On-Line Games Are Designed To Keep Us Playing They get progressively harder as we continue to play. They are designed to keep us feeling challenged and interested, getting a little more demanding as we build skill. This is part of the fun of playing on line and it keeps us coming back. It works well for […]
middle 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 […]
Thinking begins to change ….
Developmentalists generally agree that the way children manage and understand information changes rather dramatically after age 6. Most parents are pretty aware of this too; children just seem more mature in the way they reason. It is clearly much more than simply having learned more facts and more words. There are different ideas about what […]
Why Collecting Things Is So Popular Now
Have you noticed how children in elementary school often have collections of stuff? Rock collections, stamp collections, coin collections, all sorts of trading and theme cards, dolls from around the world, and even books from a series are incredibly popular. Collecting tends to be very popular during middle childhood. This is largely due to an […]
A New Ability: Making Plans
Have you noticed your school age child likes to make plans? At least sometimes. This is new. Effective planning relies on the capacity to decenter, think flexibly, and take into account several factors of an event or situation. Studies of planning usually look at how well children can plan to quickly get through a maze. […]