It’s so important to remember that children have underdeveloped brains, the rate of brain growth in under fives is so rapid, in fact, if a baby’s body grew at the same rate as their brain they would be 4ft6 by the time they turn one! In order to be able to share children need to have acquired many complex skills including, but not limited to; understanding language, being able to process that language in the moment, speaking skills, trust in the adults that are supporting them and trust in other children, and importantly, an interest in play with other children, this article by Pampers explains what happens in play before children are interested in play with others. Because children don’t have the capacity to play with others for a number of years this is why we shouldn’t tell children off for not sharing.
It is usually at some point during a child’s third year that they become interested in playing with other children, ordinarily, children will play alongside each other up until this point. After the age of three, children might still be interested in others but not have the skills to be able to cooperatively play with one another. By the time a child is about 4 years old, they begin to associate their emotions with the feelings of others. While one child says they have a tummy ache, some four-year-olds may come over and comfort them. This shows that children at around age four are beginning to understand how others might feel, for example, if I take all this playdough, that child will not have anything to play with and they might feel sad.
Through play! Playing with your child is one of the best ways to teach them to share. Asking them for a turn with their toy, ‘’please can I have a turn with the shaker?’ and waiting for the response before taking it will encourage your child to do the same in play. Your child might say ‘no’, and that’s okay, children don’t have to share everything, especially when they have a special attachment to a toy, as adults we don’t share everything with our friends, why do we expect our children to? Encouraging your child to wait even just a few seconds when you are playing with something they would like to play with will help them to understand it’s safe to ask for something and then know that they will get a turn. For slightly older children simple games that encourage turn-taking are a play-based way to teach this skill, our Tops and Tails matching game is perfect for turn-taking. It’s also important to look at your resources and ensure that there are enough things that will meet children’s needs, this will also avoid unnecessary arguments! Our Nesting Babies are a brilliant resource to be able to use with more than one child, each Nesting Baby has 3 dolls and one Chiming Shaker in the middle.
It’s important to remember that all children develop differently and at different ages and stages. Sharing is a difficult concept for children to learn and understand as they often get very big and sometimes reactions that will scare them from other children. Try supporting your child during play, and this will help them when playing with other children because you have taught them it’s safe. If you have any concerns at all about your child’s development, contact your GP or your child’s Health Visitor.
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Consultant. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
You can find her on social media @_sarahdoman_ or check out her website here.]]>Wooden stacking toys are beneficial for children from babyhood to preschool age, since children develop very rapidly in the early years there are different ways they can learn through just this one resource.
When babies play with wooden blocks, they will gather lots of information about things by exploring with their mouths, picking up blocks and curling their fingers around them and passing the blacks from hand to hand. This gives babies lots of sensory information, improves their fine motor skills and their palmer grasp and they cross midline by passing things from one hand to the other.
Toddlers will tend to stand and squat as they are attempting to place stacking objects on the stand, this supports their gross motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination. They will also be using problem-solving skills and developing eye muscles as they seek the different parts of the stacking toy to use.
Preschool children are developing mathematical concepts and are beginning to understand how to order things correctly, and also learning size differences. A stacking toy is a very useful tool to support thios learning, as the different coloured blocks, like in our Rosa and Bo stackers, help children to learn a patten and it also makes it easier to spot when things aren’t in the right order.
We would always recommend purchasing toys that are good quality so that they can last your child as long as possible, helping your pocket and the environment. This was one of the key drivers in deciding to make our stacking toy wooden when we created them, you can read more about our story, and what’s behind our brand here.
There are many, many benefits when it comes to stacking toys. Let’s explore my top three:
If you have any questions about how you can support your child’s development with a stacking toy or are looking for new ways to play, just drop us an email or message on our Instagram account as we would love to hear from you!
The toys that are both best for child development and the environment are toys that are open-ended. What I mean by that, is toys that you can do more than one thing with. If we want our children's toys to last, it’s important that we make conscious decisions when we buy the toys and consider the quality as we want them built to last, as we know when it comes to our children’s toys it’s about quality rather than quantity. Take our Nesting Babies as an example- they can be used in small world or also known as pretend play, they can be used in the bath, you can put pasta inside to make instruments, used for pain printing… the list is endless. These ideas work for children of all ages, so if you get these for your children when they are a baby, they are going to be playing with them for years to come. This is great for the environment, and your pocket, and this will teach children to think creatively and take care of their things so that they last for years to come.
This is one of the trickiest parts of parenting to navigate. Everyone who loves your child wants to show that they care by buying lovely things for them, which is so generous, and lovely! But, realistically you can’t store everything and children won’t play with all these things either. I suggest keeping a list of present ideas throughout the year, so when it comes to Christmas and birthdays, you have some ideas ready for when people ask you. If you’re putting an item on your child’s list, look at whether it is open-ended, such as our new Sensory Board, and therefore has lots of years of play value. Another idea is that you ask for experiences rather than things as gifts, for example, a voucher for a soft play centre, a day trip to a local farm or even theatre vouchers so you can go to a children’s show. Experiences offer so much for the whole family, and you can make some beautiful memories, you could even invite the recipient along so they can take part and see how much joy your child gets from the activity.
Depending on their age (and their willingness to give things up), you can get your child involved with selling or donating some of their toys. If your child is not very willing or too young to be involved in this, then think about what they don’t really play with anymore, or what you don’t feel is very open-ended, and consider donating these to goodwill in order to declutter. The other tip I have for decluttering is using a toy categorisation and rotation system. Organise your toys into categories, and then put them into boxes. Every few weeks rotate the boxes (you can keep the ones you are not using in a shed or a loft) so that your child has a smaller selection to play with. This is great for seeing what your child actually plays with, what they are asking for and what they don’t miss! For more tips on organising your children’s toys, check out my reel for a brilliant space-saving hack!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
There are lots of activities which support a child to develop their pincer grip (that's the pinching type grip used to correctly hold a pen or pencil) but it’s also so important to work on the palm muscles in children’s hands. The good news is that our Nesting Babies work on both! Using their whole hand to separate the dolls, this gets those all-important palm muscles going, this is essential for learning to crawl, to push up to standing from a squat position, and strong palms support the more intricate skills that the thumb and forefinger are used for. To pick up the bottom or top of the dolls children can grasp the edges of the dolls with their thumb and fingers, this helps work the pincer movement. Children need these skills to be able to carry out almost all their self care tasks, from tying their shoe laces to managing dressing skills. It is also important to develop these skills to carry out tasks such as writing, using scissors, and typing on a keyboard so with your Nesting Babies, you’ll get lots of practise.
Did you know you can use your nesting babies in water? Making them the perfect bath time and beach companions. There is little that can’t be learnt about capacity through using sand and water. Teaching children about concepts such as full, empty and half is really useful for them as they become more independent and will need these skills for example, at school when filling up their drink at lunch time. The bath is a great place to practice as they can overfill the cups and pratcie this sill without heaps of water for you to clear up!
Do you remember playing with Polly Pocket, a doll's house, or racing cars? All of these things are classed as ‘small world play’. Did you know that small-world play has some enormous benefits for your child’s development? Essentially, small-world play is pretend play with figures and dolls that encourage children to create playful and detailed worlds, in miniature form. Our Nesting Babies can be used in this kind of play as little characters who you can give voices to, and come up with a story. We have a blog on more small-world play ideas here.
From the biggest doll to our chiming bunnies there is plenty of opportunity for your little ones to learn about size with our Nesting Babies. Learning the language of size is such a useful skill for our children. It’s going to help them when learning maths, but, it is also going to help them with their everyday life and vocabulary. Some key words we recommend introducing when playing with your nesting babies are: ‘big, medium and small’, “bigger than” “smaller than” “biggest” “smallest” “too big” and “too small”. Using these in play is going to expand your child’s vocabulary and your child will be able to use these words when communicating with others and understand more complex concepts as well. There is also lots of opportunity to teach your children ‘positional language’, these are phrases such as ‘’next to’’, ‘’behind’’, and ‘’in front’’. You could try putting the chiming bunny in all different positions around the dolls and play ‘’Where’s the bunny?’’ using positional language.
This guide has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @_sarahdoman_.]]>
Begin a holiday book box
Reading stories about festivals and holidays is a wonderful way to help children learn about the world. When your child is small, you can build a box of holiday-filled books to get out every year. Here at Rosa & Bo we have our very own board book ‘Rosa & Bo Say Hello’. Throughout this gentle and heart-warming first story, children will journey with Rosa as she goes on an exciting adventure and makes the best discovery anyone can ever make. A tale of courage, kindness, and connection; of friendship and smiles, a perfect story to teach children about love.
Stories about family members such as Mum, Dad or Grandparents also make a lovely gift for babies to give on their first Valentine’s Day.
Dress up and plan a photoshoot
As soon as Christmas is over, the shops begin filling their shelves with Valentine-themed… well, everything! There are some super cute rompers available, or you could dress your little ones in red, pink or perhaps a colour that they love! There are also lots of photo backdrops available now which are perfect if you want to create a scene for your little ones to stand or sit in whilst you snap away. Remember the photo doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s the memories that count!
Have a Valentine’s Play-Date Party!
Why not get a group of friends together and have a Valentine-themed play date party?! You can also use the idea above and get some photos of your little love bugs together which you can cherish as they grow up. Strawberries, raspberries, and heart-shaped pancakes can be Valentine’s themed and something that little and grown-up taste buds will both enjoy! Older ones will enjoy some Valentine-themed crafts, and you can create a love-themed playlist for some background lovey vibes!
Spend the day snuggling
Is there a better excuse than Valentine’s Day to enjoy some extra kisses and cuddles with your little Valentine?! It’s true what they say, the days are long but the years are short, so try not to get bogged down with the to-do list and spend the day soaking up those cuddles with your little ones.
However you choose to spend Valentine’s Day, we are all sending you some extra love this season from us all at Rosa & Bo.
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
Dribble is certainly a symptom that is associated with teething. However, if you have seen an increase in saliva at around three months, this is probably because your baby’s salivary glands have begun to develop. Baby’s salivary glands begin to work at this stage in preparation for starting solid food, what hasn’t quite developed yet is your baby’s ability to move their saliva to the back of their throat to swallow. If you are finding that you need to use bibs already, or constantly change their wet baby grow, it is likely that salivary glands are to blame rather than the development of teeth. It absolutely won’t harm for your baby to begin using teething toys however, my recommendation would be to get something that you can also play with so that even if your baby isn’t using it for teething yet, you still get play value from them. Have you seen our super cute Bo Bunny Teether here at Rosa & Bo? We love playing peekaboo with our teether in our house as well as using it to soothe sore gums!
But what about if my baby keeps biting their hands at three months? Combined with an increase in dribble, it seems only sensible to guess that your baby is teething, right? This may be the case, but a lesser known fact is that babies actually gain more control over their hands at… you guessed it, three months old! Babies explore by putting things in their mouths as that’s where they have the most nerve endings, so they get lots of information about an object by mouthing it. This includes their hands, so it might not necessarily be a sign of early teething.
So your newborn arrives, and you begin to settle into some sort of sleeping pattern. In fact at night… they are actually sleeping pretty well. From three months onwards, your baby’s sleeping pattern seems to be all over the place. Could it be teething that is interrupting their slumber?! Whilst it could be teething, again, it’s probably more to do with the fact that now your baby is twelve weeks old, they are starting to wake up to the world. They are not so sleepy anymore, and they are learning the world is an exciting place to be! This cues millions of brain connections as your baby is learning and taking in so much information, which they are processing and this is responsible for keeping them awake. As frustrating and tiring as this is, it’s actually an incredible milestone in your baby’s development. Luckily, most babies do settle back into sleeping more after what is known as the ‘four-month sleep regression’, but it is entirely normal infant behaviour to wake during the night (even though most things we read don’t support this fact!).
If you have any questions about teething we would always point you in the direction of your GP or Health Visitor. We hope that with the help of our Bo Bunny Teether every baby will have an easier teething journey!
1. Put a gate of presents around the tree
Ok, a gate may sound a bit much, but, these tiny humans are surprisingly strong, so if you are going to build a present gate you need to think of what is really heavy that you can wrap up. You could have some boxes filled with recipe books, for example, wrap these up and et voila! Your present gate is complete and your tree is safe!
2. Ditch the delicate ornaments
Save yourselves a whole heap of stress but not putting on the glass baubles this year. You can make inexpensive felt or foam decorations with your children, or perhaps you already have some soft or wooden decorations that you can put on the tree. I speak from experience when I say… glass is a no-no!
3. Look into Christmas tree alternatives
There are some absolutely gorgeous felt Christmas trees on the market where your child can happily, and safely take off the ornaments and put them back on, which let's face it, is exactly what they want to do with a real tree and exactly what you don’t want them to, so everyone wins with a felt tree.
Or there are so ‘ladder’ style Christmas trees, which look lovely. You can still get the effect of a Christmas tree in your home, but it’s mounted to a wall so there is no danger of it being pulled down! I am opting for both of these options this year.
4. Tabletop tree
You could opt for a smaller tree, and put it up high. That way you still get to put up your treasured decorations, and little hands and eyes can admire them from afar!
5. If you are going to put up your regular tree- secure it well!
Run don’t walk for this tip people! You can secure the top of your tree with some transparent elastic securing it to the wall and tying it around the top of your tree. To secure the base, you could wrap some bricks and place them around the feet of the stand.
But even if all this feels a bit much, you could always opt for no tree this year. Ultimately, you don’t want to cause yourself or your little ones unnecessary stress, so we would advise you to go with whichever option feels easiest for you! That way you can focus on enjoying spending time together, which after all is what Christmas is all about!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
What should I get my child for Christmas this year?
Let’s be honest, out of the piles of presents that children often get for Christmas, it’s usually only one or two of the beautifully wrapped gifts that make it to the top spot in your child’s eyes, or more often than not, the wrapping and box the gift came in are the best part! So when it comes to deciding what gifts to get your child, why not consider the following:
I can’t claim to have made this rhyme up, (I don’t remember where I first heard it!) but I do use it for my children every year. Not only has it saved us a fortune but it has also ensured we aren’t left with cupboards full of unused toys.
If your child’s toy cupboard does need an update, I would really encourage you to think about what toys are going to last your child through their early years and are open ended. Quality toys, that are open ended i.e. have multiple uses, are really important to Rosa & Bo, our toys are built to last. Head to our website here, to see our beautiful range of toys which are sure to be at the top of your child’s ‘want’ list!
Leaving biodegradable glitter outside left by Santa’s sleigh
Ok, so the mince pie has been eaten, toys are under the tree, but that definitely could have been one of the parents. How do children really know if Father Christmas has been?
You can keep the magic alive and know that you aren’t damaging the environment by sprinkling biodegradable glitter outside your home, acting as the magic fairy dust that helps the sleigh to fly.
Just don’t forget to hide the glitter pot after a few mulled wines!
Play hide the ornament
The origins of this game are a little vague, but the essence is brilliant and something that children and grown ups will love. Experts believe that glass gherkins have been hung on American Christmas trees since the late 1800s. Of course it doesn’t have to be a gherkin, this would work with any novelty Christmas decoration that simply needs to be hidden and other members of the family have to find.
We hide a white sparkly hedgehog that currently has no name, maybe we will bestow a name upon him this Christmas!
Decorate a Father Christmas plate
Is there anything cuter than a chubby little toddler handprint? Yes… one on a plate that holds treats for Santa!
You can visit your local pottery cafe or buy kits online where you can create your own plate for Father Christmas’ mince pie and Rudolf’s carrot. As those little fingers grow, you can watch them placing the treats on the same plate year after year, a beautiful Christmas tradition.
Snuggle up with your copy of The Night Before Christmas
This book is a classic! Imagine yourself snuggled up with your brood, reading this magical Christams tale year after year. The pages might become a little crumpled, but within years to come you’ll all know all the words. If you haven’t got a copy yet… here is your nudge. We can’t promise the ‘’Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse’’ the night before Christmas though I’m afraid, little ones may just be too excited!
What traditions do you do every year with your family? We would love to know! Tag us in your photos on social media so we can see how you and your loved ones celebrate on the lead up to the big day!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
You can find her on social media @sarahldoman or check out her website here.]]>This weekend we set up this lovely, simple, and fun play idea with coloured sensory rice. We choose to create a Rainbow theme to match our Nesting Babies.
Things you will need
Rice, vinegar, food dye, a container with a lid or zip lock bag and a teaspoon
What to do
1. Measure out a cup of rice and add to the container or bag.
2. Add one teaspoon of vinegar (this helps to spread and set the colour without it coming off on your hands).
3. Add a few drops of dye and mix by shaking the bag or box. Add more colour as desired.
4. Spread the rice on a plate for around 24 hours to dry. The rice may smell strongly of vinegar but this will go away before its ready for playtime.
5. Have fun! And don't forget to involve them in cleaning up the mess too.
Please remember any play suggestions that involve food or household items should be under direct adult supervision at all times. This is not suitable for young children who may try to ingest the rice.
]]>Squishing, squashing and squelching! Many children absolutely love to get involved with messy play. But does it really help your child develop? Absolutely! Messy play allows children to learn, develop and explore in a completely unstructured way. Here is a play idea you can try with your little one.
What you will need?
Foam (we used gentle shaving foam)
Food dye
Stirring sticks or spoons
Large mixing bowl or play tray
Rainbow nesting Babies (optional)
Washing up liquid and sponge
How to play?
1. Add foam to the play tray and add several drops of food colouring in the desired colour. Use a small stick or spoon to mix the colour into the foam.
2. We used our Rainbow Nesting Babies to demonstrate colour matching.
3. Get stuck in and have fun mixing it all up with the spoons or your hands.
4. Make sure you involve your little one in the washing up too!
We hope you have fun! Please remember that any activity involving household items needs to be under adult supervision at all times. Please do not try this activity if your child is likely to put the foam or other items in their mouth.
]]>Visual tracking is a skill that allows us to control where we focus our eye gaze. As this skill develops, it will enable the eye to track movements from side to side, up and down, round and round and diagonally, generally, babies can track around the age of 2-3 months. Our Bunny Teether is a lovely highly contrasted toy which will attract baby’s attention to help them track, you can find them here.
It is important for your baby because it relates to lots of other areas of development. For example:
For the first two months, you might notice that your baby sometimes appears to be cross-eyed, or their eyes seem to wander to the sides. This is because their eyes do not work together very well until around 3 months of age.
At about 2 months babies can usually follow a moving object, so try moving a highly contrasted object slowly from side to side and see if they can follow it. You can buy our Chiming Shakers which would be a really useful tool for this activity and support baby’s hearing development too.
At 3 months old, your baby’s eyes might be able to work together and your baby may even reach out and be able to bat at a toy, a jungle gym is a great activity to encourage this.
At around 5 months old a baby is able to see in 3D. They have also developed something called depth perception which means they can begin to tell how far away something is from them. It is a great idea to place objects in front of them during tummy time to see if baby will begin to reach out for the toys (and perhaps you will see a little shuffle as they try to move towards it!), our Nesting Babies would be perfect for this, and there are lots of options of colours and characters to choose from!
Babies can usually begin to recognise their parents from across the room around this stage and will smile when they see them. Though their sight is still not quite as developed as an adult’s. Try calling your baby from across the room whilst in sight and see what their reaction will be, peekaboo is a lovely game to introduce at this stage too!
At around 9 months of age, children often begin to pull themselves up to stand. This is because their sight has developed to judge distance well. Baby walkers are a great tool at around this age to practise this skill!
At around 12 months many babies are crawling, their developed sight will help them figure out all the places they want to go. They will usually be very skilled at picking up things with their thumb and forefinger too (these items usually end up in baby’s mouth of course!). Babies love the try to watch bubbles fall and will sometimes try to pop them at this age too- such a lovely activity!
Please remember that all children develop at their own pace, and every baby is different. So if your baby isn’t doing one of these skills at a particular age, this is usually nothing to worry about. However, if you do have any concerns, we would encourage you to contact your GP or Health Visitor.
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman.]]>Do you remember playing with Polly Pocket, a doll's house, or racing cars? All of these things are classed as ‘small world play’. Did you know that small world play has some enormous benefits for your child’s development? This blog is packed full of tips and ideas for the best toys and resources to support your child’s development!
Some of our strongest play memories are associated with this kind of play. Memories that you can clearly recall from your childhood are synapses that were formed and stored in your brain, so, if you can clearly recall some small world play, which most of us can, this shows you just how impactful this kind of play can be! Essentially, small world play is pretend play with figures and dolls that encourage children to create playful and detailed worlds, in miniature form. As I’ve already mentioned, you might remember playing dolls or figures as a child, and, the options these days are endless; farms, fairies, firefighters, and small figures. Small world play is one of the most beneficial activities that your child can engage in. Here at Rosa & Bo, we have a wide selection of dolls to support your child with this kind of play.
Small world play encourages children to develop narratives, helping them to storytell.
You may have seen your child giving characters little voices (so cute!), or perhaps have been involved in your child’s small world play, and have first-hand experience of just how specific children’s narratives can be when it comes to storytelling for small world play, ‘’no not like that Mummy!’’. Your child is absorbing information from you, books, television and watching people all the time. Small world play allows them to piece together all this information and develop their own story. All you have to do is provide the props! A wide selection of people, animals and types of buildings will support your child to come up with their own ideas, the more adventurous the better- think mixing dinosaurs with a school!
Small world play gives children a safe outlet to repeat experiences
Pretend play can be really helpful when children need to repeat something to process the experience. Positive or negative, perhaps there has been an occasion where a child might want to repeat an experience to help them make sense of it. For example, if there was an occasion where was difficult to share a toy, a child can reenact this during small world play. This can support a child see someone else's point of view. Using small dolls in a home-based setup may support your child with something like this. Check out this BBC article on the importance of children’s play.
Small world play boosts children's self-esteem and self-confidence
In small world play, children can explore their own ideas. Sometimes during play, children tend to follow others’ lead, this can be really helpful in extending play and keeping a game going. When your child has the opportunity to create a small world for themself, it lets them test out ideas and boost their confidence which will support them in future when playing in a group. It’s best not to interrupt your child when they are engaged in this kind of play, so consider setting it up when you have a free morning or afternoon.
Small world play develops children's fine motor control
Having control over figures requires children to use their palms or pincer grip. Both of these are critical to developing the muscles needed to learn to use a pencil, get dressed, and tie shoes. But none of this is possible without developed fine motor muscles, so the more play they get with small figures- the better! Animals, people, or fairies, follow your child’s interest and the fine motor skills will follow.
Small world play helps children understand the world
The world is big and complicated- there are many types of places, people, jobs and environments to learn about. It’s hard enough to fathom as an adult, so, what better way to explore, than through play?! You could create the Amazon rainforest, a police station, a zoo, a school, or somewhere totally imaginary.
The best way to engage your child in this kind of play is to create an ‘invitation to play’, we have a blog here on why parents are the best teachers (and playmates!) for their little ones, and some more ideas for play. Our Rosa & Bo Nesting Babies and Nesting Friends are perfect for this kind of play and can be adapted to whatever your child is interested in. Rosa could become Queen for the day and maybe Benji Bunny could go in a spaceship. I wonder where you will go and what you will discover! Happy Playing!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of
school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman.]]>
Did you know that your children learn better with you than anyone else? That’s right, as parents you are your child’s first and most important educator! You know your child better than anyone, and because young children learn through play, you are best placed to provide them with the toys and play games that they are interested in.
Parents are so important to a child’s learning that early years settings are actively encouraged to include parents' views when considering how best to meet a child’s needs because of the extensive evidence that when parents are included, children learn the most! You can read some of the guidance early years settings are given on involving ‘Parents as Partners’ here. So as we approach Mother’s Day this year, give yourselves an extra pat on the back, not only do we at Rosa & Bo think you’re doing an amazing job… it’s scientifically proven!
Children learn the best when they feel safe, secure and loved. Who better to help your child feel all of these things than their parents?! You grew your baby, you are their home, and they are hardwired to connect with you. Many moons ago, when babies were being born in caves, it wouldn’t have been safe for them to be alone, so from an evolutionary perspective, it just makes sense that they will want to be with you! Having you nearby means that children can feel safe, and when they feel safe they are able to take on new information and learn new skills.
As children grow and develop they may experience separation anxiety, being away from you makes them feel unsafe. Separation anxiety is typical for babies at around nine months, but it’s not uncommon for children of all ages to feel this anxiety at different times of their life. The good news is there are some things you can do to support your child’s sense of security.
It’s important that children feel safe and secure so that their nervous system can be regulated, if children have too much of the stress hormone that’s triggered when they feel unsafe, studies have shown this actually inhibits the brain growth of children and overall development. You can help your child to feel safe by being consistent with your behaviour and routines so that children can begin to learn what to expect at different times of the day.
One of the earliest routines that tend to be established is the bedtime routine. Reading a book after a bath is a lovely way to wind down and signal to your child that it’s time for sleep. Our book ‘Rosa & Bo Say Hello’ is the perfect length for a bedtime story for under-twos!
Mother’s Day is the ideal time to snuggle up with your little ones and enjoy a good book and a cuddle, safe in the knowledge you’re enhancing their development at the same time. We know it’s not easy and we see what an incredible job you are doing as a parent and we are so honoured to be part of your parenting journey. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman .
]]>
When you have your baby, it's so amazing to witness just how quickly they grow and develop, people told you it would go fast, but living it is a whole other reality, right?! Along with a each age and stage there is also a brand new set of vocabulary for parents to understand; regressions, leaps, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills. If you’d like to know more about what to expect in terms of your child’s development, there is a brilliant PDF you can download from Pre-School Learning Alliance available here. The great thing is when you understand more about these terms you can provide the right kind of activities to enhance your child’s learning, and one question I have been asked a lot is, ‘’what are fine motor skills?’’ and ‘’why are fine motor skills important?’’, so we are going to explore that here!
Fine motor skills are the coordination of using the muscles in the hands and fingers along with the muscles in the eyes. You need these skills for lots of self-care tasks, for example, managing toileting, getting dressed and eating and drinking. You also use fine motor skills for everyday tasks too that involve using tools e.g. writing a list, drawing or using scissors, skills children will need increasingly. Babies aren’t born with developed fine motor skills, but the rapid rate of development that takes place in the first three years means that they develop all their muscles, including their hand and eye muscles very quickly. As well as physical development the brain development is particularly rapid in under two’s, in fact, there is very little difference between the size of a ten-year-old and a two-year-old brain. Your child will need well developed fine motor skills to manage their self-care needs and for more formal learning, in preparation for starting school. We know that the best way for children to learn is through play, here are some great play activities for children under five from Hungry Little Minds, for now, lets take a look at some play based activities which will support your little one’s fine motor development!
Playing with dough is quite possibly the most versatile way to develop your child’s fine motor skills. Rolling, pinching or squishing it into moulds is exactly what is required to build up the hand muscles for more complex tasks. In addition, it's also a soft malleable material that is gentle on your young child’s joints. Here are some quick and simple ways of using dough to support your child’s fine motor skills:
Sorting
Sorting activities are really useful for fine motor skills because they give your child a reason to pick up a toy and find where it goes. Peg puzzles are one activity that is great for this, but the play with a peg puzzle tends to end once it is complete. At Rosa and Bo we have also recently released our Woodlies collection, choosing from either our woodland animal Woodlies or our little friends Woodlies there are spaces for all the characters in the wooden boat, but rather than having a specific space for the character to go in, children can self select where each character might fit. This means children are thinking creatively and critically about where they think a character could go, and this game can be repeated coming up with different sequences each time, allowing children to consolidate this new skill. As the characters are quite large, this activity is particularly suited to younger children who have not yet developed the ability to skillfully use their thumb and forefinger, they can use their whole palm to grasp the character and find them a space.
These are so much fun for parents to create and for children of all ages to do! There are plenty of busy boards for you to buy, but the secret to long-lasting play is to create a DIY board you can adapt over the years, growing with your child’s interests.
What you’ll need:
Then you just allow your child to create in whatever way they please. Your child’s learning is in the creative process rather than the finished creation. Allowing your child to select items from the container will help them develop their pincer grip (so important for writing, using scissors etc) and pushing the items onto the sticky plastic will help build their wrist muscles too. Check out my latest reel on Instagram to see my daughter having fun with our super-simple busy board!
I hope this gives you some brilliant play opportunities, plus the opportunity to develop your little one’s fine motor skills, and if you share any of the fun you get up to on social media, don’t forget to tag us in your post, we love seeing what you get up to, happy playing!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman
]]>There are so many festivals and celebrations celebrated the world over, by bringing our children’s attention to these when they are little we can help broaden their knowledge of different cultures and countries. Celebrating the Chinese New Year is not a new phenomenon in the UK, but what we have become more aware of in recent times is that we are using the incorrect term to celebrate this festival, the more accurate term is ‘Lunar New Year’. The Lunar New Year is not only celebrated in China, it is also celebrated in Korea, Vietnam and Tibet, not to mention the many other countries around the world that celebrate this festival.
Although specific celebrations and dates vary by country and culture, there is a common theme throughout the celebrations that are held for the Lunar New Year. It is a time to reunite with immediate and extended family, often accompanied by exchanging gifts, money to bring good fortune, partying in the streets, setting off fireworks and eating delicious and symbolic foods. There are so many learning opportunities within this festival to help teach our children and celebrate many different cultures, and of course, have lots of fun! So, here are some ideas to celebrate the Lunar New Year with your children:
1. Sensory play
This can take on many different forms depending on the age, stage and interests of your children. For those who have children who love to try new foods, a symbolic food that is served for Lunar New Year is often spring rolls which resemble gold bars and symbolise wealth, this may be a great way to introduce a new flavour and teach your children about Lunar New Year. Another way that you can introduce sensory play for Lunar New Year is through the sense of touch and feel; a tray with rice (which you can colour if you’re feeling extra creative!), you can vary the textures by having cooked and dry rice. You could add chopsticks and tongs for your child to have a go with, this will support your child’s developing fine motor skills. In Asia rice is often served in small bowls, here is a brilliant way to use our nesting babies as little bowls to serve rice in for role play or set up a sensory play tray:
2. The story of zodiac animals
Depending on which country you are exploring, there are different zodiac animals associated with different years. Chinese Zodiac is represented by twelve zodiac animals, each zodiac animal has its own attributes. There is a legendary story behind the order of the zodiac animals; the story goes that a race was organised by one of the most important gods in Chinese religion who invited all the animals in the world to take part.
Twelve species showed up at the start line, as a reward for turning up, the Emperor named a year in the zodiac after each one, while the race would determine the order each animal would be placed.
Cbeebies have created a great video of the story, which you can share with your children here.
To develop your child’s understanding of these animals even further, you could look through your child’s small world animal selection, and set up a mini play scene as a follow on activity to the story. Your child can play with the animals, perhaps even using their imagination to reenact the story, adding props to a story deepens children’s understanding as having something to hold is much more tangible.
3. Firework pictures
Fireworks are frequently used in Lunar New Celebrations, as many believe that they ward off evil spirits. Whilst warding off evil spirits may not be a topic that you wish to introduce your pre-schooler to (!), you can support your child to make their own representation of fireworks that they may see or hear as your head off to bedtime, or if you intend to go to an organised display. Using dark coloured paper and PVA glue or chalks can be very effective for firework pictures as they highlight the contrasting colours. These aren’t a necessity though when we allow children to have any creative outlet to express what they have heard, seen or experienced this allows the learning experience to be consolidated. One way to do this is by giving your child the opportunity to explore with art and craft resources after a new event, and allowing them to be free to create whatever masterpiece they wish!
We really hope that this helps give you some ideas to celebrate Lunar New Year with your young family!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman .
]]>
Christmas Day is fast approaching! This has got to be one of the best times of year to be a parent! We know, we know… it’s a lot of work! But the look on their little faces Christmas morning will be so worth it. You can add to the anticipation and build-up of Christmas by celebrating the whole season. There are plenty of Christmas activities and ideas out there, but so many are geared for older children, and often it’s the adults that end up completing them. So here are 12 days of Christmas activities for you to have fun with your little ones, that are play-based and age-appropriate for under-fives.
1. Make some festive playdough- add cinnamon, spice and glitter!
Here’s an easy recipe for you to use:
This is also a great opportunity to use any festive cookie cutters, but if you don’t have cookie cutters our Nesting Babies also double up as a great alternative!
2. Learn a Christmas song!
This is one of my favourites that can be sung to the tune of London’s Burning:
‘’Christmas pudding,
Christmas pudding,
Steaming hot!
Steaming hot!
Sprinkle on the sugar,
Sprinkle on the sugar,
Eat the lot,
Eat the lot!’’
You can add actions to this song to support children even further with their development- you can check out our IGTV here where I demonstrate the actions for you!
3. Have a Santa bath!
Using bubble bath to grow bubble beards and make bubble hats is snow much fun!
4. Messy play!
If you caught last months blog you’ll already know that messy play has so many benefits for our children. You can theme your messy play this month with Christmassy inspiration! Try:We think our Blue Pastel Nesting Babies would make a super cute addition to any snowy scene!
5. Bundle in the car or walk around your local area to see the Christmas lights!
6. Decorate your own wrapping paper
Is it even Christmas if you don’t use glitter?! You can help the environment and your bank balance by decorating your own wrapping paper. Stickers, stamps or glitter, what do you have you could use? We also love that our Nesting Babies can double up as stamps by dipping them in paint before printing.
7. Setup a Christmas Cafe!
Mince pie anyone?! My answer is always ‘yes’! You can use real or pretend play food and a tea set to make a Christmas cafe. You don’t need much more than your child and their imagination for this activity, but how about making a menu by cutting and sticking some pictures of festive foods and adding this to your cafe. Have a search for the following images to help make your menu more interactive:
8. Decorate a Christmas Tree!
No the green spiky kind… on a large sheet of paper draw a tall thin triangle, and get some stickers (coloured round ones that can act as baubles work well), stick this to a wall or a door and allow your child to decorate the Christmas tree! My top tip for supporting children to use stickers independently is to remove the backing paper from the sticker sheet so that children can remove the stickers independently.
9. Christmas dance party!
Our kitchen is our favourite place to rock our favourite moves! One of the most joyful things about Christmas, and helps build memories, plus a massive dose of nostalgia is Christmas music. So if you need a change of pace or scenery, putting on some tunes and rocking around the Christmas tree never gets old!
10. Memory Game
We have a gorgeous Tops & Tails Matching Game here at Rosa & Bo, and you can add to this and make it festive themed. Have you got two matching baubles, two matching decorations, or two pieces of tinsel that you can add to the game to help your child match real objects as well as the matching cards? This will support your child’s memory building skills and allow them to explore the Christmassy items up close!
We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and would absolutely love to know if you try any of these activities with your little ones. Do let us know by contacting us on our Instagram page @rosaandbo
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman .
Squishing, squashing and squelching! Many children absolutely love to get involved with messy play. But does it really help your child develop? Absolutely! Messy play allows children to learn, develop and explore in a completely unstructured way. It also helps children to develop movement control, including fine and gross motor skills and supports co-ordination development too. It’s not often that children have the opportunity to explore using their entire body, hands, arms, legs, feet and body… all of these can be explored through messy play! The great thing is, there is no right or wrong way to do messy play. As we firmly head into the colder months, here are some Autumnal themed ideas for your little ones to explore, have fun and… get messy!
As the days get shorter and the weather changes, some of our furry friends begin to create their cosy nests for the months ahead. By providing your child with materials such as; sticks, feathers, pinecones, fabric, small wooden blocks, you can encourage your child to make a home for some woodland creature that will go into hibernation soon. By doing this you can also teach your child about different texture by describing the materials you have provided and increase the number of words in their vocabulary. Using our Woodland Friends nesting babies to support your child with this kind of play would support their development even further by making habitats for different animals a less abstract idea, and also encourage them to use their imagination by extending the play using the Woodland Friends as little characters.
‘Tis the season to carve a pumpkin! If you are a pre-schooler the act of carving a pumpkin is not actually that much fun, simply because it requires the fine and gross motor skills and muscle development of a much older person (let’s be honest… usually a willing parent!). But that doesn’t mean the youngest children can’t get involved. The inside of a pumpkin is actually very interesting for a small child. When you cut the top off a pumpkin and lift it up, you reveal all of the seeds and flesh hanging down from the lid- so many opportunities here to use new language: slimy, sticky, smooth etc! Then, by scooping out the inside of the pumpkin children have the opportunity to experience all kinds of different textures from the flesh, seeds and tough skin. You can simply put this on your child’s high chair or in a tray and allow them to explore. Or if your child isn’t keen on the texture, try using a zip lock food bag and allowing your child to explore the inside of the pumpkin without getting it on their hands. Halloween may be behind us but there is not reason to not try this again or with another fruit/vegetable.
One of my favourite things about Autumn are the incredible colours that we see as the trees begin to change colour, and then watching as the fall to the ground. You can have great fun and learn so much about size, colour and shape by heading out on a Sacvenger hunt and collecting all different kinds of leaves. Bring them home and place them on a tray outside to allow your child to really study the different features of the leaves, listen to rustling sound, and perhaps find a minibeast friend who has made their way home with you! You can extend your child’s learning here by introducing the language of size such as: small, medium and big. You could also add resources such as magnifying glasses and bug catchers to really encourage them to take a closer look. You can take this even further by introducing a song to this activity, Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down to the tune of ‘My Fair Lady’, is a really simple song that young children love (and it’s easy for adults to remember!). Check out Nigel from the Baby Club singing it here.
We hope that you and your children have great fun getting messy this Autumn- we would love to hear if you have given these activities a go! Get in touch with us on Instagram @rosaandbo and we’ll feature your photographs on our account.
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman .
]]>
There is also a competition on our Instagram page where you are able to win these gifts! We think it is an amazing prize bundle for Christmas Day! Click HERE to enter on Instagram.
Happy Browsing......
]]>
At Rosa & Bo, we believe it's the little moments that are the big things in life. That’s why we’re passionate about supporting baby and toddler development by creating happy memories through play, and inspiring parents to enjoy quality time with their child. It’s this that drives us to develop fun and creative products that your children and you will revel in.
Our happy little Rosa and Bo Woodlies characters have arrived in easy-to-grab sustainable wood that is the perfect size for little hands. Our Woodlies help to develop hand to eye co-ordination, recognition skills and fantasy play.
However, they do not need to be confined to the environment we created for them. There is no reason why your Woodlies can not venture into the dolls house, the sand pit or start an adventure duelling with dinosaurs. The imagination of a toddlers mind can take them anywhere in the world and at Rosa & Bo we encourage this curiosity. I am so excited to hear your stories of how these characters have shaped your child's world through play. Cherish this time playing (as much the household chores, work and multi tasking mayhem allows). Continue to 'play at making memories' with your children and remember that you are always enough for them.
Thank you so much to every single person that supports our small business and from one mother to another, I salute you.
Laura xxx
Founder at Rosa & Bo
]]>
Trying to entertain small children is no mean feat, so, when you find an activity that meets the needs of older and younger children you are onto a winner! Although siblings may be close in age, the gap in their developmental age can be vast, which is why this can sometimes feel so tricky. Therefore, when trying to engage older and younger children in the same activity, the best option is to use resources that are open-ended, so that children are not expected to achieve the same result, which is what often leads to frustrations! Instead by using free play, children get to explore at their own pace. Here are four open-ended activities that can be enjoyed by younger and older children alike!
Puppet play is perfect for younger and older children. Older children can choose and use different puppets to retell a familiar story, or even come up with their own story, this is great to improve their recall and literacy skills. You can help children create a little puppet theatre behind sofa cushions or blanket over a table. The good news is, you don’t necessarily need to have puppets to create a show, using people or animals that you already have around the home will reduce the number of toys you need to store plus, it encourages children to use their imagination. Our Nesting Babies are the perfect example of people or animals that can be used in different kinds of play, you can head to our website to learn more about them here. Younger children will love exploring the different characters, and studying their features. They will also learn that stories have a beginning, middle and end far easier than simply using a book because the props used will help them connect more to the story, improving both older and younger children’s development- that’s a win-win in my book!
Playdough can provide hours of entertainment for young and old! Younger children will get so much from the sensory aspect of play dough exploring different colours and textures is brilliant for improving children’s senses. Playdough is also great for helping both younger and older children develop the important muscles in their hands and fingers develop strength for using tools such as pens, pencils and scissors. Older children can use their imagination to create whatever they wish, and use play dough tools to develop their fine motor skills and refine their creations. Extend this even further with some new ideas to extend your children’s development through playing with playdough:
Magnets are a brilliant resource for children of all ages to play and explore with! Older children can learn about the scientific elements of magnets or if you use letters and numbers you can help them extend their literacy and numeracy skills too. Children of all ages love to problem solve! Exploring taking magnets on and off surfaces around your home, and problem-solving which is or isn’t a magnetic surface is a lovely activity siblings can enjoy together. You don’t need to buy specific resources or a whiteboard for children to explore magnets, using cooking equipment you already have means you can separate these between different childre. Some of my favourite resources to use to explore magnets around the home are:
Of course, magnets are a resource that can be small and easily swallowed, so we’d recommend ensuring this activity is supervised.
Not the woolly kind… Colourful chiffon scarves and an empty tissue box are some of the best resources that I have seen for younger and older children to enjoy together! Younger children will love having them tied together and pulling out the multi-coloured scarves, playing peekabo and exploring looking through the different coloured chiffons. All these games are perfect for getting older children involved, and allowing them to lead some of these games may sustain their attention too! Something for both children… throwing them up in the air and allowing them to fall over children is so much fun!
The great thing about all these resources is they are so versatile, you probably won’t need to suggest how to play with many of them. If you can sit back, allow children to explore and come up with their own ideas, that’s when really deep level learning takes place. Plus… when siblings are free playing together, there is also the most incredible bonding that happens, this is so special for parents to see! We’d love to hear if you have been inspired to give any of these activities a go, send us your pictures to @rosaandbo and we’ll share them on our grid or stories.
Why is role play important for child development?
Role play is a technical term for make-believe or imaginative play. It is incredibly important and beneficial for children as it helps them to consolidate what they have already learnt by repeating an experience they have been through. It is also one of the best possible outlets for creative and imaginative play, this is so important in the structured world that we live in! Providing a dressing up box is one very small part of role play, and you might be surprised to hear about some of the benefits this kind of play can provide for your child, and actually that you don’t need to provide many props at all! Here are my top 3 reasons why role play is great for child development...
You absolutely can provide a dressing up box and/or props to support your child’s role play, but these are nice to have rather than being necessary for quality role play, and in fact, at times having props may actually hinder rather than help imagination to flourish. In order for children to sustain their attention during play, resources should be as open-ended as possible, props that you can buy for the purpose of role play tend to be very specific to the topic, for example; a sword for a knight. By encouraging children to take charge of their games, they are more likely to become deeply involved in the play for a longer period of time. By providing your child with a choice, or by encouraging them to seek out their own props, you give them the opportunity to use decision making skills, use their imagination and the prop can be recycled with a new life over and over again. Nature provides some of the best opportunities for open ended play, for example: a stick may become:
It is also worth thinking about what open-ended toys that your child already loves to play with, and how they can be used in other ways. Here at Rosa & Bo, one of our most versatile toys are our Nesting Babies. The Russian Doll style means that the babies can be taken apart and the cups could be used in ‘cooking’ or during a ‘tea-party’ or even to hide some hidden treasure! Check them out if you’re looking for resources to extend your child’s play!
Role play is absolutely amazing for developing all aspects of young children’s communication and language skills. If you consider some of the scenarios a child may choose to make an imaginary game from such as:
There is an absolute wealth of vocabulary to be discovered within these scenarios! This gives children the chance to extend their vocabulary by engaging with the following:
Giving them a reason to ask questions about the game, including: who, what, where, how questions, all of these are key to developing vocabulary skills and conversational skills too. All of this language development takes place in an environment that’s free from pressure and develops organically, which is the ideal way for children to gain confidence with their language skills!
If you’d like to know more about how to support your child’s communication and language skills, this parents guide on ages and stages from ICAN is a great place to start.
Have you noticed that your child loves to pretend to make a cup of tea? Or loves to play doctors? By reenacting scenarios that your child has observed and experienced, this helps them make sense of the world around them, and also gives the opportunity for two things that are critical to the way a child learns. They can either:
By having the opportunity to practise what they have observed and experienced
Children will usually start role playing with the experiences that they know and are familiar to them. By having the opportunity to take what they already know and build on this through role play. For example, your child may have had the opportunity to take part in some cooking with you. Of course, there will be certain parts of a cooking experience you are unable to safely allow your child to take part with, using role play, your child is able to complete the experience and therefore deepen their learning and understanding. For example, using their imagination, they may pretend to ‘open and close’ the oven, or ‘serve’ food.
We hope this has inspired you to enjoy some role play with your children! We would love to see pictures and videos of your children in action to share on our social media and inspire other parents with your ideas!
We are in the middle of the Summer Holidays, and inspiration for keeping your children may have taken a dip (let alone the bank balance!). But, it’s entirely doable to create a memory-filled Summer, on a budget that doesn’t take heaps of energy and preparation. There is a balance to be found between scheduling organised activities, and factoring in the downtime that everyone needs during the holidays. These five activities will allow you to spend time at home relaxing whilst still providing an element of structure and purpose, so when the time for Cbeebies arrives, you can switch it on guilt-free!
Though your children may not be that far apart in years (it certainly won’t feel like any gap at all by the time your children reach their twenties!), the age gap between older and younger siblings can feel vast. This is because developmentally they are at very different stages, and the difference isn’t just in the years they are apart… but the months too! The best way to combat this when considering how to set up activities is to follow your children’s interests and use open ended resources, i.e. something that doesn’t have a fixed end goal. This way children can bring their own interests and unique learning styles to the experiences that you provide for them. All of the activities that are suggested here will suit children of differing ages… but you may find they end up wanting to do the same thing anyway!
1. A Nature Hunt in the Garden!
Being out in the natural environment provides open ended play and experiences in abundance! You could set your older children a challenge to find a certain number of bugs that you know are frequent visitors to your garden. Here are a few resources which will enhance this activity:
For younger children, think mud exploration! You don’t have to have a fancy mud kitchen to create this experience. Allowing younger children to have an area to dig in the mud with resources that they get to choose nearby will keep them engaged for more sustained periods of time. Here are some open ended resources to support this kind of play:
2. Let them be bored
Ok, it’s not an activity but this is something that will boost your child’s development. Research has shown that it’s actually beneficial for children to feel bored, this encourages them to be creative and use their imagination. So don’t feel like you must provide something every moment of the day, leave them to their own devices and watch the creativity flourish!
3. Water Play
The opportunities for playing in water are endless, and water is such an amazing resource to capture the interests of younger and older children… I mean, when we are lucky enough to have paddling pool weather that pretty much sets us up for the day, right?! Here are just some of the benefits of water play for our youngest learners:
There is still so much to be learnt for our older children with water play, these kinds of resources will support their learning to understand different concepts:
4. Garden Camping
Trying to book a staycation in 2021 has been less than easy! But that doesn’t mean you can’t explore some fun under canvas if you weren’t able to get something booked this Summer.
If you have all the camping gear but nowhere to go- set it up in your garden and allow the children’s imaginations to run wild with a camping holiday at home!
No tent? No problem! Throwing a sheet over a table, adding some blankets and cushions will make a cosy play den for children of all ages. Want to enhance their fun and learning with some activities? Here are some ideas:
5. Take the inside out!
You don’t have to buy lots of new activities to keep your children entertained, bringing their favourite activities outdoors (if the weather permits!) can breathe a new lease of life into familiar toys and games. The novelty factor of playing somewhere new can keep children entertained for hours!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @sarahldoman
]]>Part of our celebrations last week for National Play Day 2021 was to share some of our favourite small brands in the world of play.
A wonderful combination of handpicked small businesses and experts that we believe are worth some extra love and attention.
View our guide here and Happy Browsing......
Love Laura, Sarah and Donna xxx
The Rosa & Bo Team
]]>
Developing a strong foundation in this area supports your child in almost all areas of their development and they are particularly important for;
As children’s language skills develop and they begin to form words and attempt to communicate, there is a golden rule here to support your child’s development… always allow them to finish what they are saying. My top tip for this is to count to (at least) ten in your head. By doing this we show children that their communication attempts are valid, and you value what they have to say. Not only that, it also models good listening skills, which as busy parents sometimes, we all need a reminder to slow down and take the time to tune in.
Nature provides us with so many learning opportunities, particularly when we tune into the sounds of the natural world. You don’t need anything special for this activity, just a pair of ears and time to explore! Everyone can get involved, from young babies to grandparents, just find a quiet spot to sit and simply listen. By doing this kind of activity with your children not only will they gain benefits from being outside, but you will also be supporting their developing literacy skills by working on something known as ‘sound discrimination’. If children are able to begin to pick up on the difference between a bird tweeting, and wind through the trees, for example, this will support their reading and writing skills when they are trying to break down phonetic sounds at school.
Within the middle of our Nesting Babies, we have a chiming Bo Bunny. Bo serves as great motivation to encourage children to use their fine and gross motor skills to get to the middle and hear his lovely chime. This is great for listening skills as the closer they get to Bo, the louder the chimes become. But, did you know you can extend this play by using your other Nesting Babies? Filling them with items such as dried pasta will make some great homemade shakers! Another way to really encourage some deep level exploration and investigation with your children is to put something soft such as cotton wool that doesn’t make much sound- or perhaps nothing at all. See if your child comes up with an idea of what they could put inside to make a noise! Having them get involved in this way and lead the play is where really deep level learning occurs.
Photo create @create_make_and_play
Reading tends to be an activity that you do with your child when things are a bit quieter and calmer. We do this so that children can listen, so by its very nature reading is a wonderful activity that’s designed to boost these skills. When you are building up a child’s listening skills it’s important to choose books that aren’t too complicated in illustration or text. The simple illustration will allow children to tune into what you are saying and use their imagination to create the story. Simple, repetitive language means that children will start to remember, understand and use the words. They might even be able to finish off the sentences that they are familiar with in time- this is a wonderful sign of children’s developing listening skills. Our Rosa & Bo board book is designed to be both simple in illustration and text to support children’s developing listening skills.
Photo credit @bellami.and.mummy
Singing is such a brilliant, easy way to boost your child’s listening skills. Songs that involve sounds such as Hickery, Dickery, Dock, Jelly on a Plate, and Old MacDonald had a farm are especially good for children to tune into sounds. Encouraging children to come up with sounds for animals that are more unusual in Old MacDonald, for example; a turtle or a narwhal, is really fun, interactive and usually leads to more exploration and discovery (and I often learn something new too!). For younger children who need some support to come up with unusual animals, our Woodland Friends Nesting Babies would be a brilliant support prop to encourage your child to use their imagination and get interact in this game!
It’s important to remember that all children develop differently, and if you have any concerns at all about your child’s development, contact your GP or your child’s Health Visitor.
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
The topic of maths tends to be thought of as quite a formal topic, and for many parents it can feel daunting if this was not a preferred subject at school! But we use maths all the time in our everyday life; stacking the dishwasher, separating washing, telling the time etc, and we begin using mathematical language with young children very early on in their life, ‘’would you like more milk?’’, ‘’you had a long nap today’’, ‘’all gone!’’. In terms of the early years curriculum, mathematics is known as one of the specific areas of learning which is taught from the age of three, but there are plenty of things you can be doing to introduce this topic to your children before the age of three.
Not only is maths a useful topic for children to learn about for more formal learning, it actually helps children make sense of the world around them. There are many different aspects of maths, and fun ways you can introduce these aspects to your children through play. Let’s explore some of these in this blog…
When it comes to teaching size, the more similar attributes something has, the easier it is for a child to grasp this concept, as it allows them to only focus on the change in size. There is so much inspiration within nature to draw upon when teaching mathematical concepts, talking about a small and large tree or leaf, is a great way to highlight the differences in size, for example.
Russian Dolls are a completely unique concept to learn about size, one which children are fascinated by. Our Rosa & Bo ‘Nesting Babies’ are inspired by Russian Dolls, and are the first Russian Doll inspired toy that is safe for children. These dolls allow you to introduce sizes small, medium and large to your children. Each doll has similar physical attributes, with only the colours differing, (apart from Bo Bunny!) allowing your child to clearly see the difference in size, and also solve the challenge of which order the Nesting Babies go in order to be put back together.
Size and capacity go hand in hand, and from a very early age children are fascinated by filling and emptying containers. There is so much value to be had in allowing your children to explore this kind of play- and better yet this can mostly be done in the garden or the bath which minimises clearing up time for you, and maximises play time for them! You don’t need any special resources to teach your children about capacity, you will find many everyday objects around your home.
Here are some of my top around the house resources for teaching capacity:
By teaching your children the language that is associated with capacity, they will be able to use this language in context and expand on their learning even more. Here are some terms to think about introducing during play.
Key terms for teaching capacity:
These siblings featured over on our Instagram page are having a brilliant time playing together and learning about capacity with our Nesting Babies:
You will almost certainly already be doing this already without even realising as there is so much mathematical language built into our language. For example, saying ‘’all gone’’, ‘’more’’, ‘’finished’’, this kind of language helps children to realise order and concepts. Because your child will likely already have some knowledge of this kind of language, it’s something you can begin to extend from a very early age.
Understanding spatial relationships is something children grasp very early on, you will know this if your child has ever been through a phase of separation anxiety, where they demonstrate their awareness of you not being there quite clearly- even if you are just popping to the loo!
This positional language in particular is really easy to introduce through everyday conversation and play, and great for your child’s development:
Our Top & Tails Matching Cards game is a fun and natural way to have conversations including this kind of language with your children:
Once you become aware of these concepts, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to add in and how much your child already knows. By introducing this language through play with an adult, children will then understand how to use this language in context within their independent play or with other children. If you’d like to know more about introducing mathematical concepts to your little one, check out this link from Cbeebies with lots of interactive resources.
Wondering and waiting for your child’s first word is such an exciting time as a parent, but in my experience children’s speech is one of the biggest worries that parents have about their child’s development too. Even if your child is a competent speaker, it’s always great to know how you can expand on their language skills, and if your little one isn’t quite there yet, read on to find out how you can encourage your child’s speech skills to develop.
Reading is so important for a child’s speech development. It allows you both to sit and focus on pictures and words, and is best done in an environment that is free from other distractions so that your child’s attention isn’t competing between Mr Tumble on the TV and what you are reading! Books that have simple pictures and pictures of faces and people are brilliant for capturing the attention of very young children. Our very first board book here at Rosa & Bo is perfect for capturing the attention of the youngest of readers. Having simple words that accompany the pictures support your child’s level of understanding and in time, they may be able to finish off the sentences from a book they are familiar with as they have seen you model this when reading to them.
Whether you have been blessed with the singing voice of an angel or not (!), singing is something that you can be doing to bond with your little one before they are even born. Singing supports your child’s sense of rhythm, rhyme and intonation. Action songs are particularly effective at building children’s sense of understanding, and you may find that they begin to join in with the actions before they have developed the ability the join in with the words of the songs. If you need to brush up on your action song repertoire, check out this video from the BBC.
We don’t often think about just how much skill is required to form words with our mouths and tongues, but there are lots of things that can be done to support children to learn skills that support speech sounds. For example; using straws to blow paper boats in a water tray, blowing bubbles either from a tube or bubble bath, pretending to make ‘fish’ sounds or horse hoof sounds are some play-based ways you can work on these skills. You can also check out my Instagram reel for a paint blowing activity which is also a fantastic way to work on building mouth muscles.
By following these speech principles from when your child is a baby until… well, for as long as you possibly can, this will support all aspects of communication and language development. When you are speaking with your child, as much as possible try to incorporate the following:
This helps children to know that you are speaking to them, they can read your expression and watch the way your mouth is moving in order to form words.
Once your child has started using a few words, one of the best ways to continue to build their speech development is by adding one word. This can be done using the environment around you, for example, if your child points to the sky and says ‘’sky’’, you can extend that for them by adding one word, saying ‘’blue sky’’. To take this even further you can support your child by using simple resources which will help your child to deepen their understanding through feel and touch. Our Woodland Friends Nesting Babies would be the perfect resource for this by having different kinds of animals, colours and a range of sizes. When your child points out a feature of the Nesting Babies, for example, ‘’bunny’’ you can respond by adding in size ‘’small bunny’’, which extends their language development and brings in a mathematical concept too.
It is important to remember that speech is just one aspect of your child’s communication and language development, understanding skills and listening and attention skills are equally important, so try not to worry if your child isn’t speaking as much as their peers. However, if you are worried about your child’s speech development, I would encourage you to speak to a health professional who may be able to signpost you to further support. If you would like to find out more about typical stages of children’s speech development I CAN, the children’s communication charity, has an excellent guide to the typical stages of speech and language development in babies, children and young people
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence.
You can find her on social media @sarahldoman or check out her website here.]]>The best possible way for children to learn is through play. Children are innately curious and will seek out playful opportunities almost anywhere! We can support and enhance our children’s development by providing enabling environments, opportunities and resources which will capture our children's interests and imaginations. There are so many toys available for our children to be bought, where do we start with making those choices for our children?
For our very youngest children (under three years old), development should focus on the following three areas:
Having a strong foundation in these areas will support children to go on and learn about more complex concepts that are explored in Maths and Science for example, as they grow and develop. You can learn more about the curriculum for under-fives that we have here in the United Kingdom by visiting this government website.
By carefully selecting the toys that your children play with, you can help your child develop in all of these areas. The key to selecting these toys is quality and not quantity. Studies have shown that children play for longer periods of time when they actually have less rather than more toys. A study from the University of Toledo in Ohio suggests “an abundance of toys present reduced quality of toddlers’ play.”
So, if you are worried about your home becoming more like a toy shop, you can have faith that reducing the number of toys that you have, in favour of selecting toys that support your child’s development will result in more creative and focussed play.
The key to selecting toys for your child is choosing toys that are known as ‘open-ended’. Essentially, choosing toys that can be used for more than one purpose, and don’t have a beginning, middle and end, a jigsaw puzzle is an example of a resource that only has one purpose.
Simple items are the best open-ended toys: dolls, blocks, pretend food can all take on the form of different games, characters and be transported to different environments.
It is also useful before you purchase toys to consider how well made the toys are, and how long they will last, for environmental reasons of course we must become more conscious about this. But also for sentimental reasons, it’s so lovely having toys that can be passed on to family members to relive the magic, play and delight that the toy brought to the original owner!
One of my favourite open-ended toys, that can also be passed down through family and friends that we have here at Rosa & Bo is our Nesting Babies.
Here are three ways that they can support the primary areas of development, in line with the early years curriculum:
Somewhere between two and three months of age is about the right time to introduce toys to your baby. You want to ensure that the toys you use are simple, and most importantly, safe, so do check with the manufacturers’ guidelines before allowing your child to play with them. Very young babies have a developing sense of sight, so simple colours such as black and white are the easiest for them to see. It is also useful to have slow-moving toys for a baby’s developing eye muscles to keep up with.
As children approach six months, this tends to be the time where teeth begin to make an appearance. You can soothe sore gums, and also introduce some fun teethers to play with. Babies of this age just love looking at faces, so try to choose one that has a friendly recognisable face such as our gorgeous Bo Bunny Sensory Teething Toy that’s mint flavoured which has the added benefit of preparing the baby for teeth brushing.
As babies grow in strength, and begin to explore signs of movement, giving them an incentive to move is a great idea! Putting toys just out of reach, or having something to crawl to will help get them keen to move and will also give you an idea of their individual preferences and interests for toys depending on whether they are motivated to move towards the toy.
From around twelve months you can begin to follow your child’s interests and introduce open-ended toys a little more to support their development. It’s important to remember that every child develops at their own unique pace, and if you have any worries about your child’s development, always speak to a professional for further guidance. You can find out more about your child’s development with this downloadable guide from Early Years Alliance.
We have so many things to consider when raising our children, toys are one resource that we can use to support and encourage our child’s development. The most valuable resource to support our children’s learning however is, us! Children learn more from their parents than they do from anything or anyone else. So in case you haven’t been told this today- you are doing a great job!
This blog has been written by Sarah Doman, our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to get clear on the way they want to parent, by educating them on the development of their children and the options available to them.
You can find her on social media @sarahldoman or check out her website www.sarahdoman.com
References
Dauch, C., Imwalle, M., Ocasio, B., and Metz, A. (2018). The influence of the number of toys in the environment on toddlers’ play. Infant Behavior and Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.11.005]]>