The Playful Kind

16/03/2026

Food play is an important step for children who experience picky eating.

When children can explore food through touch, colour, and creativity, it reduces pressure and helps build familiarity. Before children are ready to taste new foods, they often need time to see, touch, and play with them.

Playful experiences like food painting can help build confidence and curiosity around food 🌈

26/10/2025

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for our Halloween “Breast Cancer for Breakfast” event! 👻

Your energy, costumes, and support made the morning truly special. We loved seeing everyone come together to raise awareness, share laughter, and enjoy some spooky fun for a great cause. 💕

13/09/2025

We’re so excited to invite you to our Halloween Pink Ribbon Breakfast! There’ll be raffles, trick or treating, yummy breakfast treats, and prizes for best dressed. All proceeds will go towards life-saving breast cancer research.

We’ll even kick things off at 9:30 am with a quiet trick or treat for anyone who would enjoy a sensory friendly start.

This event is proudly organised by AM Speech Pathology and The Playful Kind, with heartfelt thanks to Mini Mates Dural Early Learning Centre for kindly opening their doors to us.

Come along, dress up, have some fun, and help us support an important cause.

30/07/2025

✂️Making Haircuts Easier Through Practice and Play✂️

For many kids, haircuts can feel scary — loud sounds, itchy hair, and new sensations. One simple way to help? Pretend play!

💇‍♀️ Acting out haircuts at home (using toy scissors, brushes, or a spray bottle) helps kids:
* Get used to the steps in a fun, low-pressure way
* Build sensory awareness
* Feel more in control and confident

Let your child be the hairdresser first! It gives them a sense of control and shows haircuts can be fun. Play today, and the next real haircut might feel a lot easier. 💛

07/06/2025

We have exciting news. AM Speech Pathology and The Playful Kind are teaming up to run a School Readiness Group, created to help your child shine!

As parents ourselves — and as professionals who work closely with children of all abilities — we know how exciting and overwhelming it can feel when your child is getting ready to start kindergarten. We also know that for families of children who require additional support, there can be extra questions, worries, and hopes about what this transition will look like.

That’s why we’ve created this group. We believe that every child deserves to feel confident and celebrated for who they are. Our approach is flexible and individualised, not one-size-fits-all.

We’re here to help you feel ready for this big step and we can’t wait to get started. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more.

19/05/2025

Autumn leaves aren’t just pretty—they’re perfect for learning and fun!
Kids can explore different shapes, colors, and textures while learning about trees and seasons.

Use the leaves for crafts like rubbings, collages or garlands. Next time you see fallen leaves, grab a few—they’re full of possibilities!

06/05/2025

Why is “Crossing the Midline” Such a Big Deal?�Imagine there’s an invisible line running straight down the middle of your body. When kids reach across that line (like using their right hand to grab a toy on their left), they’re learning to cross the midline—a super skill that helps with writing, reading, dressing, tying shoes, and more! It’s how both sides of the brain learn to work together.

How can you tell if a child needs practice? Try placing toys, stickers, or snacks on the opposite side of their dominant hand. Do they twist their body, switch hands, or avoid reaching across? That’s your clue! The good news? Practice can be tons of fun! Try rainbow ribbon dancing, high five games across the body, marching with elbow-to-knee taps, balancing at the park, playing with toy cars in figure-eights, or even yoga poses. The sillier, the better, because when kids play, their brains grow!

25/04/2025

Today we teamed up with The Playful Kind to start building something really special 🐬

We’re working together on some new projects, resources, and training ideas shaped by the latest research around neuroaffirming practice. It’s about meeting people where they’re at, respecting neurodiversity, and creating spaces that actually feel safe and supportive for everyone.

Stay tuned!

28/03/2024

This week we’ve been having fun with play dough and coloured dry pasta 🤩 Lots of creative critters have been made by our little people (and us!) during our sessions 😄 A fun, open-ended experience that builds many skills including fine motor, creativity, sensory, and language 🥰

19/03/2024

Today (and every day!) we invite you to play! 🎉

Offering open-ended invitations to play provides children with opportunities to grow their imagination, problem-solving, cognitive, social, language, fine motor skills, and independence 🤩

10/03/2024

As many little people head towards NAPLAN testing this week, this is an important reminder. You are not a score. You are so much more ✨

7 pounds 10 ounces -
They all asked how much you weighed
And an IQ of 100
Makes you average so they say

9 out of 10 in Monday’s test
Piano to grade 5
2 minors in your Friday test
And now you’re free to drive

85’s the pass mark
So you’d better try your best
And if you’re scoring 90
Then you’re destined for success

But grade five doesn’t tell them
Of your favourite song to play
And how much you love is not defined
By how much you might weigh

Seven pounds won’t tell them
You were born to paint the stars
And your test scores can’t explain
How you have come to bear your scars

Two is not nostalgia
When you drive yourself back home
And it’s not the memories you make
With friends out on the road

Eighty-five and ninety
Aren’t the songs you sing when sad
And they’re not the feeling in your heart
When you get up to dance

One hundred doesn’t tell them
That your favourite month’s September
So when you feel outnumbered
It’s important you remember

You are strength and you are kindness
You’re creative and you’re brave
You are things that can’t be measured,
Can’t be counted, can’t be weighed

You’re a name and not a number
You weren’t born to be a score
So don’t let them quantify you
When you’re made of so much more

********

Becky Hemsley 2020
Artwork created on Canva

Outnumbered is from my first collection https://a.co/d/6JZmaLX

07/03/2024

The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2024 is Inspire Inclusion.

When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.

And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.

Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women 💜