The pen is mightier than the sword… but only if held by a very strong hand.

Like his Daddy, No1 child has squiggly writing. It’s not easy when you’ve a had full of ideas, yet a single word takes so long to write that by the time it’s done you’ve forgotten what comes next. So I’m very lucky to see him getting some extra help at school in a thoroughly playful way (Thnx E, welikeplay is indebted).

The rational goes like this: writing - and in particular penmanship - is not purely a cerebral activity, rather it is the body doing what the brain wants in moving a pen through the arcs and loops on a piece of paper in front of you. If it is so much to do with the body then perhaps exercise to build up the writing muscles will help. I’ve a hunch that the link between early walkers and later dyslexia is due partly to the lack of crawling and the building up of muscles around the upper body.

So, to build up strength and coordination to allow children to sit at a desk and grip a pen with less hassle here are a week-ful of playful exercises to introduce.

Stair slithering. Ok, you’ve spent the last 5-7 years teaching them to go down stairs, now its time to let them slither down on their tummy. Explain that you’re all to use your arms stretched out in front of you to hand-walk down; and when they’ve got that, to hoist them selves up again.

Putty squashing. Mix up a pot of Homebrew Snot to squish and stretch obsessively whilst watching TV for big strong fingers.

Tunnel your house. For a day or two take the cushions off the sofa, grab all blankets, clothe-racks and pegs, play tents and old cardboard boxes and create a castle/fort/warren inside your house that everyone has to use. Take tunnels from the kitchen through to the living room and even to the loo to encourage an awful lot of crawling.

Be mermaids/men. Visit a charity/thrift store for a too big pair of tracky-bums (that’s englandish for track suit trousers); tuck one leg in and down the other to make a tail. Add shells and flop around the house all day. If you’re feeling brave/playful, get a pair for every member of the family. Hang shredded kitchen foil from the lamps and have an underwater tea-party.

Hang off the sofa for a bedtime story. Together stick your shins/thighs on the cushion of the sofa, place hands on the ground either side of the book for a story time. To take it further a bed time snack can be chopped up in a bowl to be eaten from the floor.

Do the ‘Hand-wash only’ laundry. Fine, less of a play and more of a chore, but I’m constantly surprised at how much kids enjoy inclusion in mundane tasks. And with the added benefit that wringing clothes out and pegging them still heavy with water on a line really exercise those grippy muscles.

Find a grassy hill, roll down. Rolling down hills teaches, very quickly, the art of not ploughing a furrow with your forehead. This is done by using tummy muscles to keep the head up at the right time… and it’s good fun for grown ups too; last time we did it we got an audience.

Do not let these exercises become a chore, reward enthusiasm with attention, reward success with praise. Don’t let the above become limiting, invent your own (and leave them in the comments below). Join in, giggle and get it wrong, let your kids stumble upon you doing them by yourself… and above all

…enjoy.

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… what!!

Yes, according to a recent study on physical activity with kids, which also finds that over half of us use the TV as a baby-sitter so that we don’t have to run around. Granted the survey was funded by a Health Club to berate parents into doing more exercise - preferably after having paid the Club a premium to be able to do so - but still.

Though if you like play there’s good reason to feel smug. You’re more likely to have kids are better behaved and who won’t drive you crazy. On top of that you’re more likely to sleep better, and think that your home life is ‘happy’.

So I’m going to shamelessly plug my feed. Subscribe by RSS or email - who knows, it might make you’re life better.

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As predictable as a clockwork tin-bot when the kiddywinks get the lurgy, the carers get something dreaded too. So here I am with a pile of snoterchiefs, Lemsip’d up until I giggled, and having to keep a very-much-better-thank-you child entertained.

It’s at times like this, when creative thinking seems laughable, that I fall back on old favourites. Those activities that have worn a track in my mind since childhood. Like colouring in, snap or eye-spy. As play-professionals, you too will have games to regress to too; somedays we just have to be comfortable with being good-enough.

The problem is, though I enjoy sitting down with a kid for a bit of solidarity with the “I absolutely must do colouring-in now” brigade, I really can’t never-ever stand eye-spy.

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Back at the beginning of October I wrote about the art of Poorly Play particularly, to quote myself, because:

Poorly play is interesting idea in itself, it gives a little ’space’ in which the child can fit and helps them find their current limitations.

I’ve poorly boys again today, and its time to get my head around a little recuperative play for them. First it’s time to fetch the duvets to build a sofa nest for them to snuggle down into. Maybe a little bit of Junior Scrabble if they’re up to it; or if they’re not feeling up to interaction perhaps a pile of good reading. A little of George’s Marvellous Medicine for No.1 child, and the Dirty Bertie book Fleas! to be read to No.2 child.  Perhaps they might also like to go and visit the CBeebies and CBBC sites; both very safe, entertaining and stretching site that have bookmarked on their profiles since before they could crawl.

Enjoy.

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Was going to write a little on the joys of Tag today, but stumbled on this which has taken root my little ones imagination. Extreme Tag games. Just glad I’ve a first-aid certificate squirrelled away somewhere.

Enjoy

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It’s cold out, it seems winter has bitten from the eternal popsicle of the north. So today its time to warm the kiddywinks up with a little movement.

I think a little dance to ska-ified Brown Eyed Girl, followed by a game or seven of Hullabaloo is in order. I’ve that there’s something about ska that lifts the spirits of glum munchkins, to an extent that it may well warrant inclusion when I come to penning my top tiddly-peeps tips.

Hullabaloo hails from a toy stable I highly admire, Cranium. If - as a play-pro - you’ve not yet had the pleasure grab one at your nearest convenience. We’ve not yet come across a single game they produce that hasn’t been a hit at the welikeplay HQ testing facility. Hullabaloo itself is perhaps the most played boxed game we own.

It comprises of a set of surprisingly hard to slip on shapes in different colours with different pictures on to be scattered on the foor, and a calling unit. This little machine is switched on and calls out which shape to jump/crawl/move sideways to; which you (parental participation has been mandatory round here) and all the munchkins follow. Continue following instructions until your children hit their obedience-to-electronic-voices threshold about 15 to 20 minutes later.

And the children will be warm.

Enjoy

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In the hands of a child, it is more than an exercise; it’s a lifestyle. You seldom see a child power skipping to the Eye of the Tiger, but you may spy them skipping dreamily down the street; or whilst singing songs, or with with others. But more often than not you’ll see the skipping rope used as a bridal for an equestrian friend, or a trap around another’s waist; perhaps it is spun around the ground to let others jump, or used - for some apparently lucid reason - to tie a bicycle to a tree and a grinning brother. Like it’s close play-cousin the stick, the rope lends itself to imaginative and social play and should be one of the first additions to any play-pros toy stock. If you need any other motivation to get one, bear in mind that many early-years educators use skipping to develop wrist rotation as a pre-cursor to writing.

Any piece of rope will do, though foam covered handles make it easier and window safe. You might want to consider a soft plastic rope which can’t be easily looped around little necks. Perhaps you’d like a counter to bring out that competitive spirit, though counters do seize up if left tied to trees in the rain. We got some good ones when Skip2BFit (use IE for site - grr) came to visit the boys school, but you can find them in all good stockists.

Next, cut/knot to size. Tailor a rope to a child by getting them to stand on the middle, the handles should then be able to tucked under their armpits. Too long and it’ll snag on the ground, too short and it’ll become fiendishly difficult.

Whist the kiddies have their L plates on try to encourage a wrist spining action, rather than the arm flailing variety; it’ll help with speed skipping later and build up handwriting muscles too. Once they’re up to speed try some running and skipping, or moves like the double jump or cross-over. Don’t insist it gets packed away unless you’re scarily protective of your lawn. Ropes are for more than jumping, they’re there to be played with.

Enjoy.

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… not floater floaters, but bath toys dropped into the loo to act as little boys targets.

Perhap, if you’ve boys in the house, you may have noticed puddles forming around the loo. Aiming is an acquired skill that takes some of us well into our mid-twenties to achieve, but it is possible to develop it earlier. Find an old bath toy, not too big and not too u-bend blocking small, and drop it into the bowl. It’s kind of cruel to use rubber duckies, so I plumped for a funny floating monster thing that came in a bar of gooey soap. Then give the command to sink it. Little boys concentration comes to the fore, and no more puddles to be seen.

To clean, simply flush. We use one of those in bowl germ nuking tablets, and they don’t seem to dissolve the floaters - at least of the plastic variety. Though a year or so back I did have to manually unblock a lodged floater that was a little too small for purpose.

Enjoy your puddle free home.

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I love crunchy autumnal walks. The cold crisp air, small children bobbing like balloons through the trees, the colours and the sounds; it’s childcare bliss. The only down side seems to be the pockets full of collected treasures that are presented to me. Yellow and red leaves, conkers half shelled, sycamore and pine and bits of interesting bark. Collecting isn’t the problem, it’s the storage. These things will pocket-compost if left; not nice.

These treasures have to be kept special though, so I’ve been racking the grey cells and come up with the Autumnal Scan. Once we’re back from the walk we’re going to polish up all the treasures and drop them artfully onto the computer’s scanner. Voila, one printable picture to stick up. While the detritus can be happily fed to the worms.

Enjoy.

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Bizarre name, good game.  Imagine the classic playground stuck-in-the-mud without the crawling.

This game has become a firm favourite in the  welikeplay garden for the last 6 months, since the boys were taught it by one of their growed-up friends.  She, in turn, had been off on a disability equality course where she had been introduced to the game, as one with greater accessibility.  It also growed-up players to join in.

The classic stuck-in-the-mud is a game of tag, where the one who is it has the sticky touch.  When tagged you must stand still with legs apart until another player crawls between your legs to free you.  A great game, except if you have mobility difficulties, or are a barrel-chested 32 year old; then it kind of precludes you.

Toilet tag is a new spin on this game.  When you are tagged you have to stand in an ‘I’m a little teapot’ / 70s  camp stereotype pose.  You’re then freed by others coming up to you and flushing your hand handle and whooping FLUSH out really loud.  Lots of giggles.  Lots of players.

Enjoy.

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