A bit about us!

Hello and welcome to the home of Parent Play School! If you are reading this, then you have managed to find us in the wide and wild landscape of the internet, and we're so happy that you're here. Here's a bit about us!

Everyone has their area. That little niche window of knowledge which they can happily talk about for hours and would choose as their subject of choice on Mastermind, whether that's 19th century poetry or 1980s pop music...mine is play. My friends and family will attest that I am obsessed with everything from play set ups to sensory activities, child development to schemas. I'll be honest, it's not that useful on a pub quiz team, but since having children of my own, it's been an absolute gold mine.

I’m Emma, Early Years and Play Specialist and mummy to two little boys; Arthur, who is four and Jude who has just turned one. I’ve been lucky enough to have spent the majority of my career working with young children. First becoming interested in child development while completing my BSc in Psychology, I went on to pursue a MSc in Play and Therapeutic Play. People often find this funny (how can you have a Master of Science in PLAY?!) but it is my absolute passion. Having discovered the magic of play, I knew I wanted to move into teaching, so completed my PGCE. I began working in schools supporting children with SEND, then taught Nursery and Reception and headed up the Early Years in a prep school, before working as a private nanny and later running my own childminding business.

In January 2018, I had my own little boy, Arthur. Nothing had prepared me for life as a full time stay at home mummy. I had studied child development and worked in

the Early Years for…well…years! Arguably on paper I should have been highly qualified for the role, but looking down into that little face and realising that I was responsible for guiding him through life was huge. I wasn’t a ‘young mum’ as such, but was among the first in my existing group of pals to have a baby, so as I watched most of my friends continue to go about their normal lives, looking presentable and achieving in their careers I was busy changing nappies and sometimes struggling to get dressed before midday. I adored my little boy, but while filled with small wonders, the days were often long, so I did two things. First, I stuck to what I knew and filled them with play and second, I set out to find other parents.

During that hazy bit of time, I met a fellow mummy at a baby massage class, where, as new mums do, we bonded immediately and promptly crammed about ten years of friendship into just a few weeks (talking in detail about your pelvic floor with someone upon first meeting tends to expedite a friendship). We got chatting about the kind of baby group we would like to go to, and when we realised it didn’t exist in our town yet, decided to set it up ourselves. Just like that, our company ‘Buttercups’ was born. We wanted to create a space where parents could come to try out a variety of activities with their little ones and learn a bit about play too - all with some decent filter coffee and homemade cake. We popped signs in all of the play zones, explaining the developmental benefits of different types of play. I tried to make myself available to chat to parents (in between playing, singing and refilling teas and coffees) and we were so proud of the positive impact we were having in our community.

We ran the playgroup for six months, before making the jump to transition ‘Buttercups’ to a full time childcare business and at Christmas, after a year of careful planning, we had a very special visitor. No, not Santa…it was Ofsted! We got ourselves registered and set up at my home in Bridport, West Dorset. As a qualified Early Years Teacher, who had been a stay at home mum for two years, childminding was the perfect job. Along with my friend and assistant, I cared for a small group of children at my home in West Dorset and I loved it. My little boy, Arthur, was two by this time and using the skills and knowledge from my career in Early Years teaching while staying at home with him was a dream come true. I loved not only working with the children, but talking to the parents. Answering questions and providing tips and tricks, solving problems for our families and celebrating their triumphs. We also built a platform online, sharing activities with the small community which we started to grow there too and it was great to feel as though we were making a difference…then Covid-19 hit.

In March 2020, the world changed overnight. My assistant and I had a few conversations along the lines of “Have you heard about the new ‘Coronavirus’?” and “They’ve found cases in the UK.”. Before long, we couldn’t go a day without multiple mentions of it and we were changing our work habits considerably. On 18th March, I tuned in to watch the daily news briefing from the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson (whom we soon came to call ‘The man with the funny hair’ thanks to Arthur’s less than flattering assessment) only to hear that all schools, including Early Years settings, were required to close from the end of the week until further notice. We said goodbye to the children and their parents that Friday, not knowing that we wouldn’t see each other again for nearly three months.

I experienced lockdown from the point of view of both a parent and an educator, and watched on with concern as changes took place. As parents began to ‘home school’ their children, social media filled with photographs of children completing all sorts of home learning tasks. It felt as though families were competing in some sort of ‘home school olympics’ and a definite air of competition arose. Fewer and further between were the posts admitting “This is hard!” or even “I don’t know what I’m doing!”, but they were there if you looked for them. It soon became clear that many parents were overwhelmed with the expectations being placed upon them. Images and videos circulated of very young children sitting at desks, writing or completing maths tasks - the set up we perhaps most commonly imagine when we think of ‘school’, but which bears very little resemblance to an actual Early Years classroom. For many families, children, not used to their parents being their teachers, understandably did not want to comply. Add to this the pressure of seeing others’ ‘picture perfect home learning’ and it was a recipe for disillusionment.

During those early days, as I watched this

unfold, I thought “I can help with this!”

I wanted to show parents that there was another way, and so the idea for Parent

Play School was born. My plan wasn't to overburden parents, or try to turn them into teachers, but to give them some of the tips and tricks used by Early Years professionals, to support their children’s learning in a more organic way at home; through play. I realised that this wasn't something which was just useful during the pandemic, but for all parents at any time, who wanted to understand how their young children were geared up to learn. I own an inordinate number of books about play. However, when I checked, almost every single one lining my shelves fell into one of two categories; either aimed at an audience of educators with a great deal of existing background knowledge on the subject, or centred around specific adult-led craft projects and activities for parents to try at home. There was very little out there dedicated to helping parents to understand the ins and outs of their child’s play and learning in a way which they could easily apply at home. To put it simply; why do our children do what they do and how can we support them best?

This knowledge is the difference between simply replicating activities that look fun, and feeling confident enough to set up an environment to get children playing and learning independently, based on their developmental needs.

Whether you are the parent of a very young child, who wants to get started engaging with their little one through play, or you have older children and want to extend their play, this will make all the difference. Gaining these skills as a parent is a bit like going on a cookery course rather than just copying a recipe. Activity ideas give parents basic ‘recipes’ to replicate but by learning a bit more about the underlying theory, it becomes much easier to provide your child with the tools to allow for play to unfold naturally. By getting that background knowledge, you understand a little of the chemistry involved. You can tweak, adapt and alter as you go. Just like everyone’s tastes, seasoning preferences and ovens are different, so are our children.

Once I saw what was missing, I decided to

make it my mission to fill this gap. I set out to create an easy to follow ‘play school’ specifically for parents, helping them to understand, appreciate and most importantly, love play. I know first hand that navigating your way through those early years as a parent can be a real balancing act, but now you have a helping hand; a crash course in all things play.

My aim isn’t to create more work for you, but to provide a guide for anyone curious about early years practice and looking to use some of the principles to support their children’s play in ways which work for their family. This doesn’t mean that you need to constantly monitor or move play in a certain direction; we want to allow children to create their own fun. However, if you have this base knowledge, you might be able to quickly spot a way to extend on your child’s natural interests or to get them started if they need some support. Above all though, I hope to help you to not only enjoy, but understand your child’s play and to actually look forward to those bits of time where you can get down on the floor (or up in a tree), spending valuable time together. So get ready to not only better understand but improve and actually ENJOY playtime. I promise, it’s easier than you think!