Beginnings start somewhere… I’ve had an interest in plants since childhood and lucky enough to have parents who both supported my interest and took me to places like the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley and the occasional RHS Chelsea Flower Show. For those not in the know, Wisley is the RHS’s flagship garden, covering…
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/learning-and-leadership/research/power-play-pop-role-and-value-play-supporting-early-learning-and-development#:~:text=Play%20not%20only%20offers%20children,children%27s%20early%20learning%20and%20development This was a review of published studies on the effects of play in children aged 3-8 years. Compiling the findings of studies available in the British Education Index, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. 62 studies were identified that met the criteria of having empirical data, the children had…
How do you react to the idea of children being wet or messy or muddy? Do worry about the actual state of being messy? The hassle of sorting them out? Cleaning up? What others might think of you? Something else? One of my earliest experiences in youth work was seeing both children’s enjoyment of being…
It’s fairly easy to define play, or is it? “Play: any spontaneous or organized activity that provides enjoyment, entertainment, amusement, or diversion” Oxford Reference, Oxford University Press What about… “Play is often defined as activity done for its own sake, characterized by means rather than ends” Peter Smith & Anthony Pellegrini (2023), Learning Through Play,…
