Category Archives: Child development

On child development

Taking a balanced approach to risk in childhood: Why and how

Rosa on a tree swingWhere was your favourite place to play as a child? The chances are, it was out of doors, and out of sight of adults. A place where you felt a sense of freedom and possibility. Where you could follow your impulses and your imagination, even if that led you into situations that were scary, challenging, perhaps even downright dangerous.

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Everyday childhood freedoms? Parents, not experts, have to decide

1st day at school (parents went too)

Some time ago a father emailed me asking for advice about the freedoms he should grant to his son. I don’t know him, or his son, and don’t know anything about where he lives. Which, by the way, is Melbourne, Australia. Why he might think I would be better placed than him to decide, I have absolutely no idea – and my reply said as much. Continue reading

How do we help children understand right and wrong from the inside?

There is no more difficult job than getting children to understand the moral consequences of their actions.  And there is a growing feeling that this job is getting harder.  Not surprisingly, an army of parenting gurus, products and academics is on hand to offer help to parents and educators. Continue reading

The outdoor child should be an ‘indicator species’ for London

pond dippingMy new draft report  Sowing the Seeds: Reconnecting children with nature calls for the outdoor child to be seen as an ‘indicator species’. The report, written for the London Sustainable Development Commission (the body that advises the Mayor of London on sustainability) argues that, just as with salmon or house sparrows, the presence of children out of doors should be seen as a measure of the quality of neighbourhoods, London Boroughs and the capital as a whole.

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Dairylea Simple Fun campaign and report launched

Today sees the launch of the Dairylea Campaign for Simple Fun and the Dairylea Simple Fun Report.  The report, written by me to support the campaign, highlights the value of taking a simpler approach to play, and the steps that parents, and society as a whole, can take to ensure that today’s children have a healthy diet of childhood experience.

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