Things are finally back to normal after returning from our big family trip to New York. We learned a lot about traveling in the city with a big family, (post about this soon), but today I wanted to share some of the things I learned from my Melissa and Doug meeting about the importance of play.
In case you missed my last post, I’ll get you up to speed. I was recently invited to be a part of a roundtable discussion in New York with some of the team from Melissa and Doug, along with an editor from Parents magazine and a few other influential parents and play experts. We started off by learning a little more about the passion Melissa and Doug has for play, and then we shared our ideas and concerns about how we, as parents, can do a better job at making play a priority for children of all ages.
Do you enjoy pretend play with your kids or prefer to let them play alone?
This was one of the kick-off questions in our meeting, and it really got our group going. Everyone in the group was different – some of us enjoyed participating in pretend play with our kids and others preferred to let their kids play on their own. We found that there really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to this question. I personally enjoy sitting down with my kids for pretend play, but my wife struggles with it. Someone in our group mentioned “if you struggle with pretend play, just being in the same room watching your kids play can be very impactful – the most important thing is to provide opportunities for your kids to play.” From this comment, our group started discussing different ideas on ways to more effectively play with our kids and how to make play happen.
These are some of the ideas that we came up with:
- Plan/schedule play time.Plan 30 minutes of scheduled play time every day. This is a great way for working parents to be ready to switch gears from thinking about work to thinking about playing with their kids.
- Reach out. Talk to your friends or get on social media, and ask what others are doing to more easily make play happen.
- Change your environment. Removing yourself from distractions around the house may help you to focus better and be more open to playing with your kids or watching your kids play.
- Plan a play date. Particularly for parents who are less-inclined to sit down and play with their kids, this is a great way to facilitate play with their peers.
- Build on things you already do.If you are struggling with ideas on how to play with your kids, build on things you are already doing. For example, going to the car wash can turn into an adventure into an unknown cave or grocery shopping could become a letter-finding game.
- Free time. We tend to over-book our kids with different sports and hobbies that we believe are important, but can sometimes keep them from being able to just be kids. They need downtime so that their imaginations can thrive, and their creativity can motivate them. Evaluate your kids’ activities, and cut back on something if they are not getting enough downtime.
Comment below with some of your ideas for playing with your kids or making playtime happen?
One of our next topics was balancing screen time with our kids, and we all let out a big groan. It’s a constant struggle, especially since our kids are required to use digital devices in schools at a very early age now. Kids are increasingly choosing screen time over play time, and, as parents, we need to be both enforcers and examples of how much time should be spent on digital devices. The Melissa and Doug team did a Gallup study and found that kids from the ages of 2-10 spend an average for 19 hours a week on screens. That’s staggering! I’ve noticed that my own kids tend to get defensive or easily upset when they’ve had too much screen time because they haven’t had time to reflect and decompress. As we started to discuss how to find screen time balance these are some of the ideas we came up with:
- Charge your younger kids devices to only 10% — so when it’s done, it’s done.
- Allow only 30 minutes for screen time a day.
- Have a “no digital devices” day once a week.
- Regulate screen time for your kids, but also for yourself — and discipline yourself in front of your kids when you break the screen time limits.
What are some of your ideas for balancing screen time with your kids?
Someone in our meeting mentioned the quote “Play is a child’s language”, and I love this…it’s so true! There have been many times where I’ve been in the middle of honest, quality play with each of my kids, and they have stopped to smile tell me how much they love me. I’ve noticed that the more often I play with my kids, the stronger our bond becomes, and the door for more communication opens. One of the Melissa and Doug beliefs is that “imagination takes practice,” and I believe that, too. It was so much fun being a part of this roundtable discussion with this group, and I truly left inspired.
After our roundtable discussion, we all had the opportunity to go to the Melissa and Doug showroom – my kids were able to join this part, and they were in heaven! It was great to see what toys they gravitated to and learn more about some of the new toys that Melissa and Doug are introducing this year. Below are some of the toys my kids most enjoyed, as well as some of the toys we are planning to get to help with play time.
If you have a favorite Melissa and Doug toy that your kids love, please share it with us!
Melissa and Doug Take-along wooden Doorbell dollhouse
Rockwell loves keys and I can imagine him playing this for hours.
Melissa and Doug Toy shopping cart – Metal Frame
When we were at FAO Schwarz the boys wanted to keep these carts with them the entire time.
Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Train Set
The boys lost their minds when they saw this in the catalog.
Melissa and Doug Let’s Play House Dust! Sweep! Mop!
These are great for pretend play but also for teaching the kids to be helpful during clean up.
Melissa and Doug Pounding Bench with Mallet
Great toy for teaching kids fine motor skills.
Melissa and Doug Santa’s Workshop Reusable Puffy Stickers Activity book
We have some of these and Ali loves them. Perfect activity for traveling or sitting around the fire on a snowy day.
Melissa and Doug Tiger Plush
This would be so fun in our toy room. Perfect size for kids to lean up against during a movie or while reading a book.
Melissa and Doug Puppet with detachable wooden rod
I was so excited to see that Melissa and Doug made hand puppets! I have wanted something like this to use during bedtime stories for a long time. We had a puppet growing up and it used to fascinate me.
Melissa and Doug Jack Russell Terrier Plush Toy
Wil was carrying this around the entire time we were in the Melissa and Doug showroom.
Melissa and Doug Star Diner Restaurant
We’ve had playsets from other brands but none of them match the quality of this one. Even my older kids jumped into do pretend play with this set.
Melissa and Doug Wooden Weaving Loom
Ali loves creating things hats and scarfs, so this would be perfect for her.
It sounds like you and your family had a very good trip and that you learned a lot about play and it’s importance. I am glad you all had such great experiences.