I think also it works as a title for adults. Many Early Years educators know the value of play but are constricted by schools in particular, so it could equally be their voice too. I said, I’m talking about, I’ll talk about my own son. My own son found very difficult because he, he just couldn’t get past that. He would line cars up and count them, but he couldn’t roll play with the cars, particularly it wasn’t his fascination. I knew at the age of three, he could count, you know, beyond 200. The Curious Quests combines short carpet sessions, group work and children exploring open-ended resources such as junk modelling, construction, playdough, role play and if possible, being outside. If you don't have 'continuous provision' like this then you can't go on the The Curious Quests. Happy Talk includes an immersive Guidebook that explores the pedagogy behind its creation and then moves on to offer a treasure trove of 120 ideas for you to bring to your practice. On top of this, Happy Talk also features ten picture e-books each with an audio version to bring the magic of Happy Talk direct to your children and their families. You can discover stories about the Poggle, Bonnie and Eppie, Mish Mash, The Moonpins and even Frank Lemoncurd, all of them exploring the joy of listening, rhyme, sounds and being alive to the joy of the World of Little Things. In addition, you'll also be able to join the online Happy Talk community where you'll be able to share experiences, ask questions and explore the concept even further, for Happy Talk is only the start - there's a whole world following behind it slowly but surely. Your company would be very welcome along the way... Um, they take away our creativity. I greatly believe that children are born mathematical. And, uh, the system, because it is a system, um, takes that away from us. And I’ve, I’ve said, you know, and I think, you know, if you’ve got your own children, most parents would see that our experiences, our own experiences of school.

I think if you ask any teacher they would say to you 'the education system needs to change'. And it does. What we need to do is embrace child Pooky Knightsmith:I was going to say it’s appealing to me, but then I’m an autistic adult who didn’t really ever learn to play. So, uh, yeah, give me a script and, uh, okay. You can play with words, but you can’t do that. If it’s just, you teach phonics. So it passes a test. That’s just. It’s dead. You’re just teaching dead language to children because all they’re doing is doing it. So to be compliant, to pass the test, and that’s not a criticism of teachers at all, it’s a criticism of the adult world that demands this from children. So the two work together. So like Coldplay is, is like you go into play and then at moments, children come to you as well, but you only come to you because at that moment, you’ve got something magic to show them whether it be a story, whether it be something to do with phonics, whether it’s, you know, something amazing about number, um, and all the time in the play. Okay. So it’s our job to make time and space to go into that, to go and learn from children. So again, if this is going to flip, if you like, and ultimately what I’m not then doing is just taking a teaching scheme or a topic and saying, I think this will do, or I taught this last year. So we’ll do it again.Yeah. But the idea being is if you’re doing that, you’re stopping other children from learning. And it’s about trying to show children that the recognizing their value of their play. Because the adult world often talks about you work and then you play, when they go through school, you have a lesson and then you get your playtime. So again, this whole idea of just rewards for children creates the culture where children are doing it so that you are pleased with them, but that’s a false morality to my mind. It has to be, I don’t do this because I believe I shouldn’t do it. Not so not because the teacher is going to reward me with star of the week or whatever it might be.

Children’s seventh sense.Children have a special seventh sense to see the imaginative potential in everything. A cardboard box, for example, is usually seen by adults as just a cardboard box. Children, though, will see the infinite possibilities of that box which could be anything: a tower, a ship or a magical portal.Something as ordinary (to an adult) as a puddle, can, to a child, be something extraordinary in terms of the sensory experiences it can offer and the wonder and imagination that can follow. The 3Ms came about because there is a curriculum. I am deeply passionate about play but also about emotional connection to experience. I wanted to find a way that I could meet the demands of the Adult World whilst enabling children to engage in play and its freedom.

And when does it end? When does childhood end to me, it doesn’t end up five. It doesn’t end at six or seven or eight, nine to then, you know, our person who says it’s 18 and part of childhood to my mind is that children need choice and they need to be able to collaborate, not be sat at red table green table, blue table, yellow table, and be defined by their ability because play doesn’t see ability. Um, in inverted commerce, what I did was I created something called play projects, um, um, which is in my second book school and the magic of children and play projects is a way of putting a framework over play to enable children and the adult world to see the value of play and its opportunities. Um, there are amazing way to work with children and.

So I am I, as the adult I also joined into, I don’t just stand in the room, commanding children to tidy up. Yeah, we do it together. It’s the idea of like, uh, let’s let us do it together so that the children see that I’m no different to them. I’m not above them, I’m taller, but I’m not, you know, and I’ve got a bit more knowledge.If so, then Drawing Club is definitely for you. The progress children can make through Drawing Club across all areas of child development is exceptional with the added bonus of confidence and joy, and it comes with a tonne of resources to get your adventure started. He is also the creator of the Message Centre, Drawing Club, and Play Projects, as well as the delightful Play School TV, an exploration of the power of make-believe based on his approach to outdoor play, Adventure Island– a wonderful way to open up a world of creativity, language, story and joy: education done with children, not to them. The Adult World often has a preconception that learning only happens with a teacher. It doesn’t – it is richer and more immersive with other children in solidarity with one another. It’s where children can not only learn about the world but about themselves too, what they are capable of and how they can become socially mindful. The adult role is then to observe, interact and become a co-player within the setting. They let go of control and enter into play, sprinkling skills as they go….