Building healthy eating habits By the time children are about a year old, they begin to need a more varied diet containing whole foods. Calorie needs increase from about 1000 calories a day at age one, to about 1400 by age 5. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as a rough guideline, toddlers […]
early childhood
A Grateful Piggy Bank
This is a Gratefulness Practice for Children Children love piggy banks — they’re intrigued by hiding coins away, the mystery of how many coins are inside and the fun of counting or dumping them out later. A Grateful Piggy Bank works the same way — with one difference. Each time your child puts a coin […]
Secondary Emotions
A new set of feelings emerges during early childhood called secondary or complex emotions They differ form the primary emotions (distress, disgust, interest, happiness or contentment, sadness, fear, anger and surprise) in several ways. Most importantly, they aren’t just biologically given, rather they are learned and require both cognitive and social information. Sometimes these are […]
Starting to Become “Me”
Forming one’s self identity begins in early childhood, shortly after children begin to recognize themselves in a mirror, a milestone that often emerges around 18 months or so. The classic test of self recognition is the “rouge” test. If you’d like to try it, discretely place a dot of cream blush or lipstick (or watercolor […]
Play part 3: Building cognitive, social skills & emotional skills
Social play with peers is particularly important because, unlike play with a parent, in which there is an implicit power structure, peer interactions have a more even distribution of power. Peer play places children in control, providing opportunities for self-directed learning and learning through shared experiences. In particular, social play lets children explore ways […]
Play part 2: Types of Play
Developmental scientists classify play into a number of different types, notably object play, physical play, and pretend play. Each of these can become forms of social play when they are shared with another person. Each of these three general forms of play emerge in infancy, during the 12 – 24 month period. The very first […]
Play, part 1: The Power of Play
It is easy to underestimate the value of play. As adults, our “play” takes place during leisure time and we see it as fun and lighthearted. We regard it as recreational, with no practical purpose, other than unwinding, having fun, or spending time with friends. It nurtures us, but we don’t regard it as serious. […]