Worldwide Day of Play

What would cause Nickelodeon’s TV networks and website to plan to go off the air and offline for 3 hours on September 24th, 2011? The answer is: Worldwide Day of Play (WWDOP). It’s all part of a campaign to get kids and families up and active featuring an all-day event in Washington DC and over 4,000 other locations around the world.

First Lady Michelle Obama has joined the effort by encouraging kids to get active an hour a day, earn the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA), and to celebrate WWDOP on September 24th. For information to sign up for the PALA program click HERE.

Even if you are not able to participate in this particular event, are there ways the children in your life could become more active? Physical activity is an important part of a child's overall growth and development.

Social Groups at Clear Speech, Inc.

Have you ever paused to consider social interaction and the enormous role it plays in our everyday lives? From childhood to adulthood we have social interaction as we play, work, and cooperate with others. The ability to interact socially enhances the richness of our lives and even, in part, determines some of our success.

While children can pick up social skills naturally from their environment, many children can make tremendous strides in this area in a social group setting, where the foundation can be laid and put into practice by trained, caring facilitators. Social groups can be especially beneficial for Children with developmental delays, physical disabilities, autism, or other diagnoses such as ADHD or ADD

At Clear Speech Inc., we have had the privilege of watching the growth and bonding of five of our children in our first social group, which began last fall. Clear Speech founder, Lorioux Loup, enthusiastically says of this group, “These kids are excited to see each other [at each meeting]…I love it!” She credits Clear Speech’s Gabriela, Wendy, and Cristy for facilitating the group in a natural setting filled with teachable moments, while focusing on music, literature, and art.

Want more information about social groups at Clear Speech, Inc? We are currently forming new groups, click HERE for contact information. We seek to place children in groups where they will benefit the most, with consideration to their age and abilities. We feature smaller group sizes for an excellent ratio of trained facilitators to clients. Come join the fun while working on necessary foundational social skills, after all, as Lorioux says, “We’re all here, and everybody needs a friend!”

Boredom Busters

Seattle Children's Hospital's website has some ideas for keeping kid's minds active while on road trips. Games include singing, storytelling, and even a "Quiet Game". Click HERE to go to the Boredom Busters article.

The Culture of Play

“Play is the highest form of research.” - Albert Einstein

How many of us have heard older folks reminiscing about “the good old days”? An elderly gentleman I knew used to like to say of the days of his youth, “those were gentler times”; when he had that faraway look in his eyes, among other things, he may have been remembering the play and adventures of his childhood. From personal experience, as a child thirty-plus years ago, we didn’t have much of the technology of today or even a schedule when we weren’t in school. We often used to roam the nearby woods with the neighborhood kids. We had games of hide-n-seek, tag, and many child-directed play adventures, even including an imaginary wedding under the leafy forest canopy; contrasted to the high-tech, heavily scheduled lives of many of today’s cell-phone-carrying, internet-savvy kids, it was practically a different world. Some have voiced concerns that the culture of play could be vanishing in the United States.

So what about play? Experts define play as a game or activity initiated and directed by children. According to Tina Bruce, Professor at London Metropolitan University:

“It is becoming increasingly clear through research on the brain, as well as in other areas of study, that childhood needs play. Play acts as a forward feed mechanism into courageous, creative, rigorous thinking in adulthood.”

The belief in the importance of play for children is gathering support as groups such as Play for Tomorrow, KaBoom, and the US Play Coalition are being established to educate parents, caregivers, and schools, and to foster the culture of play for today’s children.

A recent New York Times article by Hilary Stout sums it up, “An important part of the movement is teaching children themselves how to play. The average 3-year-old can pick up and iPhone and expertly scroll through the menu of apps, but how many 7-year-olds can organize a kickball game with the neighborhood kids?” A booklet offered by one play organization suggests, “Climb on the couch with your friends and pretend you are sailing on a ship to a distant land…lay a toy on the floor and figure out how to build a bridge going over the toy with blocks…make paper doll cutouts from old newspapers and magazines…let your imagination fly.”

Consider how we as parents, educators, or caregivers might set the stage for our children to play with their peers while letting them direct the games, set the rules, and enter into the culture of play. They’ll be learning and creating special memories that they may one day look back on and call “the good old days”.

For more on this topic, click HERE for the New York Times Article “Effort to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum”.

Prevent Noise Induced Hearing Loss

Did you know that there are small sensory hair cells in our ears which can actually be permanently damaged by loud noises?

Some noises we don't even think twice about can be harmful to a child's hearing when greater than 85 decibels (a normal conversation is around 60 decibels): lawn mowers, leaf blowers, music through headphones, movie theaters, stadiums, and more.

To learn more about this important subject and how you can protect your child from Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), visit the Noisy Planet website by clicking HERE. NIHL is hardly noticable at first; the consequences are permanent but can be preventable.

Camp Attitude in Oregon

The end of Summer is looming as parents try and pack in more fun between school shopping trips and loading up on school supplies.

For some families, Summer vacations can include researching whether their accomodations are wheelchair accessible. If that is the case for your family, we've heard of a camp that you might keep in mind for next Summer's fun: Camp Attitude in Foster, Oregon, a faith-oriented fully wheelchair accessible family camp on 41 forested acres bordering the sound Santiam River with 6 authentic log cabins that sleep 20 campers each as well as 10 RV spots with full hookups. The camp has lots of outdoor activities including hiking and fishing. Costs are free or negligible.

We have not visited the camp and it is full through the end of this summer, but it sounds great and worth being aware of. For more information click HERE to go to the Camp Attitude website.

Summer Reading!

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss

Time to gear up for children's Summer reading! Our local library, the Everett Public Library, will have reading logs available starting June 14th for "Make a Splash- Read!" Prizes include swim center passes, paperback books, entrance to the Imagine Children's Museum, and more.

I wasn't aware until preparing this post that there are three levels of the reading program: one for little children who don't read yet "Read to Me"; the main event which includes children who read up to 5th grade; and a teen program from 6th grade up to age 18 with extra credit for book reports. Each category has multiple prize choices that readers can choose from.

Summer's coming!