Learn With Less

On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet delves into the topic of multilingualism and bilingualism.

The research is clear (a child learning two or more languages will not be “stunted!”) and the methodology, though sometimes not so clear-cut, is basically a “one way or the other” approach.

Below is the transcript of this week’s “Developmental Thought,” an excerpt from the full episode.

For additional information, music, play ideas and the complete interactive family experience, please listen to the entire episode.

There is a long history of misconceptions when it comes to raising multilingual children, and these are primarily related to the false belief that exposing young children to multiple languages will somehow cause or contribute to a language delay or disorder.

While it may be true that an infant or toddler who is learning two or more languages simultaneously sometimes demonstrates a slight delay in expressive language (or, what they are able to say), this is not generally what we as speech-language pathologists would consider in clinical terms to be a true “language delay.”

Think about how much more auditory information a baby exposed to multiple languages is processing… how much more information he must measure and sort, and store for later.

The most important thing to consider here is that if a child has true difficulty acquiring speech and language in one language, that problem will show up in both languages… and is unrelated to the exposure to multiple languages.

So, what are the best ways to expose a child to multiple languages. Like anything else when it comes to raising children, there’s no “single best solution” for EVERY family; however, there are a few ways that are considered best practice, and from which you can choose depending on your family’s unique situation. Essentially, these can be split into two major camps, known as Simultaneous or Sequential learning.

Simultaneous language learning refers to the use of two or more languages from birth or shortly thereafter, and sequential language learning refers to the use of only one language in the home, followed by exposure to another language (or often, the community language) when your little one starts school.

Since we live in the “real world,” and not in a vacuum, life doesn’t always work in these clean categories. Try not to fret too much about the details, and remember that the more exposure you give your baby to listen to and practice using each language in everyday situations (especially during daily routines and rituals), the more opportunities you are giving him to learn!

What does bilingual language development look like compared to monolingual language development in an infant or toddler? Obviously, there are variations and no two children are exposed to exactly the same amount of one language versus another (even, sometimes, in the same family!), but in general a young child’s developing skills in two or more languages will depend on the quality of the experience that child has with each, and, of course, the amount of experience hearing and using both languages.

As far as expression is concerned, both monolingual and bilingual children often speak their first word around the age of 12 months or one year, and by age two, most monolingual and bilingual children will have started to put two words together to express themselves. It’s normal that the grammatical rules of one language might be applied to another, or vocabulary from each language might be used within the same sentence or expression.

These are considered normal aspects of learning multiple languages. Especially with “sequential language learning,” or learning one language after another has already been introduced, young children may experience a period of time when they focus on listening and understanding the new language, or the differences between the two languages. This is a typical occurrence in bilingual language development, and is known as a “silent period.” It can last several months, and is a totally normal phase!

Another typical part of early bilingual or multilingual language development is known as “language loss,” which describes the child’s focus on one language over another. You might hear your little one start to respond back to you in only one language, even if he once responded to, say, one parent in one language and the other parent in another. This may have to do with personal preference of the child, with more exposure to one language over another in a social context or with peers, perhaps, or really, a variety of factors that may or may not be obvious!

So, how do we help our children become proficient in multiple languages? Well, the same way we encourage communication development with monolingual children! Last week, in our episode, “Experiential Learning,” we discussed the fact that our children’s (as well as our) context for learning is based in experience. Therefore, the more multi sensory experiences we give our children in any and all languages, the more they learn.

As I have alluded to before, musical experiences and early literacy experiences are fantastic vehicles for language learning, as are any other experiences which incorporate movement, visuals, sounds, etc. Language in context and interaction – through a live human person vs. a screen (whether that’s a tablet, a television, a computer, etc.) will be your most effective tool.

What happens if your child is having difficulty communicating, or doesn’t seem to be making progress acquiring language? Developmental research suggests that two major strategies are important. One, that you speak to your child in the language with which you are most comfortable, and two, that you don’t make major changes in the way you interact with your little one.

Essentially, try not to take drastic measures that potentially stress out your young child (remember how much language is related to the social/emotional bond you create with your child!), and model the language (or languages!) in which you and your partner are most proficient – even if these are different from the majority language used in the community in which you live!

When receiving speech and language services within the infant and toddler years, it’s considered best practice to make every attempt to find a speech-language pathologist who can provide services in your child’s home language (or, when there is more than one home language, in one of those languages your child is most often exposed to). Part of this is so that the therapist can communicate with your child effectively, and part of it is so he or she can communicate effectively with you, the caregiver!

Early intervention is much, much more effective when parent education is a major component, and when caregivers can learn about the basis for the kinds of therapeutic techniques a therapist is using, so that they can carry those over (as appropriate) throughout the week, in every other hour that the therapist is not conducting therapy!

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

The post Raising Bilingual Babies – Tips From A Speech-Language Pathologist appeared first on Learn With Less.

On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet explores the notion of experiential learning and how we can most effectively provide those experiences.

Below is the transcript of this week’s “Developmental Thought,” an excerpt from the full episode.

For additional information, music, play ideas and the complete interactive family experience, please listen to the entire episode.

So much of what we discuss in Learn With Less episodes is related to the notion of exposing young children to many different types of experiences – those that they can learn from through touch, sound, vision, movement, taste, and those that can combine those different sensory elements.

Psychologist Jean Piaget defined several stages of cognitive development that children move through – now, over the years, the specifics of certain details have met with some contention when new research comes out, but Piaget’s stages of development remain a basic model for our understanding of development – especially in the early years.

Remember, this is a model for cognitive development – but, as we’ve talked about in previous episodes, such as “Holistic Learning,” so much of early development is interrelated – it is impossible to completely separate an infant or toddler’s cognitive development from her motor, social/emotional, or even communication development.

This is because infants and toddlers experience the senses and integrate information in a very different way than adults – they are constantly being stimulated – if not bombarded – by all their senses, and to ensure that life is not a completely overwhelming experience, their brains and bodies must learn to make sense of the world through patterns – of behavior, of movement, etc.

I want to touch upon the first two of Piaget’s stages to give you a better sense of how all this is related to experiential learning, but first, as you might have guessed, I want to remind you that musical and literary experiences are the perfect vehicle for movement, auditory, visual, tactile, and emotional experiences, and can focus a young child’s attention as well as engage the senses to help solidify experiences – with vocabulary, with movement patterns, and with bonding between child and caregiver.

The first stage, which lasts from the newborn stage through about two years old, is known as the “Sensorimotor” stage. Within this stage, infants and younger toddlers explore the world by coming into direct contact with it, primarily through sensory and motor experiences.

What this means is that young children learn primarily through movement, touch, and other sensory experiences, as my lovely guest, Ania Witkowska, reiterated in our episode, “Understanding Babies Through Movement.” What these little ones are doing by touching, listening, looking, moving through space, and tasting or mouthing, is learning. They are constantly processing this world through their experiences.

So, what changes at age two? Piaget calls the next stage of cognitive development the “Preoperational” stage, and within this stage, which carries on through the bulk of early childhood, from age two through age 7, a young child starts to use symbols (such as words, signs or gestures) to represent the people, objects, environments, thoughts and ideas in they experience in the world.

Reason and logic continue to be emerging skills, and children within this stage are quite ego-centric, meaning the “self” is all important. Remember our recent discussion about the term, theory of mind, in episode 23, “A Theory of the Mind?” Young children are learning how to integrate information about others, and attempting to understand how others think and perceive the world, but this process of learning the ability to take another’s perspective, to understand the notion that the world may look different to different people… that has to do with the ability to think outside of oneself.

This is a big part of why pretend play (such as reenacting situations, interactions, or stories) and symbolic play (or the use of one object to represent another, like using a wooden block to pretend to brush one’s hair), are such important areas to encourage in young children.

We see that infants and toddlers often repeat actions, explore through touch, put things (including hands) in their mouths, and that they benefit greatly from multi-sensory experiences that allow them to – and, in fact, require them to process different kinds of sensory information at the same time… Again, this is why music is the perfect vehicle for movement, auditory, tactile and social/emotional experiences.

You can see why if a child doesn’t have the benefit of experiencing the world with her body and brain from an early age, then there is a smaller collection of experiences for that child to draw upon in terms of the vocabulary and personal experiences that child has integrated into her own knowledge of the world.

A young child whose mobility is affected by disability or a pre-existing condition can really be limited in experiences – not only because they cannot as readily physically explore the world around them, but also, of course, due to logistical issues… finding and being fitted with the right kind of gear to ease mobility, getting out into the community, finding good care providers, etc…. but the more exposure any child of any level of ability has to a varied set of experiences of the world – vocabulary and textures, environments and sensations – the richer a young child’s experience will be.

This doesn’t have to translate into “traveling to distant lands” or “joining classes and visiting museums and learning centers every chance you get” – of course these are enriching experiences, but I’m talking about going outside. Feeling the breeze. Moving in the rain. Experiencing aspects of the local community. And learning to adapt and becoming flexible so that your child – at any age or stage of development – can access her environment.

The post Babies And Sensory Experiences appeared first on Learn With Less.

On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet invites families in her community to participate in a sing-along to celebrate the 25th episode of the podcast!

Sing along to some of your favorite songs with us – no interruptions, just a great opportunity to sit (or dance!), listen and sing with your infant and/or toddler. We decided to feature some of our listener favorites – songs we’ve sung along the way, with our own variations.

That’s right – you’ve told us how much you love the musical component of the Learn With Less podcast, and we’ve created something special for you to bring inside your home, in the car, and wherever you are. 

I just want to thank you, my listeners, for being here with me for the last 25 episodes – essentially 6 months! – of Learn With Less, which is growing and evolving along with your families. I encourage all of you who listen on iTunes or Stitcher to go ahead and write a review, and if you haven’t already, join the Learn With Less communities on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, where I share lots of great, curated information, ideas and photographs.

As you know, the podcast is an amazing resource for families and professionals, alike. If you’re looking to go deeper, I also have a number of products and services I’ve created to fill the needs you’ve told me you have! Have a look at them here!

Answer in the comment section below!

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

The post Sing Along Songs appeared first on Learn With Less.

Ania Witkowska connects parents, caregivers and young children. She has applied her background as a somatic movement educator and therapist to working with families.

This episode of Learn With Less features an interview with Ania, her philosophy, the way she works with families, and some tips and strategies (along with favorite “props”).

Ania Witkowska is a Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist with over 20 years experience of working with babies, young children and their parents.

Through her courses, workshops and individual consultations she helps parents and professionals see more clearly how children learn and express themselves through movement.

Her creative and practical approach supports adults to connect to their own instinctual and embodied presence enriching their understanding and resourcing their own communication skills.

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Body Mind Centering

Integrative Body Work and Movement Therapy

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Ania: Website / Facebook

Welcome to episode 24 of the Learn With Less podcast! Today, I have a special guest to welcome to Learn With Less, Ania Witkowska, a somatic movement educator, who is based in Berlin, Germany. Welcome, Ania!

Ania: Thank you, Ayelet. It’s lovely to be here.

Ayelet: It’s great to have you! So, I think people would love to know exactly what a somatic movement educator is! What is somatic movement, what do you do?

Ania: Woah – it’s a big one! ‘Somatic movement educator’ is a very general term, so it encompasses a lot of different ways of working with the body. Some of the modalities people might be familiar with are something like Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais, Continuum Movement, various types of yoga might be termed “somatic movement,” Body Mind Centering is an American form of somatic movement and education, and Integrative Body Work and Movement Therapy is the training that I finished up with.

What all of these forms have in common is that you’re not just working with the body as a physical entity, but you’re also encompassing in your work the quality that the body houses – the mind is part of the body, and they’re all one thing.

There’s a lovely quote that I wrote down and brought with me because I wanted to get it correct. It’s by Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen who’s the founder of Body Mind Centering, and she said, “The mind is like the wind, and the body like the sand. If you want to know how the wind is blowing, you can just look at the sand.”

And so that, this kind of ethos that you’re not just working with some kind of physical education, but you’re working with the whole person, is key to all these different ways of working.

So, how does it happen in the world? Some people will work with performers, some people will work with people with disabilities or special needs, a lot of people are working with kids with ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder.

People are working in rehab, post-operative rehab, working with people with chronic pain, stress injuries, that kind of issue, chronic health issues… and I choose to apply the work to children, to parents, to babies. That was my interest and my passion, really.

Ayelet: So, I’d love to have you describe some of the types of workshops and classes that you run, and the types of activities that you find helpful to bring that “connection” that I know you do out between a baby and a parent or a caregiver.

Ania: Yeah, I think the essense of my work, in all the different kinds of workshops that I do, is to help parents, actually, find this sense of embodiment. By embodiment, I mean that physical, felt sense of connection with yourself. An understanding of your body – not an intellectual one – but one that overrides that. It’s kind of an ability to express, communicate and see that physical connection in your child, the observation.

And the tools that I give them, the information that I try to pass over is, number one, the fact that our children develop through movement and touch. That’s sort of a key way. So this first year is a beautiful dance of development, and we call it the “developmental movement sequence.” Parents often know it as the movement milestones. Already, this sets up an opposition between the way I work, and the way the world sees movement.

So, the world is saying, “can your baby roll? If they can’t roll by 5 months, oh dear, we’ve got to see a specialist. Or, can your baby sit up?” All these stages. Whereas, for me, it’s the process of this movement development that is interesting and important! We all take a different kind of timeframe to learn different things, there’s a psychological connection to how we progress through this pattern.

So, if parents know what they’re looking at, know how this progression is going to work, it not only gives them very important information as kind of an essential – they can see the essential need of their child – without being told what to do. You can say, “well, my baby needs to have this, because that’s just a physical need at this point. I can see it, I can see it in their body. How would I choose to give that to them?” So it kind of empowers you to make your own decisions about your parenting, and I think that’s vital because that’s the fun of it!

It’s one of the most creative we have in most of our lives, you know, we have office jobs, we have maybe jobs we love, but actually, the real creation of our lives is creating that family – making it the place where we feel happy, that we love to be in, that we spread joy and happiness in the world.

So, it should be fun! I know it’s stressful, I know it’s hard, I know it brings you against, you know, these problematic issues about yourself, and all this kind of stuff, but at the heart of it, you want to have a nice time in your life, we all do!

Ayelet: Yes. I think you’ve hit upon something really important, which is that I think a lot of us as parents, and as adults in general… it’s much easier to listen to the resources that are out there that say, “your child should be sitting up,” for instance, “by this age, look! Here’s a product you can buy to help him do that!”

Instead of, let’s look at what your child is doing, let’s move into these positions, let’s play in this way that gives him support or supports him to learn how to move in a certain way to get himself into that. And you also said something earlier about how it really is the process of movement that helps children learn, instead of us putting them in positions.

Ania: Yes, exactly. It’s very, very important. For example, sitting up, is one of the classics, I see it all the time. People are trying to sit their babies up… now, they’re reading a desire from their child. You know, a child wants to be vertical like everyone else around them, of course!

They know that that’s the first thing, that’s they’re mission in life! They want to walk, they want to sit up – and you’re not saying, “don’t do that” – of course you want to support them to do that! But, I suppose, there’s an element of, if you put someone into a position before they can put themselves into it, then you’re telling them in some kind of way that they’re not able to. They’re not able to look after themselves.

So, when you put a child in “sitting up,” not only is their spine not ready to take their weight physically, so number one, from a very basic physical perspective, you’re not doing their spine a lot of good.

Number two, because the back muscles are much more ready to take the strain, and are much more developed than the abdominal musculature at this age, the baby stage, what happens is that you’re setting up an imbalance between the muscles at the front, the abdomen, and the back.

So the back muscles start to get stronger and stronger, because they’re trying to hold the child, without the right equivalent amount of support from the abdominals because they’re just not ready to do it. So, you set up an imbalance that in later life can create problems with lower back pain. But apart from anything else, the reflexes, the protective reflexes of putting your hands out in front if you’re going to fall down, or to the side if you’re going to fall to the side, or to the back if you’re going to fall to the back, are not there.

So if I fall forward, I can’t look after myself – I’m going to fall flat on my face! So, of course, your parent is not going to let you fall flat on your face, but there’s something very elemental here! Your parent is saying, you know, “you have to have me around to keep you safe.” Interestingly, a baby can get into sitting up by themselves around the same time they can crawl on hands and knees. So it’s much later!

Ayelet: Which, of course, has a much more variable spectrum than we think of!

Ania: Exactly. And so, it is a very difficult negotiation that parents need to make with their child about when, how, how often, how long for, they sit up. So, how do we negotiate that? It very much depends on your child’s personality! And so, as a parent, if you have all this information, you’re really best placed to make those decisions. Number one, because it’s your family and you have to do it, and number two because you know your child and their personality! So there are a variety of ways you can address this issues.

But it’s really, when you have all the tools, and then the skills of observation to really see what’s going on, then the ball’s in your court and you can confidently make those decisions, rather than listen to instructions.

Ayelet: So let’s hear about, because we’ve talked about how there are so many tools on the market that take advantage of families to “help your child into these movement milestones” and “help them develop.” What are your sort of top three props or play materials, or ways that people can interact with these things in their homes?

Ania: Well, the number one best, all-time favorite is: your parent’s body. You know, we learn through relationship. And the more physically connected the parent is, the more comfortable or the more accepted a baby feels in their presence. So, being happy to really allow your baby to lie on you in different positions, taking their weight through you.

One of the basic principles I work with is this concept of “yielding,” being able to yield your weight to gravity, whether it’s directly to gravity on the floor, or through your parent’s body that is also yielding, giving their weight to gravity – is one of the primary ways we learn our movement: we yield, we push, we reach, we pull, and therefore, we locomote.

Ayelet: Right, and I think actually – I’m sure, in fact, that a lot of occupational therapists and physical therapists would certainly agree with you about the fact, for instance, I think we’ve taken this a bit far, about that specific movement of sitting up. If you’re sitting up and using your parent’s body to support you back and your abdominal muscles as well, that’s a nice way for the baby to feel the sensation of sitting up, but not actually be supporting himself, necessarily.

Ania: Yes, exactly, and there’s very many ways on your body you can do that. You can have your feet on the floor, your knees up, and lie your baby on the thighs looking at you, you can be sitting on the sofa like I am right now and have them in the crook of your legs, you can just sit supported with a cushion behind you slightly on a slope and have them supported on your back – there’s a load of ways you can do that!

Ayelet: And tummy time is a wonderful thing to do on a parent’s body.

Ania: Exactly, it’s a great thing for dads to do. With moms, you know, if the baby’s breastfeeding, it can be like an invitation to have a good feed, or it gets a little bit messy! But it’s a great way with dads – especially if they’ve got hairy chests! I mean, what a lovely opportunity for texture! That’s very nice! So, yeah, number one, parent’s body.

And a parent who feels free with their body on the same level as their child, down on the floor, rolling down, being comfortable on the floor, making sure as a parent you have enough cushions, rugs around, so you can always support your body and you can actually relax in that position and it’s not something that feels strained… because that communicates to your child immediately – if you’re not happy, they’re not happy!

In terms of general props, very simple things! So a piece of fabric I would use is organza. Chiffon is the natural fabric, organza is a synthetic fabric that’s transparent, that comes in very beautiful colors. I think I use about a 2-meter length. That’s a hammock, that’s a snuggle, that’s a “let’s roll up and cuddle together” activity.

That’s also really useful when baby is happy on their tummy and they’re getting to that stage where they really want to move forward on their belly, reach out and grab the toy whether it’s around the corner so they’d go around in a circle, or straight ahead of them… but they’re not quite managing the coordination or the effort to do it, and there’s moments when they get really, really frustrated.

If they’re playing on an organza, you can just pull the organza – as long as they’re on their front (they have to be on their tummy so that their hands protect their heads). But if you pull it along, they actually move forward and it can be a bit of light release, break a cycle of frustration for them, let them have a little breather, let them have a little experience, and they can go back to trying again. So that’s very useful, and for all ages of children. That’s very lovely.

A lot of my groups, when I’m working with older kids, I like to give parents a lot of ideas for how they can have a lot of rough and tumble play without so much risk. Many of us, you see those dads, you know, mums as well, throw their babies up in the air and catch them. And I was always in awe of these people, but I never had the guts to do it myself! I thought, “oh my god, no!” But actually, that kind of play that challenges balance, that challenges direction – your whole physical self in space changes, rotates and moves forward and down, is really good!

It’s really important for coordination and visual acuity so your eyes can read better, it’s important for balance development, that kind of thing. But there’s a lot of nice ways you can do that safely on your body, a lot of these techniques are taken from a dance field called contact improvisation, it’s about taking weight on your legs or on different parts of your body.

So, things like this organza, you can use it for a lot of rough and tumble play! You can swing your child, bounce your child, there’s two adults, they’re firmly on the fabric (the fabric’s not going to break, it’s very synthetic) it’s a lovely thing, but it can also be calm. It also, because you’re controlling it, it’s not some kind of toy that you press a button and it goes off.

You have the ability to regulate it in time with your child. So if your child is feeling incredibly hyper and is very worked up, you start off with them at their level of excitement, and then you can gradually bring it down. And when you’re rocking them in something from fast, eventually to slow, maybe the music changes if you’ve got some music on or you’re singing along (if you have a beautiful voice like yourself!), I’d bring the pace down and the melody softer… You can help them calm down, you can support their nervous system to find that parasympathetic rhythm that they’re looking for, that they still are not so expert at finding. God knows, as adults we’re not great at finding it sometimes when we need it.

Ayelet: Right, but we know that infants and toddlers are really working to self-regulate.

Ania: Yeah, this is the primary thing they need to learn from us. Not to over-stimulate – not to stimulate! It’s not about stimulating a young baby. There’s enough in the world, and they’re completely pre-programmed to be stimulated – they’re looking for that all the time! They’re excited by the feeling of their food being digested. They’re excited by the corner of a white wall where it goes into shadow. They get hypnotized, you know, their senses are being bombarded – they’re all linked up! – they smell things, they see, they feel the rhythm of something physically, it’s all this kind of sensorama world!

And what we need to do is help them, you know, there’s ‘sensorama,’ but when we’re tired, we need to kind of have some time to digest all this information we’ve taken in and that comes with calming down, finding that space of release and relaxation. So, when you’re using props rather than toys, you as an adult take that responsibility on to kind of tune into your child’s level of excitement, and play! And play is a conversation, that’s it.

Ayelet: Yes.

Ania: Sometimes we take the upper hand, and sometimes you’re the one who’s getting them excited!

Ayelet: Exactly. But I love what you said about how you are reading your child, and it becomes an interactive moment, instead of what happens when we put our child in, say, a bouncer, that has lovely pre-programmed settings, but is not going to respond to specifically what you see your child doing or needing – YOU can do that.

Ania: Yes, exactly. And that is what creates the bond. That’s what brings out these moments of communication. So I would just have some kind of prop, some kind of idea in the space, and we watch the children, and then we take our cue from the children. So we pick out, “oh somebody’s doing this, somebody’s interested in this.”

And, rather than kind of second-guessing what their intention is, what I like to bring people to notice, or what I’ll invite people to notice, is “what is a physical action here?” So often, we – it’s the same as the movement milestones – we look at the milestone, the thing we’re trying to achieve rather than how we’re trying to achieve it.

Ayelet: And I think it’s funny because it can be difficult for families to find even groups of other families or classes for children and caregivers that are not highly structured… where everyone needs to be doing the same thing, at the same time. But I love your classes because actually, it’s a lot of “ok, here’s a prop,” and it’s sort of, “ok, let’s see what everybody does with it.”

Ania: And what you find is that, ok, there’s a lot of interest in the props, there are nice little developments between parent and child, and then at some point (depending on the age, of course), the babies start to interact with each other, and the parents can sit back, and we watch! Without judgment, with total respect, just see what’s happening. And it gives parents an opportunity to see their child in relation to other children, to see their child with a distanced – there’s a term I take from a discipline called “Authentic Movement” – as a witness. You’re witnessing what’s happening, and just appreciating your child for who they are. You kind of see their personality more clearly, rather than their personality in relationship to you, in relationship to that emotional connection – which, of course, is really important.

But as the day-to-day, run-of-the-mill of parenting, it’s always emotional! And often, you know, you get stuck in these things, because, “oh, they’re doing this because they know I have to rush out of the house right now, and they’re just so interested in these bloody pebbles! I need to get out!” Of course, it’s nothing to do with that, they’re just really interested – these pebbles are amazing! – and if you actually had the time, or could take the time at that moment, to get on your knees, too, you’d see them in a different light! It might change your world! It might blow you away!

Now you can’t do that day to day, but if you’re in a class, and you sit back and you see what your baby is doing with… maybe not pebbles (that’s kind of, maybe a bit risky to introduce!) but, you know, with a big expanse of fabric, or with the big physio balls, or a feather – now a feather! – then you get a different appreciation! So, shall I talk about feathers?

Ayelet: Oh, let’s hear it!

Ania: Ok, everybody, maribou feathers, at least… it’s hard to find a good length, but you need at least six inches, I’d say, and you need to get a proportion of the stalk of the feather, of the stem (kind of the bit that’s running through the middle), has to be quite thin, and the fluffy bits have to be quite big, because that means they fall slowly and very beautifully. And that’s why maribou feathers rather than chicken feathers.

A feather. You’ve got so much. So the props I use are for all age groups. For a tiny baby, it’s tickling, it’s texture, it’s sensation – it’s watching the general movement and the quality of movement, and the quality of how you might touch each other’s skin, the softness of it. With an older child, it’s how the feather responds. So blowing the feather, blowing it along the floor, blowing it off someone’s hand – where is it going to land? It’s the perfect way to teach babies to catch! You drop the feather, they stand there with both their hands together, looking at where it’s going to fall.

For children, you can encourage them to bring softness into their bodies – it brings softness into adults’ bodies – you give a group of parents and 2- and 3-year olds to play with, and suddenly, the parents are going from, “ow, ow, ow, it’s hard to get on my knees…” to like, “ooooh, I’m just rolling here – isn’t this lovely!” Because they look at the feather and their bodies just kind of take on this characteristic.

So, magical things happen when we get in touch with our physical selves, and we stop thinking about it, and just let our intuition, that physical sense that we seem to forget in our lives… it’s not supported! – when we reconnect with that, it speaks to us and it reminds us of the joy of being human, and being a physical body, and I think it’s a gift that we can pass on, and that people can interpret however they wish in their family. But I think it’s a treasure.

Ayelet: Oh my gosh, absolutely. Ania, thank you so much. It’s bringing these kind of experiences into the home, into the interaction, with you as the parent and your small child. And we don’t need fancy toys, as we know and as I always am pounding into my listeners’ skulls every week on Learn With Less! I look forward to hearing about how people have used these props and how it’s inspired you to engage with your child.

So Ania, thank you so much – it’s been great to have you.

Ania: Oh, thank you very much for having me, it’s been lovely to speak to you, Ayelet.

The post How Babies Learn Through Movement appeared first on Learn With Less.

On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet explores the ways infants and toddlers learn to develop emotional intelligence and the ability to take another’s perspective.

Below is the transcript of this week’s “Developmental Thought,” an excerpt from the full episode.

For additional information, music, play ideas and the complete interactive family experience, please listen to the entire episode.

Emotional language, which we’ve discussed in previous episodes such as “Labelling Emotions,” is extremely beneficial for young children not only in their development of social/emotional abilities, but also in their development of what’s called “social cognition.” 

This is an area of early development that extends into the rest of our lives, and as you may guess, it has to do with social and emotional understanding as well as intelligence, or what we sometimes refer to as “emotional intelligence.”

A big part of this area of development focuses on a term known as “theory of mind,” which encompasses many skills and develops over time in the first five years of life. Essentially, theory of mind is the ability to take another’s perspective, and to understand that not everyone shares the same thoughts, ideas, and feelings as you do.

There is a fairly clear progression of abilities that help a child to form their emerging understanding of theory of mind, and, again, it develops over time over the first 5 years. Imitation, sharing, testing behaviors, empathy, pretend play – these are all part of the development of theory of mind, and are all skills and abilities that take time and develop in “layers,” as my guest Megan Lingo so beautifully stated in last week’s episode, “Wordless Picture Books.”

I think it’s so important to remember that infant and toddler learning doesn’t happen overnight – we see these big skills like walking and talking “happen” one day, and we tend to focus on the “day our child accomplished something” instead of the many, many steps and experiments and failures and learning moments that formed the ability to successfully accomplish that task.

One of the skills that goes into the development of “theory of mind,” is the ability to pay attention to others and imitate them. A young infant is already imitative in certain ways, often watching a caregiver’s mouth and extremities for information that will be integrated and made meaning of over a series of interactions that inform her about the way the world works.

This is why people often enjoy building in routines or rituals from early on, and why interaction, consistency, and repetition with variation are all so integral for a young child’s brain development – it informs the infant about communication, feelings, movement, patterns, etc.

We spoke briefly about the ability to recognize and talk about emotions, and use emotional language to describe what our children and others around us are feeling, whether that’s positive, negative, or associated with specific needs such as food, drink or sleep.

Using emotional language builds our young child’s abilities to identify her own emotions, eventually building skills to regulate those emotions, and also helps her learn to recognize that other people may feel differently than she does at a particular moment.

A good time to do this might be at the playground or in a play group, when your child or another child snatches a toy. Pointing out how that affected the child who lost the toy can be a wonderful way to visually identify behaviors that are linked to actions – part of cause and effect – and also to make these moments of loss and difficulty into learning lessons.

This, of course, is also related to understanding the causes and consequences of actions and emotions. When your little one throws her toy, she may look at your face to gauge your response. This can invoke a whole host of emotional responses from us, including, “oh my god, my child is a terror! She did that on purpose just to see what I’d do!” Well, yes! And no.

Your toddler’s testing of the waters is not an indication, of course, that she’s bound to become a serial killer! No, it simply indicates that she’s looking for a consistent response on your end, and even more simply, she wants to experiment with how her actions affect the world and those in it.

Another part of early development of theory of mind is the knowledge that people are motivated by the things that they desire… and that there is a rationale for actions we make. Even older infants are often able to link the fact that when we walk toward the light switch, the desired action is to turn on the light. This “putting together” of what we want and how we’ll get it is a very cool aspect of the integration of what young children see and hear and how they realize we think.

Older toddlers often start to enact or reenact whole series of events that they’ve witnessed or been engaged in themselves, but from another’s perspective – pretend play is a great example of this, and when we see our toddlers “becoming” the doctor or the mama or even the pet (who wants to be walked, or fed, or brushed), we can be impressed by their experimentation with what it feels like to take another’s perspective.

It’s not until an older age (more like 4 or 5 years) that children really start to integrate and think about what others might be feeling and thinking (vs. a toddler experimenting with what this might be like or look like). This is why toddlers might be “able” to or interested in sharing every once in a while, but likely not all the time, and why empathy might be visible sometimes, but not all the time.

These are emerging skills in our little ones. They develop over time, as we said earlier, in layers of understanding, and we cannot force this progression. What we can do is to support it. With play, with meaningful and rich interactions, with language, with consistently modeled behaviors from us, and with love.

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

The post Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood appeared first on Learn With Less.

Meet Megan Lingo, Educational Therapist, creator of Chickadee Lit, and co-creator of KidArt Lit. In this episode of Learn With Less, Megan spoke to Ayelet about wordless picture books.

Have you ever sat down with a wordless picture book and thought, “am I doing this right?” The first answer is, probably! Listen to our conversation and hear Megan’s 5 great tips to get you excited about reading wordless picture books.

Megan Lingo is a veteran reading teacher, Educational Therapist and mom to three small children. She writes about reading for kids and families on her blog, Chickadee Lit and co-creates wonderful art and story kits at KidArt Lit.

Disclosure: I love KidArt Lit. I love it so much, I became an affiliate, which means that if you click on this link and decide to purchase, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you)!

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Megan at Chickadee Lit: Website / Instagram 

Megan at KidArt Lit: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Ayelet: Today, i have a special guest to welcome to Learn With Less, Megan Lingo, educational therapist, mother to three young children, and creator of Chickadee Lit [and co-creator of KidArt Lit.] Megan, welcome!

Megan: Thanks so much for having me, I’m so excited – this is my first podcast experience.

Ayelet: Very exciting! So, why don’t you start by telling me a little bit about your professional background. I think a lot of people listening might stumble over the term “educational therapist.”

Megan: Well, an educational therapist is a professional who works with individuals with learning differences or learning disabilities, usually in a school setting, or in a clinical setting. An educational therapist might provide some diagnostic help, some direct remediation, and also some kind of advocacy or case management for people who have learning disabilities and are navigating a public school system or a university system, or the workplace. So, as an educational therapist myself, I’ve worked in a variety of school settings and also clinical settings, mostly with kids who have language-based learning disabilities which affect their reading skills.

Ayelet: And how has all that translated to Chickadee Lit and what you are doing now?

Megan: Well, before I was an educational therapist, I was a reading teacher in public, private and charter schools for a number of years, and I’m just super passionate about reading. I think it’s just the best thing that you can do with your free time and so, so important. And then when I became a mother, it became even more important to me.

Reading is something that’s always been a passion of mine, professionally and personally, and now as a mother, the opportunity to share this intimate and emotional experience with my kids as they are just beginning to make meaning out of story… it’s just the most beautiful thing! And I’m so passionate about making the most of that experience for my family and also helping other parents enjoy and make the most out of that story time experience, too.

Ayelet: As a mother of three young children, has your own experienced your work in early literacy, or how has it?

Megan: That’s an interesting question. I think that it has brought in a new emotional level to my work. The idea that we can use developing literacy to connect and to deepen connections, I think is really powerful. It’s a way for you to expand your experience and the experience of your children, well beyond the walls of your house or your local community – a way to see the world.

And also, it’s just so fascinating to watch children learn language for the first time! To watch them receive, and watch them express, and watch them develop more complex ideas and be able to express more complex ideas over time. I’ve really gotten an intimate and close look at the way people create meaning and layers over time, and literacy and reading is a huge component of that.

Ayelet: I totally agree. I think what you said about giving your children experience through the language of books – it’s so true! I mean, you can expose them to vocabulary, for instance, that, obviously, you would never see if you didn’t live near a volcano, for instance. But, you might read a book about a fantastic volcano.

So, today, you and I wanted to discuss and focus on early literacy for infants and toddlers through the reading of wordless picture books. I think many of us as adults pick up a book and just expect to read what’s on the page. I’ve spoken a bit in previous episodes of Learn With Less, such as Think Outside The Text, about some ways to be playful instead of feeling confined by the limitations of what, I suppose, we could call “traditional book reading.” But let’s talk a little bit about why you recommend using wordless picture books.

Megan: Well, I agree that wordless picture books… there’s something about them that can be really intimidating! When my daughter was first born, some family friends gave us a beautiful wordless picture book that I put away on the shelf, like, “no, I can’t read this, I don’t know what to do, it’s too complicated…”

Ayelet: I have to think too much!

Megan: Yeah! I have to think too much, I’m tired, I just want to say what it says on the page. But wordless picture books can be so rich. Some of our wordless picture books are the most rich and complex texts that we have… and I really don’t want any families to miss out on the experience of getting into those books with their kids. I also love them because, even though it can feel like pressure at first, in fact, it’s no pressure, because you can do whatever you want with a wordless picture book, and you’re free to let your child lead whatever way the story takes them, or whatever the way the pictures take them.

And also, there are absolutely no barriers to enjoying a wordless picture book together. Because there are no words on the page, it doesn’t matter how old you are, or how well you can read or how well you can’t read, or what language or languages you’re speaking together… all you have there are those beautiful images to guide you, and that is a really beautiful, magical thing.

Ayelet: I love that – I think we miss out on thinking about what a great resource it is for multi-lingual families, as well. It’s wonderful.

So, you mentioned that you have some special tips to share with all of us. So, can we hear them?

Megan: I do. In sharing wordless picture books and becoming more interested in all the wonderful wordless picture books that are out there, I developed kind of a tool kit that I use with my own kids for enjoying the books. And these are strategies that families can use to read any book, but I think they lend themselves particularly well to wordless books, and give people a place to start engaging around a wordless picture book when you might be wondering where to get started.

So, when I read a wordless picture book with my kids, the first thing I do is take a picture walk. It’s really tempting to tell kids the title of a book, and you just start on the cover and say, “here’s this book,” and the title kind of says what it’s about, or you might say what it’s all about, but if you take a picture walk, all you’re doing is flipping through the pages, and looking at what you notice with the kids, and letting your child take the lead in pointing out what they notice, and pointing out what’s interesting and important for them.

You can do some things to invite that, and move that process along – but really, the best thing to do when you take a picture walk is to just get out of their way. It can be lovely to just flip through and look at those books, and look at the pictures in the book. Picture walks are also an excellent way to build engagement and interest before you start reading the story, because already they’re looking, and they’re intrigued and they’re wondering what’s going to happen next, and it just makes for a nice neutral beginning for their building of understanding.

Ayelet: It’s so true. And how funny that our – not disengagement – but our sort of sitting back and zipping it, instead of trying to sort of lead the activity, is actually an invitation for them to lead. It’s because I think a lot of us feel like we have to guide, and we have to be in charge of a book-reading activity because our children don’t know how to read yet. So, I love what you say about this is a wonderful opportunity for engagement, because it is a wonderful way for them to, in a sense, show us how they can engage with a book.

Megan: Exactly. It’s so tempting to say, “this is the right answer, this is what happens next.” But if you get out of their way, even if you think that it’s wrong, understanding is building upon layers over time, and you don’t need to correct them – they’re building their own path through the book, and through life, right?!

Another thing that I do when I read picture books that don’t have any words with my kids is think aloud for them. And thinking aloud is an excellent thing to do whenever you read aloud with your kid. Because when you’re doing that, you’re giving them kind of a glimpse inside of your head, and letting them understand how you make meaning, and how you build understanding. And it also builds a frame for them, that they can construct their own meaning and their own understanding in.

So, I might just use some stems to get started, like with questioning. I would say, “when I see this, I wonder about why he feels this way…” or “I wonder what’s going to happen next,” – and just showing them that you wonder and you have questions can be a powerful tool to help them ask their own questions and have their own curiosity.

Another way to think aloud that I think is important is: don’t be afraid to model confusion. It’s something I often think aloud about because as adults when we’re reading, we have dissonant moments and we have moments when our comprehension breaks down, and that’s ok. And I really want to share that message with all kids, and with my kids, that it’s ok to be confused, and here’s what I do – I stop, and I notice that I’m confused, and then I say, “let’s look for some clues to help figure out what’s happening!

The third tool that I use in my “wordless picture book tool kit” is all about getting them talking, and encouraging expressive language in kids through wordless picture books. Because there aren’t any words on the page, you can say and your child can say whatever he or she wants! So, it’s a great opportunity to get them to start speaking and expressing.

Some tricks for doing that are sitting face to face and reading. A lot of times, we sit side by side, in a bed or in a chair together, but you can encourage talking by sitting face to face when you’re reading the book, and they’re looking that way so they can see what you’re doing what your mouth when you’re saying certain words. Another tip for encouraging expressive language through wordless picture books is: not being afraid to make all the funny sounds in the book, and getting them to make sounds.

There’s one book that my son, who’s 2, and he loves things that move – trucks and trains. There’s this great book by Donald Crews called, “Truck,” and it’s just a bunch of pictures of trucks. And we like to… they zoom, and they zip, and they honk, and they do all the things that trucks do, and he loves to imitate those sounds that I make. And do all the things that trucks do and he loves to imitate those sounds that I make.

And then, you know, as your kids grow older, you can encourage them to name things that are on the page, and you can also encourage them to look at the book and get them to tell stories that have a beginning, middle, and an end. And when you get them talking, you don’t have to do the talking anymore! And it’s pulling out of the language that you want to encourage.

Ayelet: And it’s true, I mean, even with what we could consider a pre-verbal infant or toddler, you mentioned a little bit before, gesturing and pointing to certain things, and then you’re talking about what they’re interested in on the page, but also using those environmental sounds is such a great way to, like you said, get them talking, and get them vocalizing, and get them associating the representation of an object and a sound in the environment.

Megan: Ok! So another opportunity that wordless books provide is the opportunity to focus on inference. Making inferences is a thinking skill that adults have, and that we’ve developed after a lot of time, and a lot of time, and a lot of repetition, basically just the ability to read between the lines and to draw conclusions based on clues that you see in the environment. And a great way to encourage that is by sharing wordless picture books!

One of the ways to start with that skill is by looking at the characters’ faces and trying to figure out what they’re thinking and what they’re feeling, based on the expression on their face and the situation that they’re in. That’s kind of a double whammy, because it helps kids develop this skill of inferencing that is so important to navigating the world, and it also helps them build their repertoire of social/emotional skills – understanding what different emotions are and understanding what other people (in this case, a character in a wordless book) might be experiencing in a given situation.

My favorite book for that is this book called, “Wave,” by Suzy Lee, and it’s a great summer read for families who are vacationing at the beach. It’s just the experience of a little girl encountering the ocean at the seashore for the very first time, and she runs through so many different emotions of fear and trepidation to wonder and surprise, and it’s a wonderful book to share with my 3-year old, because she really surprises me with how wise she can be about what experiences she’s seeing on the page.

My last tip for wordless books is all about extending the experience. One of the great things about a wordless books is you can never read it the same way twice. A book with words, you know, you can go through, and often times our kids’ favorite books we kind of memorize the words… but a wordless book is always new, every time. And we can take advantage of that and help it have many, many lives. So one of the things that you can do is incorporate written language if your kids are getting started down that road, or just to model that for very young kids with sticky notes!

You can take sticky notes and write down, label, their favorite parts of the page, and for older kids, write dialogue – maybe what the characters in the book might be saying to each other. And then you can turn it into a book on tape, if you want to read it with your child and record it, and then they can listen to it on their own, later. One of the people that I had a chance to chat with on Instagram about wordless books, tried that technique, and she had multiple children who all recorded their own version of the book on tape, and then listened to each others’, and were surprised by what was the same and what was different in their own interpretations.

So, there’s so much play that you can do with a wordless book, whether it’s focused on language, focused on oral language or written language, or even just drama! Acting it out or doing art that responds to it in some way, tactile experiences together.

Ayelet: Oh, thanks so much, Megan! So, where can our listeners find you if they want to check out more about you and about Chickadee Lit.

Megan: Well, Chickadee Lit is on Instagram. That’s the place where I’m most active right now, and I hope any of your listeners who are on Instagram will join me, because I’m posting my family’s favorite books, wordless books and other kinds of books, almost on a daily basis, and building a really great community of book lovers and parents who love reading with their kids. It’s a great place to connect with other people around reading and sharing the experience of reading as a family. I also am on Facebook at Chickadee Lit, and, coming soon, my blog at www.chickadeelit.com.

Ayelet: Perfect! Thanks so much, Megan!

The post How to Read a Wordless Picture Book appeared first on Learn With Less.

On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet explores the idea that the first years of life are dedicated to the development of a secure bond with one or more caregivers, followed by the confidence of exploration.

Social/emotional development is becoming more and more recognized as a vital component of early learning and development. 

Below is the transcript of this week’s “Developmental Thought,” an excerpt from the full episode.

For additional information, music, play ideas and the complete interactive family experience, please listen to the entire episode. 

Social/emotional development is a very real part of healthy, robust learning and early development, and (as I discussed in my episode, Holistic Learning), an infant or toddler’s learning experience in this domain often cannot be separated from other areas of development.

In other words, when our little ones are focused on some cognitive skill, this learning is also, inevitably, tied to aspects of his social/emotional development as well.

During much of the first years of life, an infant and toddler’s sense of identity is very much tied up with his ability to sense he is secure. In turn, he develops the confidence to explore the world not only in a physical sense, but also mentally and emotionally.

In a study that famously set out to predict the most influential factors in a person’s overall happiness, the lead investigator was quoted as having learned that “the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.” (Dr. George Vaillant, 2008)

In study after study, developmental research indicates that the single most important factor in a young child’s life (as a predictor of overall success, academic ability, ability to regulate one’s emotions and form and maintain healthy relationships) is a warm and positive relationship with a caregiver.

We all do our best as parents. We can’t be there all the time. And the parent whose life appears to be the one you crave is struggling to do the best for their children as well. All we can do is the best we can, and create as many moments with our little ones to make it perfectly clear to them that they are valued, respected, loved and cherished.

I know we’re talking a lot in this episode about spending time in groups and with other adults and children… I’m NOT trying to suggest that the only way to do this is to sign your children up for loads of classes, and spend tons of money going to play spaces built for kids… for many of us, this is often impractical, financially as well as time-wise.

Please consider all the many resources that are free or low cost, for getting out of the house and exploring the community with your child. In almost every community, your local library offers a free story or rhyme time group, focusing on early literacy experiences and nursery rhymes. The local playground or park (or walk down the sidewalk or trail) is a wonderful place to explore and find subtle yet fascinating surprises – a spider web, a piece of bark, or “found” letters of the alphabet… 

Facebook and other social media groups can be very useful tools for meeting other local families in many communities around the world. The reality for many families is that we crave quality time with our own children and partners… and it can be difficult to even carve out time for that… but don’t forget how valuable it is to simply have a moment to sit and observe other caregivers interacting with their children, and simply observe our little ones’ same aged-peers.

Remember that the most important factor in your little one’s early development, as we discussed earlier, is that warm, positive relationship with a caregiver. Whether your child is at home with you or with another caregiver, or at a day care facility with other caregivers and peers, we’re talking about relationships – a caregiver who models positive face-to-face interactions, who is responsive, who is present and creates a safe environment for exploration… all this, so that a young child can learn to trust the world around him, feel secure in his attachment to another human being (or several!), and confidently learn to explore the world around him, which is, of course, the way he learns!

This applies to all of us – regardless of developmental age or ability. I know that those of you who have children with developmental disabilities or special needs face your own unique challenges when it comes to helping your little one with social/emotional development – but these words absolutely apply to all families. Sometimes we need to make adaptations or modifications to our physical environment, learning materials, or our own approach as parents… but every child – EVERY child has the right to form relationships and enjoy happiness.

The California Department of Education has a wonderful resource on their website, which outlines the foundations of infant and toddler “Social-Emotional Development.”

They define the foundational areas of social/emotional development by the following areas:

• Interaction with Adults
• Relationships with Adults
• Interaction with Peers
• Relationships with Peers
• Identity of Self in Relation to Others
• Recognition of Ability
• Expression of Emotion
• Empathy
• Emotion Regulation
• Impulse Control
• Social Understanding

I encourage you to have a look on their site for further research-based definitions and examples of what each of these areas might “look like” for an infant of 8-months, 18-months, and 36-months.

When it comes to social/emotional development, we know that positive modeling, positive self-image and positive relationships are the basis for a child’s ability to form successful relationships, succeed academically and otherwise, and build the tools to work through conflict and discord throughout the lifespan. It is our job as parents and caregivers to provide this for our little ones!

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

The post Bonding With Baby – Infant and Toddler Social Development appeared first on Learn With Less.

On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet answers the following questions:

What is open-ended play, and why is it important? What kinds of materials are considered good for open-ended play? What objects already in and around my home can I use to foster and encourage open-ended play? How can my interactions with my child encourage open-ended play?

As both a professional and a parent, I tend to gravitate towards open-ended materials for play. But what does that mean, really?

Open-ended materials are simply items that can be used in lots of different ways and in different environments (say, indoors or outdoors), and can be combined and often redesigned or repurposed by the young child in any way that child or her playmates decide.

Open-ended materials recycled from other materials: paper roll, tissue paper, lentils, cardboard box

Open-ended materials that are objects in the home (scarves, kitchen utensils, pots/pans, cupcake liners

Open-ended materials actually marketed as “toys: puppets, stacking toys, musical instruments).

Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

I tend to gravitate towards open-ended materials for play. But what does that mean, really? 

We’ve touched upon some of the developmental aspects of that, in that open-ended materials often allow children to explore and be inventive in the way they are used… young children are naturally inventive, and you might have already noticed that your little one is often more interested in the regular objects you have lying around the house rather than the expensive toy that the grandparents purchased for her birthday….

Often, children end up exploring their environment, taking regular objects, and converting them into toys – a prime example of this is the little one who is on the move, sitting up, and able to open the kitchen cabinets to take out her favorite “drum set,” a pot and a pan! An older toddler who is engaging in what’s called “symbolic play,” or the kind of play that uses objects to symbolize and imitate what they’ve seen others doing, might take out the same pot and pan, and a wooden spoon, and start to stir, imitating her parents in the kitchen.

So, open-ended materials often encourage creative thinking in that a child must explore its properties and how it might be used. In addition, when you have a house or play area full of open-ended materials, they can often be used together in new and inventive ways. A scarf or blanket might serve as a great hiding place for a building block until it’s ready to peek-a-boo! A clump of play-doh might balance beautifully on top of a wooden car, or fit inside a shape sorter. A puzzle piece might fit inside one cup, but not another.

This leads me to my next point, which is that often, open-ended materials encourage problem-solving. What fits where? How can I get this to work that way? Can I get that out if I pull this? The last point that I want to bring up is that using open-ended materials also tends to save us a LOT of money.

Not only do we often save money by using common household objects or natural materials instead of expensive electronic gadgets that purport themselves to “teach such and such” skill… (which of course, you all know now is probably not the most effective way for children to learn, right?? They are going to learn best through exploring, interacting, and imitating YOU!) They also often last for a longer period of time in our children’s development, for the very reason that they can be used in so many different ways!

Building blocks can be mouthed, grasped, knocked down by large sweeping infant arms, built up by protective careful toddlers, and sorted by color or shape. Dolls can be cuddled, swatted, dressed, bathed, fed, can be tickled according to body part, and can act out almost any action or emotion. I hope you’re beginning to see a trend.

Open-ended toys are really just materials that your little one can explore, without a set agenda. And when we encourage our tiny people to become more creative, that will serve them well down the road, as we encourage them to be active participants in their lives, vs. passive button pushers.

The post Simple Ideas For Open-Ended Play appeared first on Learn With Less.