letting go

My grandsons make new friends at their aunt's college graduation.

Children play, children learn
Teach them well so they will yearn
To open their minds
To possibilities.  - BJT

During a hot and very long college graduation our grandchildren found a way to cope, by getting down in the sand and playing with their trucks.

With positive guidance parents can help to foster a healthy curiosity and desire to discover. This can be done in any setting and anywhere. Helping a child to see the beauty of the world and the living things in it is a gift parents can give to their children on a daily basis.

Encouraging children to experience the possibilities which connecting with others can bring is essential to a child's development. Parents can teach children how to form simple friendships by using the rules of sharing.

Our boys did not want to share their trucks at first but after some gentle encouragement the children began to create a little world with their imaginations, a couple of  toy cars and the materials at hand like sticks and leaves and pebbles.

The children played happily.

Although the boys live far away from the little girls we can never know if their paths will cross in serendipitous ways once again.

Papa shows the children how to build a road with a flat stone.

With guidance and encouragement you can help your child to reach out to new friends, whether on the playground, during a family gathering, or at a community event. Introducing the children to one another teaches them how to interact politely and builds confidence, helping  children to develop important social skills, like sharing, listening, taking turns, an interest in others and experiencing a sense of community.

Good Luck! Good Parenting!!

Naturally Fun

Discovering the Atlantic Ocean

Discovering the Cold River

Water works

It works for us

It flows around the soul

How come I'm such a water works

As I am growing old?

Children love to discover the world around them. Getting outside with a  child helps to build a child's confidence and  creates an awareness for the natural world around them. Who needs play gyms and Fisher Price when you have the great outdoors?

Going outside gives a child a chance to see what is beyond the world of home. Something as simple as a pebble or a shell can fascinate if only you take the time to slow down. And each little thing my grand children uncover gives me  the opportunity to sharpen my own appreciation of life and it's beauty.

Want to become young again? Do it by getting outside with a child, you'll be amazed at how the world through the eyes of a child holds joy and peace.

Did you know that Native Americans used to eat pine needles to get their vitamin C? And that spider webs were used by New England settlers as a type of healing bandage? And that mud can soothe a bee sting?

Cool stuff.

My grandsons are asking me to take them outside, proof that this theory holds water.

Check your local parks and preserves and pack a picnic. Set out to discover together.

Good Luck!  Good Parenting!!

Bon :)

Play it up

Recapitulative Play: Climbing, den building, hiding.

Dressing Up: Experimenting with identity.

Creative Play: Playing with aesthetics.

Mastery Play: Learning how to use objects.

Deep Play: Learning about risk and danger.

Rough and Tumble Play: Testing your own strength.


*Suggested books for families to read:




 “Secret Spaces of Childhood” by Elizabeth Goodenough’s book, (University of Michigan Press, 2003). Goodenough, a scholar in the emerging field of children’s studies, noted that time outside school was increasingly filled with adult-organized activities and indoor screen time. Children no longer had the space or opportunity to organize their own play or discover their own secret spaces.

 “Play- How it shapes the brain, invigorates the imagination, and invigorates the soul” by Stuart Brown, M.D. and Christopher Vaughan, Penguin Group, 2009.

 “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008.



*Documentary to watch:

Writer and director Christopher Cook and consulting producer Mark Harris created Where Do the Children Play? The film won five Emmy Awards.





Good Luck ! Good Parenting!
Bon :)