Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships

Parenting can feel overwhelming at times. You want what is best for your child, but through the exhaustion, overwhelm, and social pressure, how do you ensure they are going to develop properly, and have all they need to grow during this busy time of development? The answer is incredibly reassuring. The MOST IMPORTANT thing your child needs to grow a healthy brain is you, and your ability to connect with your new babe.

Building that Relationship

You’ve likely heard that in the first few years of life, babies and children are building neural connections at an astounding rate. In fact, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second!

Early experiences affect the quality of that brain architecture by establishing either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health and behavior that follow.

But what influences this growth?

And how are those neural connections created and strengthened?

Your baby's brain develops through use — by your baby interacting, observing and doing things. By interacting with attentive caregivers.

It’s through interactions and experiences with loved and trusted adults that babies begin to make sense of the world. Scientists call this back and forth, between parents and children, “Serve and Return.”

• Background info - This two-minute video explores the science behind serve and return, including how connections are made in a child’s brain in response to serve and return interactions with an adult. Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry

Here is how you can participate in this crucial aspect of your child’s development

Learn how you can support your baby’s thinking skills from 0-12 months. Below, find a couple resources that give step-by-step instructions on how to respond to a child’s serves in a way that builds their brain.

5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return

This step-by-step guide shows how serve and return interactions unfold, and gives practical advice on how to recognize a child’s serves and respond. (It’s easy!)

How-to: 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return

Watch serve and return in action! For those who prefer to view instead of read, this video walks you through the five steps of serve and return with examples of real children and their caregivers.

On the verge?

Pandemic parenting is no joke. But let’s be honest…parenting anytime can be trying.

Are your kids constantly pushing your buttons? Looking for answers before you completely lose your mind?

We are thrilled to bring you this workshop led by a Neuroscientist and an infant mental health expert, from Fly Little Dragon. Here, you can learn concrete tools & simple steps to take in everyday life that will make parenting easier.

Do you want to:
Stop yelling?
Create clear limits AND follow through with them?
Stop feeling frustrated by your children?

Are your children:
Not listening to you?
Not helping out?
Acting out?
Pushing your buttons?

Join us if you could use some practical tools for easier parenting, based on neuroscience…

& use code RECESS to save 20%.  

https://flylittledragon.com/video-positive-parenting-and-neuroscience/  
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PLAY: Investing in your child's early development

A child’s brain undergoes an amazing period of development from birth to three—producing more than a million neural connections each second.  Our goal at Recess is to provide space to support that incredibly active time in your baby's and toddler's early learning, while also supporting your core needs. 

We invite you to join in for play in the playspace, and check out our services specifically for parents and grown ups.  These include workshops, playgroups and our co-working space.  "Support" means different things to different parents and caregivers.  If there are ways we can assist your family's journey as you grow, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Learn more about the crucial role you play in building your baby’s brain, get your questions answered, and find some fun “brain-building” activities to share with your little one by checking out our upcoming workshops and visiting our space.

The development of the brain is influenced by many factors, including a child’s relationships, experiences and environment.  Engaging in play with your little one is a great way to connect and support development simultaneously.  

10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play

1. Children learn through their play.
Don’t underestimate the value of play. Children learn and develop:

• cognitive skills – like math and problem solving in a pretend grocery store

• physical abilities – like balancing blocks and running on the playground

• new vocabulary – like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs

• social skills – like playing together in a pretend car wash

• literacy skills – like creating a menu for a pretend restaurant

2. Play is healthy.
Play helps children grow strong and healthy. It also counteracts obesity issues facing many children today.

3. Play reduces stress.
Play helps your children grow emotionally. It is joyful and provides an outlet for anxiety and stress.

4. Play is more than meets the eye.
Play is simple and complex. There are many types of play: symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rules-–to name just a few. Researchers study play’s many aspects: how children learn through play, how outdoor play impacts children’s health, the effects of screen time on play, to the need for recess in the school day.

5. Make time for play.
As parents, you are the biggest supporters of your children’s learning. You can make sure they have as much time to play as possible during the day to promote cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development.

6. Play and learning go hand-in-hand.
They are not separate activities. They are intertwined. Think about them as a science lecture with a lab. Play is the child’s lab.

7. Play outside.
Remember your own outdoor experiences of building forts, playing on the beach, sledding in the winter, or playing with other children in the neighborhood. Make sure your children create outdoor memories too.

8. There’s a lot to learn about play.
There’s a lot written on children and play. Here are some NAEYC articles and books about play. David Elkind’s The Power of Play (Da Capo, 2007 reprint) is also a great resource.

9. Trust your own playful instincts.
Remember as a child how play just came naturally? Give your children time for play and see all that they are capable of when given the opportunity.

10. Play is a child’s context for learning.
Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet. For example, in playing restaurant, children write and draw menus, set prices, take orders, and make out checks. Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.
 

Laurel Bongiorno, PhD, is the director of Champlain College’s graduate program in early childhood education, with specializations in teaching and administration, in Burlington, Vermont. She has taught preschool, directed early childhood programs, and studied parents’ perceptions of preschoolers’ learning through play.

Copyright © 2016, National Association for the Education of Young Children. All rights reserved

Lets Get Messy! New Class to support development and have fun

Fostering creativity helps children develop mentally, socially, and emotionally. Research indicates that creating art may boost young children's ability to analyze and problem-solve in myriad ways.

As kids manipulate a paintbrush, their fine motor skills improve. By counting pieces and colors, they learn the basics of math. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. Most important perhaps, when kids feel good while they are creating, art helps boost self-confidence. And children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the craft room.

While we know that toddlerhood provides a valuable window of opportunity for kids to learn and develop the skills they need to succeed in life, sometimes it's easier said than done at home.  

Join us!

Recess' Mini Messy Art is a great introduction to sensory play in a teacher led environment.  Parents or caregivers along with 9-18mo olds join us for a sweet creative class designed to stimulate the senses and introduce new experiences.  Sign up below!

Our very popular Sensory Lab (child led stations) is open for drop-in play several times a week, too.  These open format stations are great for checking out new activities and revisiting old ones.  Stations rotate from play dough, painting on plexiglass, digging with rainbow sand to experimenting with light.  Open to members and anyone with a day-pass.

Early art experiences also teach kids to think openly, create new meaning, be more tolerant of others’ differences, and gives them the courage to take risks.

We hope  you'll join us to encourage art appreciation in your young child, and make the most out of those crucial learning years.

In the meantime, check out our favorite resources for art with toddlers:

•  Primary Art: It's the Process, Not the Product (one of our FAVORITE books!)
• Tinker Lab Book
• The Artful Parent