Thanks to happychild blogger Carol Duncan for leading us to this wonderful 10 minute video about a nine year old boy, Caine, who built a games arcade out of cardboard boxes. He gets a huge surprise when an adult arranges, via social media, for a lot of eager customers. A fun and inspiring ten minutes for adults and children about play, creativity, vision and social media. Read full article
Unstructured, unsupervised fun could be more beneficial for your child's future than you realise. Parents are feeling they need to provide an array of structured and adult-directed activities to raise smarter children...but it is also backfiring as children are not being given the freedom to develop their own interests and creativity. Read full article
Situated amongst mature gums with plenty of shade, Foxfield Reserve is a beautiful spot for a children’s playground.The Reserve is at the base of Blackhill and its conservation park - it is a combined area which provides a tennis court, an oval, a creek, a scout hall, toilets, walking trails as well as a gorgeous adventure playground. Read full article
Some researchers have suggested that the very safe playgrounds of today are depriving children of the opportunity to challenge themselves - they say a playground is a place where children can encounter and learn to overcome fears. Yvette Vignando debates this idea with psychologist Michael Carr Gregg on The Morning Show, Channel 7 - Michael bemoans the "woosification" of children. Read full article
Are safe playgrounds depriving our children of important emotional development opportunities? By making playgrounds safer and reducing physical risk, are we increasing the risk that children will be more anxious and deprived of chances to master their physical world? The value of a safety-first playground was recently questioned in the New York Times - “Can a Playground be Too Safe?”. The writer referred to comments by Norwegian psychologist, Professor Ellen Sandseter who said that it is best for children to encounter certain physical challenges from an early age so that they learn to master them through play. Read full article
While according to author Janette Winterson’s novel "Oranges are not the only fruit", on one recent crisis-laden evening, oranges were all that stood between my family and a complete meltdown. It was three weeks into my two-month period of experimental single parenting, undertaken while simultaneously packing up a house, getting it ready for sale and preparing to move our family overseas. To put it mildly, the stress levels were high and on that particular afternoon the temperature was rising, fast. Read full article
My friend, Barney, recently commented on my Facebook page, “Gee you get about!” He was commenting on a photograph of the kids on our most recent weekend away. I admit it had been a busy week. I’d done an overnighter to Sydney for an early morning meeting at the ABC’s head office in Ultimo, I had moderated a business forum thing back home in Newcastle .. and a few other odds and sods on top of doing my daily radio show. Nothing particularly unusual for a week in the life of me. Read full article
Book: Small Fry Outdoors by Susie Cameron and Katrina Cook. This book helps children find the magic in everyday outdoor activities. The outdoors is a place where kids can get down and dirty with a bug-catcher and magnifying glass in hand. They can be conquering explorers, artists, amateur botanists, pirates or fairies - all in the blink of an eye. Featuring ideas to inspire children, activities are related to the senses and concepts, everyday activities and chores, ideas for rainy days and the seasons. Read full article
Book: Small Fry Play by Suzie Cameron, Katrina Cook and Sue Cant. This book is bursting with ideas for play that are creative, interactive, engaging and fun. While today′s overly-stimulated children seem to have less time or opportunities to engage in this most simple of childhood activities, Small Fry Play encourages parents and carers to get back to basics and recognise free play as an essential part of their children′s development. Foreward by the multi-talented actor, singer and mother Justine Clarke who is a key presenter on ABC TV′s Play School. Read full article
