8 Ways A Simple Puppet Can be the Best Parenting Hack
Playing with a puppet is more than just fun and games. Watch Child’s Play NY teachers use puppets to get kids communicating about emotions and using empathy. This is an essential tool in the parenting arsenal to help manage behavior and get in touch with our children’s rich emotional lives. Happy puppeteering!
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Gifts for Kids to Spark Curiosity and a Love of Learning
While I love a good pillow fort, I also appreciate the value of quality games and toys! Here’s four fabulous gifts for kids that tickle the brain and capitalize on the kind of learning that inspires them. These are all less than $15 and are super portable too. I like these for road trips or for after-dinner playing with your kids. Happy gifting!
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Emotions Charades and Other Games to Support Feeling Kids
Emotions Charades is a super fun and incredibly potent tool to help support EQ and empathy in our kids. Use these tips from our theater classrooms to inspire your games and learn about other playful ways that help kids come to terms with their emotions. In these highly charged times we live in, kids need support in identifying and expressing their feelings…let’s do it through play!
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Creative Movement Games that Inspire Kids to be Brave and Kind
The thrilling ways that actors use creative movement can translate to your home or classroom for inspired indoor play. Help kids get “into character” through physical and robust playing that nurtures empathy along the way too! If you are a theater or classroom teacher these build up your ensemble and inspire brave choices. Build in some of these games as a way to release energy and recharge after the school day. Set these games in motion and then empower your kids to keep the playing going without you!
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Eight Joyful Ways to Help Your Kids Love Reading for Pleasure
Reading for pleasure is easy with these librarian-approved tips. Plus, check out the coolest tools that boost literacy and make books bonding!
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How To Have The Best Road Trip With Your Kids This Summer
Maximize the playing on your next road trip with these tried and true games for backseat fun! Enjoy some quality screen-free family time and help kids process emotion and tell stories. These theater games are road tested for your vacation pleasure!
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Treasure Hunt Tricks That Will Blow Your Mind
Make a Treasure Hunt with your kids for awesome rainy-day play. Beyond just a game, this boosts essential executive function skills and is a fabulous way to work on reading.
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6 Essential Books for Kids that Make Social-Emotional Learning Fun
What a parenting relief to find great kids lit that helps kids identify and process emotion! These 6 books, recommended by a librarian and a theater teacher, can boost kids’ emotional intelligence and help them manage complex feelings.
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Boost Kids’ IQ and Joy with this Simple, Silly Game
This simple and silly theater game supports your child’s brain development and creates new neural pathways that build positivity and help them crave bonding! Beyond boosting IQ, this game is pure pleasure to play and can be that parent hack that you need for everything from picky eaters to tricky sleepers. Enjoy setting up your silly store!
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How to Talk to Kids with Humor and Fun (About the Big Stuff)
If you are hankering to talk to your kids about the big stuff, or help them process emotions, then you should play Taxi! This classic theater game is adaptable for all ages and provides kids with a safe and sweet space to share feelings with you. Use it to bond with your kids when you have a little down-time and know that they are also benefitting from the social-emotional learning (SEL) and Executive Function work-out that this game gives them. Watch the video to learn about the benefits and the ways to play.
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15 Ways to Play and Laugh More in the New Year
It’s hard just to get through the requirements of parenting, let alone find time on top of that to play. However, here is the tip: inject stories into the mundane parenting tasks and you’ll get what you need to get done quicker, and bond with your kid in the process.
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3 Empathy Inspiring Books You’ll Want for the Holidays
Great kids books are a superb way for kids to learn about kindness and empathy. I love them especially for the conversations they can start. These three books for ages 8 and up are our favorites for putting social emotional learning at the foreground. They are the perfect holiday gift to spark even more compassion in your kids.
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Make Indoor Play Hilarious and Meaningful, Watch How
When the temperatures dip and the crazies set in – you need an indoor game that keeps kids calm and gets them laughing. This theater game boosts social emotional learning, communication skills and is super bonding. Best of all, it makes kids laugh!
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These Halloween games are the best for family fun
Halloween games help kids flex their imaginative muscles, build empathy and bond with you and their buddies. Simple theater exercises – with a Halloween theme – can make playing their role so much more fun! Here are my favorite games for at-home play and even for a Halloween party!
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Boom Chica Boom is that screen free game you need to play now
This simple chant helps kids regulate their emotions and boosts their social intelligence. You can play it as a car game, while walking to school, or even at bedtime. Kids will have fun exploring “characters” and you’ll like this easy format for fostering new words to develop feelings.
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Back to school is better when you play this game
Turn those back-to-school jitters into a creative game that gets kids silly and opens them up for meaning communication with you. Learn more from our PhD expert about what dramatic play does for social skills and emotional intelligence.
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Car games that will make you laugh and get to know your kids
Transform the backseat into a giggle-fest with these silly – and meaningful – car games. When you play these games, there is no need for screens or headphones. Instead, kids will be bonding with you and making lasting memories – even before their vacation begins!
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How to Get Your Kid to Sleep: Playful Bedtime Routines that Work
Getting kids to sleep can be a challenge! But bedtime can actually be the most meaningful time of the day, where we tell stories, sing songs and wind down through relaxation. Read on to learn tips that add a little play and a lot of calm to your nightly routine. Sweet dreams!
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15 Playground Toys That Will Make the Outdoors Awesome
Make time on the playground meaningful with these tools that boost imagination! Here are 15 of my favorite toys under $15 that I can slip into a bag when we go. They are collaborative, creative and physical and will certainly add a spark to your kids’ outdoor play! Plus, watch how the classic “Red Light Green Light” gets a dramatic play twist!
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Sculpture Will Make Your Kids’ Imaginations Soar
Sculpture is the best theater game to spark imagination and literacy. Kids love molding each other (and you!) into creative tableaus. Get creative with the titles to boost literacy. Expand EQ by riffing on themes that matter to their development. Above all, have fun in a screen-free, physical and bonding way!
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