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10 ways to use conkers in play

10 ways to play with conkers

Play-Based Learning

The Know & Play Space

Oct 4, 2024

Paw Patrol Tower✨🌈

This may look like just another (pretty mesmerising) @connetix_tiles build, but the skills Mr 4 gained from this were amazing. These is a reason these are my No.1 play resource!

✅ Spacial awareness
✅ Tessellation understanding
✅ 2D shape names
✅ Fine motor skills
✅ Gross motor skills
✅ Creativity
✅ STEM-based problem solving
✅ Imagination
✅ Team work
to name just a FEW!!

Adding lights in combination with other open-ended resources really do bring things to life in a whole other way 🌈✨

#openendedplay #pawpatrol #connetix #connetixtiles #learningthroughplay

We’ve been made to think that play is the extra.

The reward.
The time filler.
The thing that happens after the ‘real work’ is done.
“When you’ve finished your maths, you can go and play.”

But actually…

Play IS the real work. It’s the work of the child.

It’s how their brains build connections.
It’s how confidence grows.
It’s how independence develops.
It’s how foundations are laid.

How much do you prioritise and value play?💭

#playiswork #playbasedlearning #earlychildhood #raisingchildren #developmentmatters

Looking for some indoor family fun this afternoon? Have a go at making a @connetix_tiles mini golf course inside!

We’ve found our ‘Portals’ pack make brilliant spots for small balls to land on or in. We made multiple holes around the house so that the whole family could all play! Even the 🐱 joined in chasing the balls 😂

If you don’t have clubs, use wrapping paper tubes or other things around the house. Get creative!

Great STEM development for any little people involved in the building process - all that trial and error!😍

Tag us if you have a go! We’d love to get inspo for new hole designs!

#connetix #connetixtiles #familygames #indoorgames #familyfun

After the day I had with Mr 1 last week, I needed someone to share this post to me.

If you have a toddler, I’m sure some days you feel the same.

The meltdowns.
The endless ‘no’s
The independence one minute and clinginess the next.

But, this isn’t bad behaviour.
It’s development happening in real time.

Toddlerhood is about:
• Autonomy
• Emotional growth
• Rapid language expansion
• Movement-led learning
• Testing boundaries to feel safe

Big feelings aren’t a problem to fix.
They’re regulation skills still being built.

And boundaries?
They don’t damage connection.
They create security.

When you understand the stage, you stop taking it personally — and start responding with confidence. Some days it’s harder to do this than others, which is why I put little reminders in this post.

Save this for the next hard moment, because you’re doing great ❤️

Looking for more toddlerhood development support? It’s coming in the NEW version of Know & Play Membership. Launching SOON!👀

#toddlerparenting
#toddlerdevelopment
#childdevelopment
#earlyyears
#gentleparenting

There’s so much pressure to do things early.

Whether it’s sitting up, walking or learning to read… the pressure and comparison is always on who can do it first, the earliest, the quickest.

But development doesn’t, and shouldn’t, work like that.

Beneficial isn’t about doing more. And it definitely I sn’t about doing things sooner.

It’s about knowing what’s developmentally appropriate —
and choosing that.

When foundations are strong, the secure learning will come.

When we skip foundations to chase that desire for ‘early’, we often create gaps

Do you agree? What’re your thoughts on this? 💭

If you want clear guidance on what actually matters at each stage — and how to support it through purposeful, play-based learning — that’s exactly what I’ll be sharing inside the new Know & Play membership.

More details very soon 👀✨

#PlayBasedLearning
#PreschoolDevelopment
#EarlyYears
#DevelopmentMatters
#KnowAndPlay

Two stacks. Two different outcomes.

The reaction to the second? That wasn’t “bad behaviour.” It was development happening. It was learning happening.

Mr 1 had a plan.
It didn’t work.
The feeling he got?
That’s where resilience begins.

We don’t build our child’s resilience by removing the frustration.
We build it by staying close, calm and guiding them through it.

And when it things do go ‘right’?
We praise the effort instead of the outcome.

Save this as a reminder for the next time their tower falls! 🧱

#toddlerdevelopment
#raisingresilientkids
#playbasedlearning
#toddlerbehaviour
#earlyyearsdevelopment

At first glance, it looked like Mr 4 was a simple monster truck game (again!) of driving trucks over some logs.

But then it evolved. He made a start line and a finish line 🏁 - that involved pre-writing skills and being able to generate and continue patterns.

Then he made a label for the name of his monster truck course - that’s phonological awareness and segmenting to spell coming in, as well as the gross & fine motor skills needed for letter formation.

And even BEFORE it evolved… there was:
• Positioning schema
• Bilateral coordination
• Problem solving
• Early STEM understanding
• Executive function
+ so much more.

When you understand child development, you know that play is never ‘just play’. And that’s powerful.

When we understand that, we stop rushing children into things they aren’t developmentally ready for, and start or continue to strengthen the foundations that actually matter.

If you’d want to understand what children truly need in the first five years (and why), I explain the core foundations inside ‘The First Five Years’ guide.

Comment FIVE to get your copy for free, if you haven’t already 🤩

#learningthroughplay #playbasedlearning #firstfiveyears #purposefulplay #earlychildhooddevelopment

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On the blog...

10 ways to use conkers in play

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