Day 4 of 30 Days to Transform Your Play

Today is day 4 of the interactive series 30 days to transform your play by Kate from An everyday story and Rachel from Racheous.

Day 4: Identify interests

'This kind of play and learning happens slowly over time; sometimes weeks, sometimes months, sometimes even years. But it is connected, it is authentic and it is meaningful to our individual children.' (Kate from An Everyday Story)

I have learned with my children that there is no such thing as covering one topic in one day or week and jumping over onto something else. There is a lot of observing, a lot of repetition, a lot of the same questions,... Any imposed activities are not only a needless distraction, they most often result in resentful behaviour and 'I don't want to do it!' attitude.

Quietly observing my children over the past months made me realise just how different they are.

• Mr A 

With the spring here, it became even more apparent what is making my little boy tick, what is making him happy, what is making him peaceful. Endless hours of searching for spiders, ladybirds and caterpillars, collecting them in his little plastic containers, gently handling them and chatting to them, quietly observing, passionately explaining to other children, reading natural history books hours on end. He is one budding naturalist (I call him David Attenboroug in making), walking and climbing barefooted, getting bitten by creepy crawlies, lying in dirt just to observe ants walking along the wall. 

Yet on the other hand, this is a loud little boy, who needs to run around, cycle, climb or do insanely wild pretend play with daddy.  

As most of the boys of his age, he also loves cars, tractors and  trains. 

• Miss R

She is a very sociable and loving little soul, constantly asking for cuddles and giving cuddles to pretty much everybody and everything (children on the street, teddies, cushions and even random items like a remote control). 

She loves dancing and playing instruments...
She loves dressing up and acting in front of the mirror...
She loves helping out with cooking, laundry, cleaning...
She loves all things moving, be it toy cars or marbles...

And as any little sister, she also likes to follow and copy her brother,  and play chase and hide & seek with him.