Friday Five –> Pronunciation:Fri•day ’fiv –> Function: Noun

Definition: Sampling of articles and blog posts that caught our eye that will be of interest to Head Start, parent and early childhood education communities.

This week’s Friday 5:

1. The Guardian asks, are parent’s forgetting how to play with their children?
2. More reports of play losing ground in preschool
3. Let’s join TBSB Blogger Jenny on the tire swing and work on balance and stimulate those vestibular systems!
   
4. And work on upper body strength and coordination climbing trees with @squigglemum…
5. Lastly, for all the teachers out there, here’s a knowing smile and a giggle: If you send a preschool teacher for a gallon of milk.
   

I think that should be enough to keep you busy for a bit.

Did anything catch your eye this week? We would love to know about it — so please share it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to get outside and play this weekend.  And no excuses — you have an extra day to play!   Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And sand pipers. And…
photo credit: AForestFrolic

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“A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.”

~Bill Vaughan

A new Head Start/preschool year is upon us, and once again, we have the opportunity as educators (and parents!) to offer high quality learning experiences for children.

Consider the following…

7 Tips for Creating Quality Experiences for Young Children:

1. Focus on play
2. Allow for repetition of skills
3. Keep things relevant to children’s interests
4. Keep culture in mind
5. Vary scenarios & play props to extend the play and learning
6. Broaden your classroom walls — use your outdoor play space as much as possible
7. Integrate music and movement across your curriculum

For ideas and activities, check out Head Start Body Start’s website each month.

Have a fantastic, play-filled year of laughter and learning. ~ Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And sand pipers. And…

photo credit: Ernst Vikne

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photo credit: krossbow

Friday Five –> Pronunciation:Fri•day ’fiv –> Function: Noun

Definition: Sampling of articles and blog posts that caught our eye that will be of interest to Head Start, parent and early childhood education communities.

This week’s Friday 5:

1. Get inspired! Take a photo tour through, Places for PLAY: The Exhibition.
2. Teacher Magazine gives us, Let Them Play. (Of course, we agree!)
3. Parent Dish is talking, The Benefits of Playground Exercise for Kids.
4. Let’s make tee pees and secret places with @BarbaraMiller!
5. Go for a hike with TBSB blogger Jenny and make fairy houses.

I think that should be enough to keep you busy for a bit.

Did anything catch your eye this week? We would love to know about it — so please share it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to get outside and play this weekend!   Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And sand pipers. And…

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It is a happy talent to know how to play.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As the recognition of the need for children to play outside and connect with nature grows, municipalities and organizations around the country are creating Bill of Rights campaigns to help raise awareness and get kids off the couch and outside. (Examples include California and Maryland.)

As a writer and speaker, I often discuss Can’t Miss Childhood Moments, helping adults remember happy memories of their own childhood play, and discussing the fact that many of today’s kids are missing out on simple joys to be found outdoors.

So, my challenge to you is this: Create a Play Bill of Rights for yourself.

No really, I’m serious.

We can’t say, “Go outside and play,” or model healthy, play-filled lifestyles  if the only thing we ever do is work or spend time plugged into our electronic devices. Well, we can, but it won’t be nearly as effective, and could lead to resentment and fights.

Besides, more play time for us adults benefits children in so many ways — but that’s another blog post altogether!

To help get your juices flowing, I am sharing a few of my “play rights” below. But please, come-up with whatever feels right for you.

And have FUN with it! Go nuts!

I have the right to:

• Unplug at least an hour a day and do something that makes me happy
• Walk barefoot and not care about how dirty my feet are
• Walk in the woods and forget everything and everyone and just enjoy the sounds of nature
• Giggle and clap my hands at the new crop of baby ducks each year, and generally act like a 5 year-old
• Think that nothing tastes better than an orange popsicle eaten while sitting in the shade of a favorite tree on a hot summer day

What it boils down to is this: I have the right to LIVE. To play, and laugh, and leave the dishes in the sink sometimes — and so do you.

I would love to hear what some of your rights are, so please share a few in the comments section!

Now, if you will excuse me, there is an orange popsicle in the freezer with my name on it. I have a grape one too, if you care to join me. We’ll take a walk and talk about how we really need to do this more often…

Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And sand pipers. And…

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Friday Five –> Pronunciation:Fri•day ’fiv –> Function: Noun

Definition: Sampling of articles and blog posts that caught our eye that will be of interest to Head Start, parent and early childhood education communities.

This week’s Friday 5:

1. Play is such an important topic, even the Wall Street Journal is chiming in.

2. NPR explores how the Impact of Childhood Obesity Goes Beyond Health.

3. Get outside & move! Download the Nature Explore Families’ Club Kit for free from the great folks at the Arbor Day Foundation. 

4. TBSB blogger Jenny  is talking dirty this week!

5. Juliet @creativestar inspires us to take Circle Time outside this school year.

OK, that should be enough to keep you busy for a bit!

Did anything catch your eye this week? We would love to know about it — so share it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to get outside and play this weekend!   Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And…
photo credit: jensen_chua

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This weekend I had a chance to spend time with some of my younger nephews and truly appreciate how outdoor play not only affects them, but also the positive impact it provides to those around them.  The speed at which their bodies and minds move is truly phenomenal and really made me think about the impact that outdoor play can have.

After interacting and observing my nephews for a couple of hours, a few things really struck me:

• Outdoor play provides a sense of relief for children.  We all have that one thing that lets us get away, and for children its being free of rules and responsibilities and just playing.
• Outdoor play provides a mixture of cooperation and competition that develops a child’s imagination, creativity and an increase in self-esteem.
• The love of  being outside is contagious. When I saw my nephews just loving life while being outside, I wanted to take part in that as well. Watching them outside really opened my eyes to the many positive effects that nature and outdoor play can have.
• Fun and play is like the front porch to a house of learning. If fun and play are allowed to open the door to learning, then children will be inspired to explore the rest of the house!

Next time you are outside try simply watching the children around you.   Then, follow their lead and let yourself PLAY.

For more on the benefits of outdoor play, download this HSBS Fact Sheet.

Blogger Bio:  Tanner Nelson is the Head Start Body Start summer intern.  He is going to be a senior at the University of Maryland in the fall and is expected to graduate in May of 2011. He is a kinesiology major and is going to pursue a career in physical education, athletic training, or child development. For fun he enjoys playing golf and basketball.

photo credit: biofriendly

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Friday Five –> Pronunciation: Fri•day ’fiv –> Function: Noun

Definition: Sampling of articles and blog posts that caught our eye that will be of interest to Head Start, parent and early childhood education communities.

This week’s Friday 5:

1. Lend an ear! NPR discusses the deeper impact of childhood obesity.
2. Great Schools is discussing the Power of Play. As early childhood ed becomes more structured, it’s important to keep play on our minds.
3. Check out this great video of the opening of the new Imagination Playground in New York — the first site in the US with trained Playworkers.
4. Our own Jenny teaches us how to make a Big Hotel! It’s no secret that kids love creepy crawlies!
5. Looking for ideas and inspiration to make your play space more inclusive? Look no further than the Seattle Children’s Garden — an amazing place to play and grow.

Did anything catch your eye this week? We would love to know about it — so share it in the comments section.

Happy Friday the 13th — a lucky day in my book…

And because I feel like dancing and have a total crush on Kermit, let’s have a little Muppets action.

Don’t forget to get outside and play this weekend!   Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And…

photo credit: Locutis

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It is inspiring to watch how children imagine and create outside using everyday materials and loose parts when they have the opportunity to freely manipulate the materials in their environment.

” Kids really get to know the environment if they can dig it, beat it, swat it, lift it, push it, join it, combine different things with it.  This is what adults call creative activity…a process of imagination and environment working together. ” – Robin Moore

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photo credit: RESchroeder

Friday Five –> Pronunciation: Fri•day ’fiv –> Function: Noun

Definition: Sampling of articles and blog posts that caught our eye that will be of interest to Head Start, parent and early childhood education communities.

This week’s Friday 5:

1. Play is good for the brain, especially in the preschool years
2. New generation of playground equipment could help fight childhood obesity
3. Lend an ear! Dr. Stuart Brown discusses The Way We Play
4. Don’t let summer pass you by! Down load the FREE Nature Rocks Summer Activity Guide
5. This Holistic Life gives us all food for thought with the article, How to Raise a Free Range Kid
   

Did anything catch your eye this week? We would love to know about it — so share it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to get outside and play this weekend!  Bethe

Bethe Almeras, MS, is the HSBS Education & Outreach Director. A long time educator and play advocate, she is passionate about outdoor play and connecting children with nature. In her free time Bethe writes a blog, The Grass Stain Guru, and can often be found playing outside. She is particularly fond of squirrels. And turtles. And…

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Risk = Reward

As a child growing up in the 50’s and 60’s I recall being given a tremendous amount of freedom.   As a 6^th grader in 1964 my elementary school took us on a field trip to the New York World’s Fair.  We got off the bus and they said go have fun and be back on the bus at 2:30.  No teachers or parents supervising us we went all over and had a ball.  Thoughts of doing that today seem impossible.  And yet at 2:30 on that day every one of us made it back to the bus. We were given responsibility and we all managed to have fun and be accountable.

Today we live in a world where instead of giving children responsibility we deny them the opportunity to do for themselves.  Parents wake their kids up, tell them what to wear, remind them of things to do, and sadly deny them the independence that they will need to grow up to be successful adults.

While we worry about obesity the real epidemic impacting children and young adults is low self-esteem and poor mental health.  Kids live in a world where they define their character by what they are wearing, the toys they have or the things they accumulate.  While all children are born with good self-esteem they eventually lose it as they begin to define themselves by what their peers think of them.  Pressure to get perfect grades, be the greatest athlete or look beautiful or handsome become the norms by which they define themselves.

The consequences of this are that children are denied a childhood. The good kid acts like an adult.  Children are denied the opportunity to have fun and instead become obsessed with the things promoted in the media and the goal of trying to out do their peers. Parents contribute to the pressure by letting their egos live through their children.  As educators and parents there are many things we can do to help children enjoy their childhood and subsequently grow into healthy adults.  So here are a few ideas:

• Let kids have fun – don’t put pressure or unrealistic expectations upon them
• Give them responsibility
• Let kids manage their own disagreements
• Teach children how to handle conflict
• Teach them about the media and how they manipulate their thinking
• Educate parents to back off with pressure
• Help young people develop good communication skills
• Teach stress management skills
• Intervene when we see kids not handling things effectively
• Be a good role model
• Trust that kids can handle responsibility
• Don’t be afraid to let them fail – it builds character
• Recognize when kids do good things and praise them
• Make each and every child feel valued and loved
• Help them to make their own decisions instead of solving problems for them

Today more young adults are abusing drugs, taking medications, struggling with depression, or feel inadequate.   We have a moral responsibility to help each and every child to enjoy their childhood and to transition into adulthood with the skills and attitude to function as healthy adults.  I thank my lucky stars that I grew up in a day and age where we were given freedom and trusted to live our lives independently.  While we made mistakes and had struggles we learned from them and we grew up with the confidence to move forward in life.

It will not be easy to turn this around but it all starts with awareness and a desire to make it better.  Play creates a huge opportunity to develop many of these ideas. Take some of these tips and think about how you can act on them during the play activities you do with the children you work with.  Let them make up games, deal with conflicts and have responsibility for the activities. Only when we trust children will they turn around and trust us.  When that happens we have healthy relationships and together we can move forward to make our world a better place where our children feel good about who they are, respect others, enjoy life and desire to do good things.

Dr. Malcolm Goldsmith is the Executive Director of the American Association for Health Education (@AAHE_HealthEd).  Dr. Goldsmith retired from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville after 32 years where he served as Professor and Coordinator of Health Education.  He is married, and has one daughter. For fun, he enjoys hiking and playing racquetball.

photo credit: Christina Spicuzza

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