How long does it take a child to learn to write? A few months at school or nursery? A bit of handwriting practice and a few minutes a day doing the Dough Disco? The truth is, children start at birth. Here are my two eldest when they were much younger, aged 6 months and 20 months. They are both engaged in the same activity, even though the youngest can’t reach the table and doesn’t have a paintbrush. They are learning to make marks. Mark making without making marks? Yes. What is mark making?...
about 2 years ago • 11 min read
From time to time I'm invited to appear on a podcast. I always decline. 100 Toys is now 8 years old - and I also have many years of teaching and being a parent behind me. I hope I have something interesting to say on play and learning. But I have a deep-seated fear of mansplaining to an audience of (mostly) young mothers. Impostor syndrome, you might call it. And I really don't like the sound of my voice. Listening to yourself on audio is a bit 'cringe', as my eldest son would say. And yet I...
about 2 years ago • 2 min read
One of the first articles I wrote after launching 100 Toys was Three Goodies and a Baddie: Tell Almost Any Story with Just a Handful of Figures. It’s a descriptive title and it gets to the heart of what 100 Toys used to be about - more fun with fewer toys. But it’s a bit dated and not quite to the point. I talk about choosing the right figures in order to maximise the play potential. Four goodies is bad. Three goodies and a baddie is good… It’s not how many toys you have that determines the...
over 2 years ago • 4 min read
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything. And so begins “Where the Wild Things are”, by Maurice Sendak. Like The Three Little Pigs and The Hobbit, it’s a story that has stood the test of time. But why? What explains the enduring appeal? Since time out of mind, myths and traditional tales have relied on a formula. It makes for satisfying stories...
over 2 years ago • 10 min read
It is the spring of 1945. Mussolini is dead and the people of Italy survey wreckage of their country. For two decades, fascism has been the ruling ideology: individual rights and democratic values are suppressed in favour of the state. In a village near the town of Reggio Emilia, the people decide to build a school. To raise the money, they sell what the retreating Germans leave behind: an old tank, a couple of vehicles and some horses. In this school, they will teach the their values:...
over 2 years ago • 5 min read
When you sign up to 5 Plus, our new course for parents of children over five, you get a quick welcome email. Is there anything you’re particularly struggling with? I ask. Everyone replies. And there’s lots of variety in the responses. But the common to almost every one is screen time. “I'm a lone parent, so encouraging independent play is important. I want to be able to support my sons’ creativity and to help them take their ideas and run with them, but often struggle to balance that with...
over 2 years ago • 4 min read