Tips to Help Your Preschool Child Make Friends

Toddlers are very content to sit next to another child and play, each doing their own thing, basically ignoring one another. But as children grow and develop, this “parallel play” transforms into a need for social interaction. By the time children reach the age of 4 or 5, the need for friendships and playing with [...]

Watching 2 Natural Playgrounds Part IV

It has now been a year since the professionally installed playground became open to the children at this child care center. It has changed very little since it was first installed. An outdoor water fountain was removed. One teacher told me it was a hazard, the way it stuck out in the middle of an [...]

Exploring a New Age for Playgrounds

Anyone who has given a child a gift and has experienced the box being more interesting than the toy knows what fertile ground a child’s mind can be with the blank slate of a very plain object. A box can be a house, a bed, a hat, a parking garage… the possibilities are endless! This [...]

Social Skills Bloom in the Natural Playground

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to observe a group of toddlers using the professionally installed natural playground. Normally, watching a group of toddlers playing outdoors is like watching TV at a big box electronic store. Each TV is set to its own channel, doing its own thing. There may be three toddlers [...]