Tag: Playful Parenting

How Much Time Do You Spend Playing?

Home / Playful Parenting / How Much Time Do You Spend Playing?
by Luschka

I received this infographic in an email a couple of months ago and have been pondering it for ages.  I remember reading an article in 2010 about how parents found playing with their children quite boring.  I find that tough, really. I don’t find doing things with my girls boring – in fact, it can be really fun – but unstructured play or going to the park, or just ‘being’? Yes. I find that dreadfully dull, largely because I’m always thinking about what I could or should be doing!

I was reading through the information below and trying to see  where my thoughts and I fit in compared to the rest of Jo Public, and well, it’s a little stark.

It’s reminded me again to say no less, and yes more.

What do you think of these stats?

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Hands On Play: Playdough

Home / On Mama's Mind / Hands On Play: Playdough
by Luschka

Challenge Five for 30 Days to Hands On Play was Playdough. We’ve played with some of the bought stuff once before, but it’s been very me directed, with a lot of ‘no, don’t put it in the carpet’, ‘uh-uh, out your mouth’ and stuff like that. So I was a bit nervous about this challenge, but gave it a go.

The dough was super quick and easy to make, and we made pink strawberry scented dough and yellow lemon scented dough. It took oke taste for Ameli not to want to eat any more, so that took care of that.Read more: Hands On Play: Playdough

Hands On Play: Islands And Water

Home / Projects & Series / Hands On Play: Islands And Water
by Luschka

Challenge Four in Hands On Play is Pretend Islands. The challenge is:

Take some pillows, lay them out sporadically.
Ta da! You’ve created islands with the floor as water!
We jumped from island to island to see if we could make it to them all.

Okay, well, truth time: Ameli so did not get the aim of this game, and instead of jumping from island to island, she squealed her way around running from one baby yoga mat to the next. When I started jumping between them she followed suit (see the first picture). The thing is though… it didn’t matter. My little girl shrieked with laughter and the look on her face in each image showed just how much she enjoyed it.

I had fun, and laughed proper laughter too, for about ten minutes before I realised felt the ‘I’ve got things I should be doing’ panic, but we played for a few more minutes. She loved it. I loved that she laughed a whole-hearted laugh with me.Â