Weekend Watching - How To Make a Paper Plate Fish

This weekend's watching clip is a fun simple craft project for your youngster to make their own fish.

And as I am learning fish are a great favorite of toddlers!

If your children are old enough let them practice with kid safe scissors (a skill from the kindergarten readiness list we posted about earlier in the week) for the mouth and then let their creativity run wild making the scales. 

We have everything in the house needed to do this so I for one am going to try this out during the week with the girls.

Happy Play Times :-)

Learning New Words

A quick post today about toddlers and pre schooler's learning new words.

And it is to have a copy of books such as 'My First 100 Words' or a 'Big Book of First Words' truly they are a must in any home of toddlers and pre schoolers.

We use this version and it is a well loved, favorite activity for the girls to go through - if we ask them for a book they drag this out currently nine times out of ten.

Children love to pick out familiar pictures, name objects and pointing out objects they don't know for you to name so they can learn new words all important components of developing speech and learning to read.

Does your house have a similar book? Did your little ones benefit from them?

Happy Play Times :-)

Similar One Hundred Word Books From Amazon That Your Little One May Love

Weekend Watching - 5 fun activities for toddlers

As you may know from our Friday Fun Facts post we are stuck indoors a bit at the moment!

So we have dedicated this weekend's watching clip to this great video we found on YouTube of 5 fun activities you can do with your toddler inside.

We will be trying some of these out this week :-)

Happy Play Times :-)

Taking the Time to 'Just Be' in Play

I am a big one for giving my children the time to enjoy the simple things.

Children need stimulation and engagement but sometimes they just need to stop and watch the world go by.

So this is a just a quick post to remind us of taking things back to basics with children's play.

One of our favorite quiet play times is to just sit and look out the window and see what is happening below us. I point out interesting sights or name objects but we are taking the time to just be...

What simple quiet activities do you like to do with your children?

Happy Play Times :-)

Family Fun Project Sites

Annabelle and Scarlett my gorgeous babies are about to turn one in less than 5 weeks - how did that happen!!

I wanted to make them something special but guess what I am not crafty at ALL!!! But I love to color & I can do scrap booking so I am creating them a disney princess collage on canvas. Fingers crossed it turns out kind of like what I have envisaged in my head....

How does this relate to play? It doesn't really I just wanted to share :-)

BUT when looking for the Disney Princesses I could use to color to form part of the collage I stumbled across the fantastic Disney sites with coloring and craft projects for your little ones toddler through primary.

So I thought I would share some helpful links, this is great for a cold or rainy fall/winter day OR in the Southern hemisphere projects for when the weather will become in the 40+ range and to hot for the outdoors in the middle of the day.

I do hope you find it useful.

Get Crafty

Toddlers

Disney Family Fun - Toddler Crafts

Pre Schooler's 

Disney Family Fun - Pre School Crafts

Primary School

Disney Family Fun - Primary School Crafts

Coloring Fun

Disney Junior

Disney Characters Coloring Pages 

General Coloring 

Coloring Pages

Happy Play Times :-)

Play Therapy and Your Child

This post comes to you from Georgie Wisen-Vincent, LMFT, Registered Play Therapist from Petit Play.  

We are so thrilled to have her be so generous in sharing her expertise on play therapy with our readers.

For more information on Georgie please see the bottom of this article. 

How Play Therapy Can Help Your Child

Did you ever notice that once children reach a certain age, they start to play pretend, without anyone ever teaching them how to do it? Sure, they need grown ups to teach them their colors and numbers and letters, but for most children, playing pretend comes automatically. It’s pre-programmed. Why? Because children’s brains help them learn about the world through playing. Kids don’t learn the same way adults do. They must pretend to comprehend.

Especially during the preschool years, children are spending a lot of time imitating what they observe in the adult world in order to understand how everything works. Young children use pretend play to answer their biggest questions, like “What does a fire fighter do?” (Let’s dress up like one), “When I go to the doctor, what will it be like?” (I’ll make you better with my play doctor kit), “How does daddy make pancakes?” (I’ll cook in my play kitchen just like daddy).

Because we know that play is a valuable and necessary part of growing up, it makes sense that one of the best forms of therapy for children relies on imaginative and creative play.

What is Play Therapy?

Play therapy incorporates what comes most naturally to children, expressing themselves in their play, in order to help children adjust to major life changes or recover from difficult life experiences. There are different types of play therapy, but the one I practice is called Child Centered Play Therapy. “Child centered” means that the child directs the play, decides which toys to use, makes up the stories and characters, and invites others to join in. Allowing the child to set the agenda provides an opportunity to prioritize what needs to be addressed first.

Who Does it Help?

Children come to Play Therapy with a variety of concerns. Sometimes they are having a rough adjustment to a divorce, remarriage, adoption, the birth of a new sibling, the death of a grandparent, moving house, or starting a new school. Other times kids have had major stresses, like being in a car accident or natural disaster, witnessing fighting, being hurt or abused, or being bullied or picked on at school. Usually children are very resilient and they do their best to get through these situations, but sometimes it can be too much, even for healthy children. Kids’ feelings start to leak out: through their behaviors, attitude changes, changes in eating or sleeping patterns, developing headaches or stomach aches. Parents have often tried lots of things already but the solutions just haven’t managed to “stick”.

How Does Play Therapy Really Work?

As a Play Therapist, I have been specially trained to communicate with children from 3 to 12 years old through the medium of creativity. In a typical play therapy session, your child is invited into a uniquely designed play area, where toys, art materials, puppets, and costumes are available so that they can choose how they would like to play. Children use their play therapy time to play pretend, creating imaginary worlds and stories where they can re-live and re-explore aspects of their lives that may be too difficult to talk about. When they are pretending, children can be in full control, conquer their fears, rescue someone in distress, and be the hero of their own stories. Children can go back in time and write their own happy endings, and along the way, they build confidence and skills to adjust positively to changes happening in life.  

How do Children Transfer New Skills from Play Therapy to Real Life?

Taking on new perspectives and looking at problems from many angles in Play Therapy helps children make new connections that apply wherever they are. They start to feel more confident in themselves, trusting their own ability to handle big feelings and stressful situations. For the first time, they have been able to face their most painful or scary experiences and realize they made it through. They become independent thinkers who can ask adults for help when they really need it. Before Play Therapy, their emotions tended to escalate quickly, but now they can calm, soothe, and keep their logic when upset. Kids develop new language for their thoughts and concerns and their mature verbal ability brings them closer and more connected to family and friends. They focus and try harder than before, not giving up so easily, because now they know they can handle just about anything!

If you are taking care of a child who has had a tough time with changes happening in life, you may consider talking to a Play Therapist who can help. For questions about Play Therapy and Play Therapy resources in your area, contact Georgie Wisen-Vincent at georgie@petitplay.com.   

ABOUT GEORGIE WISEN VINCENT

Georgie is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist. Georgie is a clinician with 15 years experience in helping children and families find positive ways of relating. She lived in London where she completed her post-graduate work in Child-Centered Play Therapy at Roehampton University. She has used individual play therapy, creative arts therapy, family play therapy, trauma focused therapy and behavior modification in her work with children and teens in schools and nonprofit settings. Georgie has a private practice in Los Angeles, CA.