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When my 3yo started playing with blocks yesterday,

When my 3yo started playing with blocks yesterday, I didn’t think I’d end up with a 10min video of her…

Building

And stacking

And rebuilding

And restacking

She wanted to build an apartment building

But when she tried to put a bridging piece of slat so she can build higher levels

It constantly fell off

The problem was the slat wasn’t centred properly

It wasn’t well-balanced

I could see it, but she couldn’t

So she tried

And tried

And tried again

Furrowed brows, intense focus

She never wavered in her determination to get it

She moved around to look at it from different angles and different sides

She tweaked and moved pieces to line them up properly

She observed closely

And then she realised what she had to do

And she did it!

But the reason why I chose to show you this 15sec clip instead of the perfect end result

Is because more than the spectucular apartment block she created

It was her perseverance, tenacity, problem-solving skills, ability to look at things from various perspectives, developing of spatial awareness, balance and symmetry that is of great value

Without which, there would be no fancy block creation

These are also the skills that are transferable, and not that she is able to build this one specific apartment with blocks

This is the meaningful work behind open-ended play

Why should we choose better? Because a wooden dol

I was scrolling through old videos of my kids rece

I was scrolling through old videos of my kids recently and I discovered something

My firstborn started commando crawling at 6 months

My second-born did it at 5 months

My third-born, a week before 5 months #notkidding

My nearly 8 month old is only just starting to do the same, after first pulling herself to stand a few months back

I recently used this playshelf to create a barrier between bubs playspace and her sisters

Even if she crawls around it, at least it’ll slow her down right??

Barely 2 weeks in, barrier broken 😂

She problem-solved and outwitted me haha

I honestly couldn’t be more proud 🥲

The truth is every child is different and on their own journey

Later is not late

Not the norm doesnt make it abnormal
(I had people telling me it’s not healthy for bubs to stand before crawling 😏)

Being the youngest of 4, there will always be comparison of some sort (voiced or unvoiced)

I hope she knows she never has to follow in anyone else’s footsteps but her own

Go create your own path baby girl 🙌🏼

This was never a post I wanted to write and share

This was never a post I wanted to write and share 😔💔

It’s too painful and makes me feel extremely vulnerable

As an eczema parent of not just one, but 4 eczema kids, I’ve always felt alone and that no one truly understood what I was going through

But if my sharing helps even one fellow parent feel less alone and helps them feel seen on this journey that most people aren’t privy to, I’ll do it.

Eczema parents, this is for you ❤️

I see the constant googling, reading and researching

I see the constant self-doubt and self-questioning of every single thing you do for your child

I see your physical, mental and emotional exhaustion from caring for your eczema kids

I see every tear you cry

If any of these resonates with you, I see you and I understand

I’m so so sorry

You are not alone

You are a flipping warrior and I want you to know you are doing amazing

Much love,
Jules

p.s. Shared this in my stories recently and I cannot believe the amount of love and support I received 🥺. I also got so many requests for it to be in a shareable post to educate others who don’t know what eczema parents go through so here it is ❤️

This is the origin story of @storiesofplay 😊 E

This is the origin story of @storiesofplay 😊

Exactly 6 yrs ago today, armed with a 7mo who didnt sleep (swipe to see), I was feeling very lonely & isolated as a SAHM.

I chose to stay home.

And whilst I loved being home and having the privilege of watching my little one grow up every single day, it wasn’t an easy decision to live with on the daily.

Some days it felt like Dan “got to” go to work and I was “left” at home with bubs.

Being a SAHM is easily one of the most thankless jobs in the world.

Plus I truly loved my job as a kinder teacher pre-kids. I missed teaching and I really missed the person I was before becoming mum. Anyone relate?

In a bid to keep my mind engaged apart from the everyday mundane, and to get connected with other teachers/mamas on the same journey as I was, and to find something I was passionate about that was just for ME, I bit the bullet and started @storiesofplay sharing the stories behind the play activities I did with my firstborn.

6 yrs later, it's grown to the beautiful community it is today with so many of you following along our journey and reading our stories.

Many of you have also become close friends ❤️

What’s even crazier, is that in the midst of the chaos of having 3 kids in 3 yrs, I decided it would be a great time to start a business 😳😅

And so 3 yrs ago, again whilst having a 7mo 🤣, I put my very first course out into the world

Fast forward to today, I’m in awe that not only have we helped thousands of families harness the power of open-ended play in their homes through my courses, workshops and @theauthenticlearningexperience, we have also created a life by design for ourselves with Dan leaving the corporate world behind to work alongside me and us homeschooling and raising our 4 babies together 24/7

Only by grace.

In fact, it’s been grace upon grace upon grace.

So incredibly thankful for the past 6 yrs but I know the best is yet to come.

We wouldn’t be where we are today if not for all of your love, encouragement and sharing what I do with your family & friends so from the bottom of my heart, thank you ❤️

Much love,
Jules

p.s. 6 yrs on, I STILL have a 7mo 🤣 Btw any OG follower still here? 🙋🏻‍♀️

What I imagine my 7mo baby would say if she could

What I imagine my 7mo baby would say if she could talk 🤣

Made this video because I often get asked this question

“When can I start open-ended play with my baby?”

Hope seeing those dimpled baby fingers explore answered your question :)

Now the real question is, should I make this into a series?!

Let me know what you think? :)

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Curious about open-ended play? Follow to learn how to harness the power of open-ended play for your child :)

Got a little one who can’t sit still when you’

Got a little one who can’t sit still when you’re reading, here’s why you should keep on reading anyway 👇🏼

Because research has shown that the single most important activity as a predictor for a child’s reading proficiency is reading aloud to them.

Get this -

It’s YOUR TIME SPENT READING to them that has the greatest impact

Not which phonics approach, or online reading app, or doing printables, learning activities or any other literacy enrichment classes you send them to.

And not just for the kids who sit down and look like they’re listening for the whole 20min 😜

Just by reading to them 20 minutes a day, your child will be exposed to about 1.8 million words every single year

Compared to a child who is read to just 5 minutes a day (that’s 282k words/ year) or even 1 minute a day (that’s just 8k words/ year).

Additionally, exposing your child to a variety of stories and books supports them to deepen their play

Imagine this - Every time you read a book, you are in fact making a deposit into their brain bank

Of a story, an experience, a location, a character, a fact, vocabulary, a memory that they can withdraw for adding to their play at a later time

Do you see the impact this seemingly small thing will make over the months and years to come?

So if you’re already reading aloud every day, keep doing it 🙌🏼

And if you’re not, start today :)

Or tomorrow if you’re reading this after the kids are in bed

So tell me, do you have a sitter or a run-around-er when it comes to reading 😂

Here’s the deal👇🏼 Creative play is not so

Here’s the deal👇🏼

Creative play is not some mysterious top secret or super unattainable thing

It’s not just reserved for the most creative of the creative kids out there

The truth is creativity in play is a muscle that can be developed

And I personally believe the best way to develop that muscle is through open-ended play

Friend I don’t have any secret tactics for you and I don’t think there really is any out there

But if you’d genuinely like to learn how to nurture creative play in your child, swipe to read more :)

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves abou

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves about having girls

People telling me that my girls play so well because they are girls

Telling me that they’re so good at drawing and use the art area so well because they are girls

Telling me that they’re so creative because they’re girls

😏🤨😒

Whilst I fully agree that boys and girls behave differently and have different tendencies and inclinations when it comes to how they prefer to play...

The truth is ALL children have the ABILITY and CAPACITY to enjoy ALL types of open-ended play.

There is so much that we can do as parents to nurture their creativity and ability to play so let’s stop with the gender stereotyping and leaving it to nature and start to NURTURE!

Let’s stop underestimating what our sons can do (poor boys often get such a bad rep)

Let’s stop overestimating what girls “should” be able to do such that when our daughters aren’t meeting our unrealistic expectations, it leads to comparison and feelings of inadequacy

And most importantly, let’s stop devaluing and undermining the unseen efforts that parents of BOTH boys and girls who “play well” have done over the years! Yes years!

Boys ARE equally as capable as girls in their ability to play.

It might look different to how you envision play to be, but don’t let it mar your image of your child

Because your image of your child, will determine your actions and your speech when you interact with them, and that will undoubtedly have an impact on the way they play

Open-ended play is a LEARNED SKILL

Play begets more play

p.s thanks for listening to my ted-talk 🙈😂

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