Creativity

Toddler Readiness – The Beauty Of Waiting

When my daughter was 2 ¾ she told me she wanted to ride a merry-go-round. I never figured out where she got the idea, but she loved books and must have seen a merry-go-round somewhere in one of them. We picked a day to visit the classic carousel on the Santa Monica Pier and talked about it for days ahead of time. We imagined the experience – choosing a horse, the music, fastening seatbelts, riding up and down,...

Make A Holiday Snowflake (Even If You FAIL At Crafts)

I’m not crafty. Really not crafty.  Just hearing the word ‘craft’ gives me anxiety. But it’s not my fault. It’s the instructions. They fail me all the time! The last straw was when I volunteered to teach Sunday school and chose a simple-looking activity right out of the curriculum book — making cool, stained-glass-type ornaments. The children had created little drawings, colored them and cut them...

RIE Parenting – A Culture Of Creativity

There was a buzz about RIE last week. The Daily Beast, Parenting and ivillage posted articles referring to RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) classes as a trendy “celebrity craze”,  and even insinuated that participants constituted a cult. For members and advocates of infant expert Magda Gerber’s non-profit organization, one that’s inspired a diverse community of parents, early childhood educators and...

Baby, You Are Born To Play

I really didn’t think it would work. At a RIE Conference several years ago a friend and I were presenting a workshop on infant and toddler play and attempted an audacious experiment. We asked another friend to bring her 15 month old daughter to the event, daring to hope that the baby might give a live demonstration of independent, self-directed play. At least fifty pairs of eyes were on baby Tess as she sat in her...

Swept Up Imagining (A Play Object Lesson)

I know… it’s ugly. But like almost any object babies encounter, they find this mini sweeper and dustpan an intriguing tool for creative play. It is an example of the simple objects we use as ‘toys’ in our parent/toddler classes and recommend for children who are past the put-everything-in-my-mouth stage. The beauty is that it can be used creatively in multiple ways. Sometimes children use the brush as...

Toddlers Invent The Silliest Games (And 33 More Reasons To Let Babies Play Their Way)

There’s a reason I never tire of writing about inner-directed play. Infant and toddler playtime is parenting gold. Creating a safe play environment allows us a well-deserved, occasional break, and if we sit nearby, observe and respond, playtime can provide a wealth of inspiration. Parents are typically in short supply of both those things. Can we ever get enough rest or inspiration?  Thrilled and relieved to be...

A Creative Alternative To Baby TV Time

The last thing you’re going to catch me doing is provoking parental guilt. So, I’m going to assume you’ve heard all about the hazards of TV for infants and toddlers: potential language delays, obesity, ADHD, and aggression are all things we’d like to prevent in our children if we can. But it doesn’t surprise me that parents ignore the research (and the American Academy of Pediatrics advisory) and turn on...

Accepting Grandparents’ Good Intentions (With Humble Apologies To My Father-in-Law)

After meeting motherhood dazed, confused, even panicked, I was greatly relieved to discover a child-rearing philosophy that made perfect sense to me. Captivated and empowered by infant expert Magda Gerber and RIE, I set about following her parenting principles to the letter. My gusto caused some missteps. The one I regret most is offending my father-in-law.  My handsome, fun-loving father-in-law is a successful...