“Therefore, to play like a child, bungle. Blunder. Stumble. Be unable to figure out why the square piece won’t fit in the round hole. Risk looking silly, sing, fall over. Exaggerate everything. Lighten up. Try to have fun.” ~ From Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D. My son loves these melty beads. He is... Read more »

a short but so informative vimeo about all the ways that PLAY positively impacts kids' development / don't forget to practice the happy habit of HAVING FUN / vimeo / zenteredkids.com

3 ways to bring more creativity into the classroom: open responses, the science of surprise and opps for divergent thinking / fablevisionlearning

The first large-scale, longitudinal study in the Netherlands, finds that structured music lessons significantly enhance children’s cognitive abilities and academic achievement.

how exercise improves the functioning of your brain / spark book

How to introduce kids to the happy habit of Having Fun

If you are a parent or teacher who wants to help your children grasp the meaning and real life application of character traits such as friendliness, courage, patience, and more – without giving continuous lectures – you can use Playing with Purpose: Character Building Made Fun to explore the concepts together in an engaging, age-appropriate... {read more}

before actually having fun with your kids you need to open up the time / great ideas for creating space in each day and week for connecting with kids / plus ideas on how to play together / very well family

why play with instruments and music? / some of the many benefits of being musical include: increased memory, coordination, dexterity and emotional reasoning, just to name a few / great info graphic and details / music notes

Happy Hunting Journal Bingo is a free game to help kids learn the happy habits while engaging with the Happy Hunting Journal.

skills developed through play / how to use play at different ages and stages / gooey brains

When children play we often just think they're having fun, but research has shown that the benefits of play extend far beyond that in early...

The importance of pretend play in child development has been studied for many years. It is something that should not be overlooked as pretend play is crucial for language development

the benefits and healing powers of music / awakened mind

The 12 Types of Play Infographic depicts how play evolves as children grow, how social development is linked with play, and the important role parents have in supporting children’s learning through play.

Are there kids in your class that struggle with multi-step directions and need frequent reminders about what to do? Or students who lose their place in texts, struggle to copy information and take notes, and forget what they were just taught? If so, there’s a strong possibility that the issue might be something that you …