Last week, we discussed the first part of Danaye Barahona's Book, Simple, Happy Parenting. She is the founder of Simple Families, an online community dedicated to minimalism with families and lessening the parenting load. You can read more of her blogs and listen to her podcast here. Our discussion started with a time of reflection and mental map creation in which we drew out our floor plans and thought about the layout, the stress, and the stuff. We continued our discussion with a brainstorm of the benefits and challenges of home simplification. Benefits of Simplifying
Challenges of Simplifying
See my infographic of Danaye's tips for simplification hereThrough our discussion, we learned about various charities that will come to your home to pick up items. Our discussion also lead us to talking about simplifying the calendar (post to come) and getting outside regardless of weather. See my post here about how to dress babies and young ones for the outdoors. Some additional resources and books on getting outside regardless of weather: The photos below show how Scandinavian kids have been and continue to be outside in the cold. Four Reasons Children Should Get Outside in the Cold
Next time, we will continue with Simple, Happy Parenting and talk more about simplifying the parenting process. See you soon!
Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward me a small commission - at no cost for you. For more information, click here.
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Purpose Of ToysToday we talked about toys by examining their purpose through various lenses. We discussed the following questions: What is the purpose of toys through the lens of the child?
What is the purpose of toys through the lens of the Parent?
What is the purpose of toys through the lens of Society?
What is the purpose of toys through the lens of Toy Companies?
OPEN v CLOSED v STORY LEDOpen ended toys are ones that have nearly limitless ways to play with them, and they do not have a clearly defined goal or ending. The benefits of open ended toys are that they promote creativity, innovation, more language use (more prepositional language use), and independent play. Close ended toys are ones that have a clear end point, and the toy's intention or purpose are fairly clear. The benefit of close ended toys are that they promote focus, task-completion, accomplishment, and confidence. Story Led toys are a subset of open ended toys in that they usually look like open ended toys: a dollhouse/castle, doll, or car; however, they reflect prominent characters that are represented in young kid's media culture today. Story led toys do not have the same benefits as open ended play, but they do promote recalling memory, retelling a story, and story comprehension. Front Loaded & Back Loaded Gift ConsiderationsDanaye Barahona from Simple Families categorizes gifts as Front Loaded and Back Loaded. Front loaded gifts are ones that typically result in immediate excitement from the child. Your child is thrilled to have opened this gift. The benefit from this experience is that the child's joy is contagious, and we all feel a sense of awe and happiness. The drawback, however, is that these toys usually reflect current day interests, media influences, advertisement, or the toy that the neighbor has. These toys typically don't have longevity or sustainability. They are likely the toys that don't get touched in a few weeks or months. Back loaded gifts are ones that the child might not necessarily know how to play with right away. They may seem simple or not-enticing; however, they often are the toys that have the most limitless possibilities for play.
Final Resources and Notes
Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward me a small commission - at no cost for you. For more information, click here.
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Emily BarstadParent Educator Archives
January 2020
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