Sunday Surf: Playful Parenting

As I approach 33 weeks pregnant with still more to do to prepare, I’m taking it easy on the Sunday Surf this week and giving you some truly great links with little explanation. I’m hoping the excerpts speak for themselves. Many of them have links to all the Carnival of Natural Parenting articles on play. Check them out!

PLAYFUL PARENTING

Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen, PhD

The Book: Playful Parenting

Book Review (PhD in Parenting)

On Being a More Playful Parent 

I swear I was a more patient mother  before I had two children. I found myself yelling at my child. As the months passed, it wasn’t getting any better. One day I came across a book: Playful Parenting by Larry Cohen. I wrote about this book here and here. Thanks to this book, I am more patient and better at keeping my cool.

Parenting through Play: Not Always Easy, but Always Rewarding

Play hasn’t always come easy to me. omewhere between childhood, the years I enjoyed babysitting as a teen, and parenthood I lost touch with play. I became a serious adult. And honestly, I felt a little (or a lot) embarrassed when I would get silly.

Preventing Tantrums through Play

Stern voice + controlling attitude = Tantrum
Loud voice + controlling attitude = Tantrum
Firm demands for compliance = Tantrum
Playing a game = a lot of extra time carved out of your day = an accommodating, happy-go-lucky kid

Parenting through Play Starts in Infancy

Maybe it seems like play would take up too much time. But a few moments making something fun can save you many moments of sadness getting in the way later.

Practicing Playful Parenting

Sometimes I feel that parenting is a skill that does not come easily to me. I read so many great books on peaceful communication and gentle discipline…and then something crazy happens in our house and I am either lost for words or get frustrated to the point of yelling. One trick I do have in my parenting pocket is playfulness. If in doubt I play. Here are a few examples…

Handling Big Emotions with Role-Playing

Play. Especially role-playing will help a child project their big emotions onto the skit you create and away from themselves. Unlike distraction, which has merit at times, playing can actually help a child to understand and resolve their feelings. And it certainly diffuses the parent’s tension almost immediately.

Parenting My Toddler through Play

I learned quickly that making everyday tasks fun made them not only go by quicker, but made them less painful. It was only natural for me to develop a healthy playful parenting relationship with my own child. These are a few playful ways I parent E….

Getting Cooperation through Play

All he did was just mix work with play, and voila – Abbey felt respected, chores got done, and daddy got the cooperation he needed. Now. . . if I could just remember to embrace play more often. Here are some ideas that have been helping me remember to get playful more often.

Grace and Courtesy Games for Home and School

grace, courtesy, conversational skills, table manners….

A Promise to My Daughter (a poem, excerpt below)

Sometimes I find it’s easy to forget
When I feel tired, annoyed or upset
That you’re just learning innocently
You don’t really mean to cause trouble for me