Tickton Pre-School and Play Pals

🔥 Take 50% OFF ALL* our online parenting courses at ICP. 👇Type MOM to get a link to our sale We’ve misunderstood play for far too long. It’s not “extra.” It’s not a reward. And it’s definitely not a waste of time. Play is how the brain grows. 🧠 Through play, children are building: • Emotional regulation • Social awareness and empathy • Executive functioning (attention, planning, impulse control) • Stress resilience It even shapes the systems in the brain responsible for managing stress, relationships, and learning. When we reduce play, we’re not just taking away fun— we’re removing one of the most powerful tools for healthy development. And when we protect it? We’re protecting mental health. 💛 So the question isn’t: “Do kids have time to play?” It’s: Can we afford for them not to? 💕 MORE ABOUT OUR SALE: Course topics Include: Discipline, Anxiety, ADHD, Trauma, Divorce, Highly Sensitive Children, Emotion Regulation, Resilience, Sensory Foundations, Anger, Autism, Screentime, and many more! Over 100 courses to choose from! 🌱 Workbooks 🌱 Certificate of Completion 🌱 Tools and strategies to support children & teens 🌱 Self-Paced Study 🌱 Life-Time Access #parenting #parentingtips #momsofinstagram

‼️⭐️Our first Parent Carer Support Group at the Driffield Children's Centre is on 23rd of January.⭐️‼️

Details on the poster below 👇👇👇
All are welcome, no diagnosis required. We hope to see you there! 😁

https://www.instagram.com/p/DSgZAFlEsgb/?igsh=NWo1aTNlYmpuazRt

Christmas play does not need new toys. It needs imagination. ⭐ What recycled materials do you always save for play? 👇 • Wrapping paper • Cardboard boxes • Ribbons and bows • Gift bags • Tubes and packaging Before the wrapping paper, boxes, ribbons, and gift bags go in the bin… pause for a moment. Those “leftovers” are actually: ✨ roads ✨ building materials ✨ costumes ✨ storytelling props ✨ problem-solving invitations #learningthroughplaytrays #sensoryplay #openendedplay #recycleforplay #earlyyears #playbasedlearning #loosepartsplay #sustainableplay

Childhood wasn’t designed for age segregation.

In most natural settings: families, neighborhoods, communities, children learn alongside others older and younger than themselves. It’s only in modern schooling and organized activities that we’ve come to see age-based separation as “normal.”

Mixed-age play changes everything:
• Younger children stretch beyond their current abilities. They watch, imitate, and take risks they might avoid among same-age peers.
• Older children develop patience, empathy, leadership, and communication skills—not because an adult told them to, but because the play itself requires it.
• Everyone learns to navigate difference. They negotiate, explain, include, and adapt.

Developmentally, this is the work of social understanding. It’s how children learn perspective-taking, responsibility, and cooperation.

When we group children only by age, we narrow the range of experiences that build these skills. When we mix them, play becomes richer, more complex, and more human.

Winter sunshine 🩵

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Endless play and fun tipping and pouring 🤎