Play is work when you’re working with kids

How do we make it all work when we are working with kids at home?

Well, we let them play.

It is an essential part of childhood development and early literacy. And with what’s happening now in our world, especially since kids are home with us as we all try to navigate these uncertain waters. It’s important to remember this: Play is children’s work.

By now most have read the research and acknowledge this statement as true. So we don’t have to tell all of you “in the know” mothers out there.

But we agree…it’s kind of hard.

We are being asked to “teach” and “homeschool” our kids during this crazy time. You know what? We’ve gone off script. We are still teaching, but we doing it the way that we can handle it. Through play.

There are many types of play: constructive, building blocks, legos, clay, cardboard boxes, even toilet paper rolls. Dramatic play. creating stories and characters and acting them out with fantastical flair, just a couple of examples. In all of these types of play, open-minded, undirected is important. In other words, let children explore without rules to follow.

Lately, we’ve worked on incorporating them in the household process. Not just doing chores for a financial reward, but the process: cooking, gathering supplies, setting the table, etc. We are just keeping it real here…it’s not always easy, and working with kids running around is definitely not ideal. However, we love sharing what we do with them, and we are accepting this time as a period we can just BE with them.

And when we can just BE with them, we realize that it is way smoother. Working with kids is definitely tough, and we hear you. But this is something we’ve been doing since we started our company.

From time to time we like to share our work process and give an inside look at what life at Impeccable Nest looks like. It’s not always easy, and it’s not always pretty. But this is what we created when we began. Today is a productive day. We play hard at Impeccable Nest…always.

Oh yes, we are working today too.

Our “playtime” is rather boring in comparison. Thankfully we have these three to remind us to never lose our fantastical flair.

Here are some fun things that help when you’re at home, working with kids: