over a few chunks throughout the day.

On the first day of our Everybody Needs a Rock story stretcher week, I formally introduced and read the book and we painted a special box for a special rock. S chose a rock from our collection at home that he thought he wanted to keep inside...by the next day, he'd picked a different special rock! I have a feeling his little box will be home to many special rocks along the way...

He wanted to tuck his rock into bed. We found a little washcloth and used it for a blanket.

Let your little ones take the lead. As noted above, I try to follow my toddler's cues as much as possible. I also must balance my infant's needs and our other household obligations. Even during our "school year" I was careful not to push beyond S's interest or attention span. Particularly when it comes to story stretchers and reading together, I want S to have as much control and autonomy as possible. I'd rather put a book away or take a picture walk on a day he doesn't feel like hearing a story than have unpleasant experiences around reading together. Building an early love of literacy is a delicate process and while I do have a toddler who loves to be read to, not all children feel this way and no children feel this way all of the time. Additionally, when I prepare an activity to be done in one way, S often has his own ways of doing things. I reserve "no" for when I really need it. Imagine being told "no" by your boss or your spouse repeatedly again and again and again. You'd probably lose your interest in doing whatever task you were doing if not lose your cool altogether. When S decides to add materials to an activity or use the ones I've set out in a different way than I'd envisioned, unless it is truly unsafe or will be harmful to the materials, I allow it and even build on it with him.

On our second morning, I set out our invitation to draw on rocks with chalk. S loved it and wanted me to draw on the rocks as well. He asked me to draw a robot (one of his other favorite things right now) and then became quite attached to the robot rock. Since I knew the chalk would eventually rub off, I suggested we find a lighter colored rock and I could draw a robot with permanent marker for him. He came back with another rock and then I drew the robot...next he found some robot stickers and wanted to add one of those! I love that he felt inspired to take our chalk activity all the way to decorating his own pet robot rock and beyond!

The robot rock now has a happy home in his special rock box. 

So what about the story? If you read your target story on the first day, then what? Do you read it again? I often set out the target book on our little table for S to see so he will remember what we've been playing about. Sometimes he will ask to read it again. I also set out other theme related books. S will frequently bring one over to read or sometimes I will pull one out to show him. He's been particularly fond of a nonfiction book we checked out of the library called Can You Find These Rocks? by Carmen Bredeson and Lindsey Cousins. He was particularly excited to find that we actually had many of the rocks in the book now in our little museum collection, thanks to my mother's special donation!

We are having a rockin' time exploring rocks this week! I am following S's lead and we are moving at a comfortable pace. My hope for S (and for Y as well, as he grows) is that a love of literature will follow and inspire them into avid readers all in due time. That said, I am in no rush for them to read or reach particular academic milestones. I want them to carry with them a love of literature, a fond memory of our activities and time together, and maybe a few rocks in their pockets!

Wishing you all a comfortable pace of reading, learning and, of course, playing!

In Praise of Play: Play Is Enough

"Play is enough. Play is enough. Play is enough. This should be our educational mantra for the first 5 years." are the powerful words of a preschool director as relayed to author Janet Lansbury in this article I came across last week. The article, posted 5 years ago, is still so relevant today. It asks a question I found myself asking more and more as I worked with young children over the years: have our preschoolers forgotten how to play? And although the article targets that particular age range (from birth until 5), I would say that a major decline in play opportunity and subsequent decline in play skills is a systemic problem that goes way beyond the age of five. Our need to for unguided and unadulterated play is one that certainly is vital to meet in the first five years, but must be maintained throughout life. This belief is one that led me to begin this blog, which certainly has a heavy focus on my home-preschooling adventures with a very curious toddler, but also leans heavily toward the side of doing so through meaningful guided activities and plenty of open-ended play opportunities. My very first post on this blog discusses in more depth my thoughts behind the decline in play opportunities for children both in the early childhood classroom as well as at home. It is a topic near and dear to my own playful heart. In my years of teaching and more recent years of parenting, I have adopted and adapted a lot of models. There are benefits to many styles of teaching and parenting. However, I remain devoted to my own eclectic and ever-changing model: if it works, do it! If and when it stops working, try something different.

This was the scene about 15 minutes before Shabbat last Friday. My husband was busy washing the last few dishes when my son came into the kitchen for several cups of water. He was not nearly as thirsty as my husband had assumed. He just apparently had his own sink of dishes to wash--and now his kitchen set is very clean! It certainly was a soggy surprise to his outsmarted parents, but a towel to dry it up with and a dose of humor got everyone through; play happens!

If you follow this blog at all, you see a lot of posts and photos about our guided learning experiences. I do include in that a portion of our dramatic play opportunities and there is certainly an element of playfulness to even our more "academic" activities. It may look at times like I spend a good chunk of every day engaged in this way with my son and the honest truth is that I do not! We have days on which we do a lot of structured activities. We have days when we are mostly out of the house. And we have days on which I am mostly bound to other tasks or even the couch and my son plays mostly independently with periods of my involvement. We are looking forward as a family to some very big and exciting upcoming changes right now and it is definitely a busy time! Because I love to plan for what I can (especially with so many elements that cannot be planned in advance), I set up our units on Purim and Pesach to be very play-based and toddler-accessible for independent use. The intent and idea behind that is that my son can have an opportunity to learn through hands-on self-directed play whether or not I am available to "formally" direct it or be involved.
I made my home "curriculum" over the summer. We are right now bit "behind" on some of my target goals and you know what? I'm OK with that! Almost every afternoon at naptime and every night before bed, my toddler (like so many of his peers) cries bitterly and protests. Why? Not because he wants to "learn one more letter" or because he has yet to master the skill of one-to-one-correspondence. He is not concerned about whether, at age 2.5, he is ready for kindergarten in the Fall of 2019. He wants to "pway!" "More pway!" He, like so many of his peers, has so much playing to do in a day and there simply is never enough time! With some snuggles and songs and a gentle tuck-in, we remind him that there is always more time to play and our bodies need rest to do it. We kiss him goodnight and his tears subside into a sleepy smile as slumber takes over. He is content. He is safe. He is secure in knowing he will play when he wakes up. But will he? In a world where kindergarten is the new first grade and school days are lengthened as recess times are simultaneously cut, will he have an opportunity to play as he grows up?
I think of a friend of mine who a few months ago mentioned to me that her kindergartner, a former student of mine, complains each day that he hasn't had any time to play with his toys by the time school and carpool, dinner and evening routines are done. I think of the days my own house boasts an eerily tidy playroom because we have hardly had the opportunity to use it! And this is just the beginning--soon enough, home days will be replaced with school days. Extracurricular activities will require a color coded calendar with plenty of options for editing, deleting and rearranging. Evenings will be filled with homework and studying. We will feel the same pride and occasional dread that all parents of school age children feel.  We want our children to learn and to grow and to work hard. And, we also want our children to play. To remember that freedom and wonder not with a distant sense of nostalgia, but to tend to it on a daily basis and nurture it like the fragile seedling that it is. Because childhood is short and it's getting shorter. Because our children do learn through play--they learn social skills, emotional regulation and work through their fears and dilemmas. Because creativity and imagination live in their world of play and cannot be regained by reading about it in a book or researching it on the internet. Because so much of their play-world right now is about pretending to be grown up--but we want them to be children just a little bit longer nonetheless. And because one day they will, G-d willing, have children of their own to raise and worry about and kvell over--and it will be so important that they, too, remember how to play; they may need to teach their children how to do so!
I want to add as well how important I believe it is for children to see the adults in their world playing and being passionate about something. Extracurricular activities are a double-edged sword in our lives these days. Children (and their parents) have full afternoons and evenings of tending to the many family interests and talents. I certainly support children pursuing personal interests and mastery of skills that are meaningful to them. I also see the potential for it to become a delicate balancing act and remind myself constantly of one of the best pieces of parenting (and life) advice I ever heard from a fellow mother and professional: you can have it all and you can do it all, but not all at the same time. That said, we surely need to balance family interests and activities with individual needs for everyone in that family. And as parents, we must make sure that this does not always mean we put our own needs for play and creativity on hold. When we practice and attend to hobbies in front of our children, we teach them the value of self care and nurturing our interests! If it's a hobby they can enjoy as well, great! And if not, great!
So tonight, when it's time to drag our protesting toddler to bed, he will likely be crying that he needs more time to "pway." My living room will probably boast a variety of scenes posing evidence that the opposite is in fact true. He will become suddenly benevolent and want to help clean up every last toy. I will (equally benevolently) take him up on the offer! (One of the joys of a child who cannot yet tell time is that at 6:30, I can tell him it is very late and already well past bedtime as he is quickly and calmly cleaning up his playthings and only I know that I have carved out an entire extra 30 minutes just to ensure we can do this and still have time for snuggles and songs before it really is very late and well past bedtime! Remind me to cross off any activities related to reading clocks from our home preschool curriculum...) If we do happen to spend some times in structured activities to learn core early childhood concepts, great. And if not, I trust my son will not be lacking. I may go to sleep at night with a list of tasks I didn't get to during the day, but at 2.5 years old, he does not need to! In just a handful of years, I will likely be asking him questions at bedtime like "did you finish your homework? Is your backpack ready? Did you pick out your clothes for tomorrow? Did you brush your teeth?" And I will probably also ask him, "did you play today?" I hope that if there are one (or more) things left undone from that last, the latter will not be one of them. And in the meantime--play is enough. Play is enough. Play is enough!

A Peek Inside Our Playroom: Gearing Up for our Community Helpers Theme

 Community Helpers is another one of my favorite learning/play themes of all time. (I feel like I say that every time I introduce a new theme!) It's another one you could devote an entire year of play and learning activities to and still not get bored. So much of a child's early life is a process of navigating their role in a 
world so much bigger than himself. It is why even the youngest toddler often prefers a set of our pots and measuring spoons to her own toys. It is why our little ones love to play with our phones and tinker with our computer keyboards. It is why they love to try on our giant shoes and get lost inside our hats. They are surrounded by big people in a busy world of big things to do. When we teach about community helpers, we go one step further than telling children about the big people in and around their environment; we invite them to imagine a world in which they are big people, too, doing their own big things in this big, big world! 

It is very convenient when a "field trip" involves stepping out to the apartment complex parking lot and seeing some awesome big diggers at work!

We were fortunate enough to be invited with our Mommy & Me playgroup to the
preschool next door who was having a visit with our local fire department!

Teaching about community helpers can be a great way to get out in your neighborhood and meet the people whose hard work and service keep our communities running. Field trips to places like your local firehouse, police station, post office, library, grocery store or bakery can be a great learning opportunity, and many of these places are eager and happy to welcome students and families to learn a little bit more about what they do. You can also utilize family and friends to teach and demonstrate about their careers. We happen to have a very busy couple of weeks ahead of us--and I am totally counting my son's visit to our dentist as a community helper's themed field trip! Never underestimate the value of learning about this theme that naturally happens when we are already out in communities. We hear sirens and see rescue vehicles. We see construction workers busily working on roads and building sites. We visit our doctors and dentists for check ups. We drop something off at the post office. These are all great opportunities to meet and greet the helpers in our community and talk about their important roles and work.

I love to incorporate transportation and building play into this theme!

Our learning unit at home will be very play based and hands-on. In lieu of more formal lessons, I will be incorporating learning centers, dramatic play opportunities, sensory play, process art and an overall child-led approach. As I teach both through a secular and religious lens, I will also be talking about important jobs and roles in our Jewish community. I also like to focus on ways children--even young ones--can already help in their homes and the community beyond. It is fun to imagine and play about "when we grow up," and there are many things we can do right now to be helpers and to serve ourselves and others. Our shelves are stocked with great non-fiction and fiction books about different careers. Our play area is ready to go with toys to manipulate, build with, play with and pretend with. I've included some dress-up clothes and costumes (many purchased at an extreme discount on November 1st or from our local thrift store). I've also set aside some community helper themed puppets and toy people for use with building materials, cars and other manipulatives as we play our way through learning about a variety of important people in our neighborhood. Here's a peek at our playroom so far. We will be learning about one career or genre of careers each day, during which additional play and learning materials will be set out to invite my son to explore and learn. He has a long time to decide what he really wants to be when he grows up and in the meantime, I know he will have a great deal of fun learning and playing about his options.

We will be learning and playing about:

• mail carriers
• firefighters/fire safety
• police officers/general safety
• doctors/dentists/veterinarians/staying healthy and self-care
• construction workers
• scientists/community helpers themed science!
• teachers
• librarians
• bakers/chefs/mashgiach (the rabbis who oversee factories & restaurants producing kosher foods)
• rabbis/a sofer--rabbis whose job it is to write Torah scrolls and other important Jewish documents
• Family Helpers--the roles we play in our family to take care of each other! 

I found a great set of free occupations playdough mats to print and laminate on this website.

Our writing center bin has been transformed into a mini mail center. My little guy can practice decorating cards and writing letters, stuffing envelopes, using stamps and stickers and even illustrating and gluing on his own postage stamps. I have a feeling we're about to get an influx of mail here! You can also let your little ones have some fun playing with your junk mail before you file it in the waste paper basket. Who doesn't love getting a letter in the mail?

We have some great transportation themed puzzles at home. I found this one in Target's Dollar Deals section and adapted it to include the community helpers who drive each form of transportation by using printed clipart and permanent marker inside the base of the puzzle. 

I collected a variety of clip art online to print and laminate
this matching activity to match "Who Works Where."

I've tailored it to use with my 2.5 year old by including only a small number of people and places. Older learners can sort through a larger quantity and even trace or write (provided sentence strips to copy from) the appropriate job titles and job sites using dry erase markers.

Happy Playing! 

Tu B'Shevat Theme: In Praise of Nature-based Play

 When I have taught in a traditional classroom, I have always been known as the teacher who takes the kids outside NO MATTER WHAT. Rain, shine, snow, as long as we could dress appropriately and play safely, we went outside. I've done art and science in the rain. I've celebrated Tu B'Shevat in the snow as children hung streamers around trees and painted the snow. I've collected bins of hail balls to bring inside and play. And with my son, I've been much the same way. As long as we can dress appropriately and be safe, we get him outside. Fresh air is so important for so many reasons--least of all being adequate Vitamin D consumption. When I was a child of a preschool teacher, my mother was home during the summers and our backyard garden was an instant classroom and play-haven! Our backyard adventures involved hours of free play and exploration that were minimally directed or interrupted by adults. It was in the era of still feeling safe in a fenced in backyard and before helicopter parenting took over even that formerly safe space. Times are changing, but there is still a great value in a child discovering worms in the soil and creepy crawly bugs underneath a rock because of their own self-led curiosity and exploration--not because an adult shows him how to do so. Just as we promote the value to child-led independent play indoors--from dramatic/abstract play to process art--so, too, must we value child-led independent play outdoors, within a safe construct of reasonable adult supervision. 

Bringing the outdoors IN for those times we can't get outside--not only is it a lovely way to seasonally decorate, it's a great way to encourage nature-based play and learning!

A blast from the past and our garden last Spring

I recently came across an article titled "THE UNSAFE CHILD: Less Outdoor Play is Causing More Harm than Good" written by pediatric occupational therapist, Angela Hanscom. She writes on the importance of outdoor play opportunities to all areas of development, in particular siting the increase of sensory deficits in children with less exposure to such opportunities. Outdoor play opportunities have not just decreased in the home venue; schools have also lost a significant amount of open-ended play opportunities outdoors and favor of squeezing in more and more "traditional" academic activities. How are we to teach children to value and appreciate nature from the confines of four walls and a roof? Furthermore, how are they to develop and maintain that natural sense of childhood wonder and curiosity that we as children found by digging holes to China and making mud-pies when they never hold a shovel or are encouraged (let alone allowed) to dig in the dirt?
We do not all live in a house with a white picket fence and a yard. In fact, we happen to live in an apartment complex with shared yard space and no fence! We are fortunate to have areas perfect for digging and planting and even grassy ones for running and playing. We also have some great local parks and nature conservation areas. And we go beyond appreciating it all outdoors. We bring our love of nature indoors as well with opportunities to play, learn and explore natural materials in the home.
If you're looking for some ideas and inspiration to infuse your days with a little more nature-based play and discovery, here are some of my very favorite books (for grownups!) on the topic:

 National Bestseller, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv is a fabulous read and study on the power of outdoor play and the incredible price that is paid by children growing up with fewer opportunities to explore outdoors. It is an intriguing and thought provoking read. When it comes to exploring ideas for nature based play and activity ideas, I particularly like The Kids' Nature Book: 365 Indoor/Outdoor Activities & Experiences by Susan Milord. She takes you through each day of the year and all four seasons with great outdoor and indoor ideas to incorporate science, art, learning and play activities into your home or teaching routine.

I especially love author and blogger, Asia Citro's A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature. It is chock full of great activities to take outdoors or in so your children (and YOU) can explore the unique flora and fauna of your own yard and neighborhood. In addition, she has a fabulous section on planting experiments in her book The Curious Kid's Science Book: 100+ Creative Hands-on Activities for Ages 4-8 and plenty of further nature-based activities in her blog, Fun at Home With Kids. I recommend checking any or all of these great titles out from your local library and taking them along with your favorite lawn chair or picnic blanket outside with the kids next chance you get. We can all use a little more fresh air and Vitamin D!

Happy Playing!

Chanukah, Oh Chanukah, Come Play, Learn and Create!

The excitement is building as we continue learning and playing about Chanukah. And a lot of learning is happening, too! I sometimes feel like the Sneaky Teacher--and rather than hiding vegetables and protein in my child's favorite foods like my culinary counterpart (don't get me wrong, I do plenty of that, too!) I am constantly finding creative ways to sneak educational content into really fun play activities. This is a lot easier than you'd think--so much of the way children learn about the world around them is through play. Early childhood years are vital for this, and truly, play should be a part of life throughout the ages and stages! (Yes, even grown ups!) Some skills and areas of development come more naturally to a child and are more appealing while others may need a little nudging and creativity to foster. Getting creative and playful can help inspire interest in areas where a little learner may be hesitant or reluctant. And even the most eager little ones benefit from learning content through a variety of methods and experiences.

My little guy happens to LOVE talking about and identifying shapes. Whether it's in books, toys and manipulatives or experimenting with his doodles and scribbles, he is very drawn to geometry! But an interest in geometry and other mathematical concepts needn't mean all work and no play--check out this very simple invitation to create a dreidel shape out of magnets! The same activity can be done using paper and collage, blocks, or even sponges and paint. My toddler had a lot of fun copying the dreidel shape and exploring his own geometric creations with triangles, squares and these skinny little rectangles!

We continue learning letters in both English and Hebrew even as holidays approach. Learning the Hebrew letter YUD included some hands-on fun (literally)! We start our alephbet lessons with a familiar routine no matter what our activity is. Repeating songs and routines helps to set the stage for what we are learning and supports comprehension of new material as well. After singing our introductory songs and meeting our new letter, we learned a Hebrew word to go with it--YADAYIM, or hands. My son had fun doodling on this coloring page--and even coloring pages and coloring books have educational value! He is practicing lines, squiggles and fine motor movements that will lead to drawing shapes and eventually letters. He also had a lot of fun using his yadayim in washable ink-pads to make a hand-print menorah in his journal. 

Hand-print menorahs can be a great hands-on play activity for the whole family, as seen here in a
family art project we did last Chanukah!

And speaking of art, in this process art activity the world of painting and science came together as we explored painting with water colors and oil! I set out liquid watercolor paints and some vegetable oil in an ice cube tray. We do not have fancy liquid watercolor paints! I actually just found a liquid set at the dollar tree and figured I couldn't go wrong either way. They are not an amazing quality art product but definitely served their intended function here! Prior to beginning, I cut a dreidel shape from white cardstock. If you have watercolor paper on hand, that would be great, but it is not a necessity. I chose a thicker paper since I knew this would be a wet project! It would be a good idea to use a tray or foil pan beneath your paper to collect splatters and excess and to cover your work space. Some painting activities capture my son's attention for a few minutes, but this one kept him busy and engaged for almost half an hour! He loved exploring the paint colors and mixing them/transferring them inside the ice cube tray. He loved experimenting with different types of brush strokes and two different brushes on the paper. He loved the element of seeing how just like in some of our other experiments with oil and water (and stay tuned for more on that in the weeks to come), that on paper, oil and watercolor paints do not mix. 

Even cleaning the brush between uses in a glass filled with warm, soapy water (to help cut the grease of the oil) and dabbing it on a paper towel was a great learning opportunity and helped develop an important practical life-skill. Learning happened all around and play was at the forefront.

Happy Playing and (Sneaky) Learning!