Here at Smiles we know that the most important thing we can do every day at nursery is play!
So when we were offered the opportunity for both staff and parents to undertake play training together, we jumped on the idea! We opened a crèche for the children and invited all the parents to spend their Saturday morning playing!
We had an amazing response from our parents and over the course of two sessions with Ben from Inspired Children we learnt all about the science behind play and why it is imperative for brain development in children. We learnt about why bumps and bruises are good for us and about safely managing risk while allowing children to explore their limits.
Although we were learning the nitty-gritty, you can see from the photo's that we were learning everything we needed to know in exactly the way we were learning to teach - through play!
Throughout the sessions we pretended to be superheroes and rockstars, we made dens and played in them, we played games called Last Caught Ninja and Crocodile Crocodile, we made chariots and raced them and amazed everyone with our magic potions! After each activity, we learnt about how playing similar games with children would enhance their brain development and benefit their overall wellbeing.
These sessions couldn't have been more fun and everyone came out absolutely inspired to just play, knowing the difference it would make!
Thank you so much to all the parents who came and were so willing in get involved, however silly it made them feel at first, and a massive thank you to Ben for showing us all that playing is not only fun but heart-warming, at any age.
So when we were offered the opportunity for both staff and parents to undertake play training together, we jumped on the idea! We opened a crèche for the children and invited all the parents to spend their Saturday morning playing!
We had an amazing response from our parents and over the course of two sessions with Ben from Inspired Children we learnt all about the science behind play and why it is imperative for brain development in children. We learnt about why bumps and bruises are good for us and about safely managing risk while allowing children to explore their limits.
Although we were learning the nitty-gritty, you can see from the photo's that we were learning everything we needed to know in exactly the way we were learning to teach - through play!
Throughout the sessions we pretended to be superheroes and rockstars, we made dens and played in them, we played games called Last Caught Ninja and Crocodile Crocodile, we made chariots and raced them and amazed everyone with our magic potions! After each activity, we learnt about how playing similar games with children would enhance their brain development and benefit their overall wellbeing.
These sessions couldn't have been more fun and everyone came out absolutely inspired to just play, knowing the difference it would make!
Thank you so much to all the parents who came and were so willing in get involved, however silly it made them feel at first, and a massive thank you to Ben for showing us all that playing is not only fun but heart-warming, at any age.