"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."—Aesop
As children grow older they begin to encounter more complex social situations. Though we try as parents and teachers to “protect” them from difficult scenarios, it’s important that they learn to make positive decisions on their own, and to articulate their ideas, thoughts, and feelings clearly and respectfully. We’ve found that children truly appreciate and respond positively to explicit teaching of social skills. At Playful Learning, we design thoughtful programs based on the unique needs of children and their families. We love working with siblings!
Teaching Children Kindness
Description If I could choose two phrases that would be introduced into every household and school across the land, it would be “put-ups” and “...MORE
Glass Half Full: The Power of Positive Thinking
One of the most powerful lessons that we can teach our children is that they have the power to control their thoughts. Cognitive science has confirme...MORE
Beyond Memorization: Making Learning Memorable
In today’s education system there seems to be more and more of a push towards the memorization of facts, formulas, and procedures. While this c...MORE
Raising Confident Women with Joyce T. McFadden
With two growing daughters, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into how to raise them to be confident, strong, smart, kind, and comfortable i...MORE
Me: In Poetry, Song, and Art
When I was a classroom teacher, one of the most relaxing, yet beneficial professional development opportunities I attended was a “Picture Book Read...MORE
Nurturing a Sense of Wonder
Caterpillars turning into butterflies, bean seeds sprouting and growing into nourishing food, the constant, yet ever changing phases of the moon, the...MORE
Are We Imposing a Glass Ceiling on Our Children?
As a society, we tend to underestimate the potential of children. As educators, we are trained to adhere to developmental models, and as parents, we...MORE
Resources for Teaching Kindness
Kindness. It’s truly one of the simplest ways to connect with one another. It can be exchanged through a smile, a wave, a handwritten note, or a hu...MORE
Secret Kindness Pals
February is an ideal month to start a new trend in your home or classroom… Secret kindness pals create excitement and add warmth through kindne...MORE
Power of the Pickle: The Food Mood Connection
We are happily preparing for the start of our Food for Thought family workshop! I thought it’d be fun to share one of my most helpful parenting...MORE
10 Tips for Moving with Young Children
Moving is hard work. Add a young child or two and it can be a very daunting task. Here are a few tips I found helpful before, during and after the mov...MORE
Lessons From the 100 Acre Wood
0ne / two I just recently finished reading A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner to a class of second and third graders. I am e...MORE
Mindful Gifts for Children
As the girls get older and confront many new situations, I am finding that one of the most important things I can teach them, is how to find a sense...MORE
Mindful Holidays: The Gift of Time
“We are always getting ready to live but never living.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson On a cloudy afternoon recently, I had an experience that end...MORE
Raising Compassionate Kids
Raising a compassionate child begins at home. Learning compassion is no different from learning other social skills; children learn to be compassiona...MORE
Raising Natural + Confident Girls: Self (Esteem) Portraits
As my daughter prepared to begin middle school this fall, I knew that she would face moments of uncertainty in which her confidence and self image wou...MORE
Mind[set]fulness: The Importance of Practice + Perseverance
Growing up, I would watch my dad render, completely by hand, his architectural designs. I remember a conversation about these that started with me as...MORE
Free Play: How to Relax and Let it Happen
I had read many articles and books about the decline of play in society. I had been at faculty meetings at which we discussed the difficulty of f...MORE
How to Talk to Your Children About Their Day
“What did you do in school today?” “Nothing.” “How was your day?” “Fine.” It can be a challenge to get many children to say more abou...MORE
Praising Children: Evaluative vs. Descriptive
“Good job!” “What a wonderful story!” “Your painting is beautiful!” Sound familiar? If you are like me, you have used these words to enco...MORE
Raising Confident + Natural Girls: 10 Ways to Cultivate Confidence
I think we all want to raise confident girls who can successfully navigate their way though life. While my girls are still fairly young, I’ve co...MORE
The Importance of Real Work for Children
Emma from 95 Acres of Sky is with us to share some valuable insights into engaging children in the real work of our daily lives. It all start...MORE
5 Things You Can Learn From Your Child
Nuria from the The Adventures Archive is here today to share some insightful inspiration to all of the grown-ups of the world… 1. Let it go: If...MORE
How to Kill Your Child’s Creativity
Kids are born creative geniuses. But unfortunately, by the time they reach the third or fourth grade, their creativity has sunk. With intelligence, t...MORE
Growing Your Child’s Creativity With Constructive Criticism
Nuria from the The Adventures Archive is here today to share some great advice on giving our children honest and useful feedback. By now we all know...MORE
How to Raise Inquisitive Children
Nuria from the The Adventures Archive is here today to share useful tips for raising inquisitive children… Children are natural born explorers....MORE
The Gift of Failure: The Importance of Letting Children Make Mistakes
I am well-versed in all of the sound bites… It’s okay to make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, mistakes welcome here! I have them all...MORE
Prop Boxes: Creating Imaginative Play Spaces
Joey from Made by Joey is with us today to share a dose of inspiration for nurturing dramatic play with the children in our lives… What are pro...MORE
Our Gratitude Tree
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusio...MORE
Children as Philosophers: Exploring Loving and Giving
Monique of Green Acorns is with us today to share some thoughtful tips on helping our children to ponder life’s big questions. As we approach t...MORE
Peaceable Home: 8 Stories for the Heart
Today Emma from 95 Acres of Sky is with us to share a lovely list of children’s books that we can turn to when we need to explore some of life&...MORE
The Peacable Home: Cooperative Games
Emma from 95 Acres of Sky is with us today with a great list of cooperative games… Being that today is cloudy and rainy in these parts, I think...MORE
Collaborative Art: Making a Masterpiece Together
My favorite thing about art is how it transcends the normal lines that divide us. You don’t have to have incredible technique to create somethi...MORE
Friendship Booklist (Part 1)
Friendship is something so important for little ones to be able to foster, nourish and develop. During the beginning stages of development, little ch...MORE
Stress Management for Children: And Breathe…
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the earth shattering silence that comes when a child draws in a hugely deep breath in order to emit the kind of s...MORE
Daily Affirmations for Kids
Our daughters are at the age where they begin to tune in closely to the thoughts and opinions of their friends. During this process they have started...MORE
Small Acts: Love Letters to Your Children
We can all look back on a time in our lives when an encouraging note or “love letter” had a huge impact on us. Letters are a great way to...MORE
All the Colors We Are: Self-Portraits
One of our favorite books is All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color by Katie Kissinger. It explains, in very simple terms, h...MORE