Learning Through Play!

I've been working in the childcare field for almost 11 years and the majority of my career has been spent with children ages 6 weeks- 3 years old. And nope, I'm not crazy :) and I really love what I do! A question that I've found I get asked quite a bit is..."What do you do all day?". My immediate response is "Play!", which usually gets me eyeball rolls and sideways looks. I then go into Early Childhood advocate and educator mode and very politely burst their bubble with my knowledge of how play benefits the overall development in children. I work hard to develop multiple activites, Monday-Friday, that aide in the cognitive, motor, social, emotional, and language development of children under the age of 3. So not only do the activities need to cover different developmental areas, they also have to be developmentally appropriate and of course, fun! I came across this article on one of my fav websites, www.parenting.com, about the benefits of play in a child's development. Check it out and tell me what you think!


http://www.parenting.com/article/why-play-makes-babies-smarter


So go grab your little one(s), break out that playdough, make an indoor fort, whip up some "food" in the play kitchen, break out the pots and pans for band practice, snuggle up with their favorite book, just have fun playing the afternoon away!