0:10 hello and welcome to Wiggle talk a
0:13 podcast for parents each week we dive
0:15 into topics that matter most to parents
0:18 of young children I'm Simon price the
0:21 red wiggle and you're 6'4 thank you Loy
0:23 and I'm Loy Gillespie the purple wiggle
0:25 and we have blue wiggle Anthony in
0:27 studio with us today and I'm only about
0:30 6 foot but here's the thing uh we're
0:33 talking about play today and I remember
0:36 going through University and play is the most
0:37 most
0:40 important it's a big big it's a big word
0:42 it's all encompassing it's a little word
0:44 but it's all encompassing and that is
0:46 plays where children learn the most I me
0:48 there's all types of play and I'm sure
0:50 our experts going to talk about all the
0:52 different types of play some of them
0:55 challenge people like um if someone's
0:58 very neat like I'm not saying it's you
1:05 you get into messy play and things like
1:06 that like it's going to be great talking
1:08 to our expert about all the different
1:10 types of play it's so exciting and
1:13 children learn so much from play and you
1:15 Anthony have been messy playing your whole
1:16 whole
1:20 life so true mate so true oh we'll be
1:21 great to have you in this chat Anthony
1:24 because you know you you started your
1:25 career at a at
1:29 likeo and and uh I I still remember all
1:32 all the wonderful challenges uh you know
1:34 when you have a a class full of you know
1:38 23 year olds and um and the fun and
1:40 Adventures that can happen the mishaps
1:43 and uh uh but it's all play based and um
1:46 and they are learning and I think uh
1:48 parents out there have got got to
1:50 understand that too that they're not
1:52 just playing they're learning yeah you
1:54 know it is where the magic happens and
1:55 you know they're running around or
1:56 building and creating and just being
1:58 their Wiggly Little selves but the
2:00 incredible thing is as you just said
2:02 through all the giggling and Chaos it it
2:04 isn't just a break from learning it it
2:06 it is learning that's right mate yeah I
2:08 think that's that's such an important
2:09 part of this isn't it to know for a
2:12 child at a young age that play is
2:14 learning Y and it's not about your one
2:16 123s and your ABCs that's it you know
2:18 and that's a really thing a great thing
2:19 I think for parents to remember that
2:21 your children are learning just through
2:23 play and we've got some help to explore
2:26 this topic we're joined by Jenny Gaffney
2:27 the director of operations at Young
2:30 academics Early Learning Centers they
2:32 create fun and engaging learning spaces
2:34 for children across Sydney Jenny's going
2:36 to share why different kinds of play are
2:38 so important for our children and how we
2:40 can bring some of that fun into our
2:43 homes as well Simon I saw a social media
2:46 post where ash was dressed as Spider-Man
2:49 but it seemed like you and Lauren were
2:51 having more fun than Asher yeah we were
2:54 instructed to dress up now I luren was
2:56 Elsa from Frozen so was Spider-Man
2:58 Lauren was Elsa and now I don't know if
3:00 I got this performance across but I was
3:03 dressed up as Anna from Frozen but I was
3:07 actually Rhino from Spider-Man
3:10 disguised Anna that is brilliant I was
3:12 the bad guy yeah yeah there you go but
3:14 yeah yeah we had a lot of
3:17 fun well let's get into it well Janie
3:19 welcome to Wiggle talk today we're we're
3:20 talking about the role of play and
3:23 learning but you're from Young academics
3:25 would you just love to tell our audience
3:27 about young academics first yeah well
3:28 first of all thanks for having me I'm
3:30 I'm pleased to be here um young
3:32 academics is a uh privately owned Early
3:36 Learning business we currently have 37
3:39 um Services across Sydney um we employ
3:41 approximately a thousand Educators in
3:44 our business um and we cater for
3:46 thousands of families a day um in all of
3:48 our learning environments so you haven't
3:50 got a lot going on no it's pretty quiet
3:53 where I work that's amazing that's
3:55 fantastic and well a lot of what you do
3:57 then is about we're talking about play
4:01 within your Learning Centers um and so
4:05 you have free play structured play uh
4:07 are the the benefits of both I'm
4:09 assuming absolutely balance of
4:12 everything um I think free play is a
4:15 misunderstood term Yeah by families in
4:17 in our sector um free play is still
4:19 intentional from an Educator's
4:22 perspective so okay whilst you might
4:24 look at a classroom environment and
4:28 there's toys their educational toys or
4:30 resources um but the Educators have put
4:33 them out with intent for learning um and
4:35 that intent could be linked to a group
4:37 of children or an individual
4:40 child so um so for example you may walk
4:44 into a classroom and see an art Table
4:48 and there may only be red paint um now
4:49 obviously the child's exposed to the
4:52 color red and so most people would think
4:54 oh you're learning about the color red
4:57 today the Educator's intent might be
4:59 that little Johnny is having trouble making
5:00 making
5:03 friends and so the teacher has set up a
5:06 painting experience on a table with two
5:07 chairs and red
5:10 paint and so the teacher will invite
5:12 another uh child to come and sit with
5:14 little Johnny and therefore encourage
5:17 them to have a conversation so my
5:21 teaching intent was socialization okay
5:23 but they're also exposed to un learning
5:26 the color red right so painting is kind
5:27 of the distraction for them to get
5:30 together to to engage we would and I
5:32 tell me if I'm wrong the old days we'd
5:35 call that parallel play correct y y um
5:39 there's also you set up dramatic play
5:41 wow tell me that is dramatic play still
5:43 great oh absolutely dramatic play is one
5:44 of the hot spots in the learning
5:46 environment what what's what's dramatic
5:48 play uh dramatic play is just uh
5:50 providing resources to children or
5:51 opportunities so for example you might
5:53 bring in old computer keyboards and an
5:56 old computer screen and set up an office
5:58 environment and so the children are then
6:01 being Mom or Dad mom or dad at work um
6:03 and there's a lot of learning that goes
6:05 on in that in that space on on all
6:07 levels across all domains but also
6:09 they're um copying what they're seeing
6:12 in real life jny the young academic
6:16 teachers do they ever uh uh do a guided
6:19 dramatic play where oh drama yeah with
6:21 drama like is that [Music]
6:22 [Music]
6:26 always well Christmas concerts maybe
6:29 well well where where you take uh uh you
6:33 you do this group activity where um you
6:34 know you you've asked the child where do
6:36 they want to go today we're going to the
6:38 Moon okay and um okay robot put on your
6:41 space suits what else do we need and and
6:42 you guide it and they take you
6:44 everywhere and um that's a lot of fun
6:46 some some really inspirational Educators
6:47 would definitely be engaging in that but
6:49 not everybody's got that great
6:52 imagination to do that but um we've we
6:54 do projects a lot in our services as
6:56 well so one service recently did a
6:59 project on space and the children made
7:01 this most amazing space station in their
7:04 classroom out of a whole range of
7:06 resources and that became part of their
7:08 dramatic play space for probably two
7:10 months before the children Chang to on
7:12 so the Educators then used that play
7:14 Space Station to then do other learning
7:15 opportunities for the children and
7:17 extend on that learning it was just
7:19 amazing and actually they also had a
7:22 farmyard set up as well and they had
7:24 like made all these cows with little
7:27 glove utters and you know like just
7:30 amazing yeah what what is uh tell me
7:33 about cooperative play yeah so it's
7:37 interesting because uh the six stages of
7:39 play obviously go across the age
7:41 progressions and developmental um
7:43 abilities of the children but a
7:46 cooperative play is the final stage yeah
7:48 because the younger get centc so that's
7:50 right so so before cooperative play is
7:53 assertive play and H sorry not assertive
7:56 associate play um which is really from
7:59 that 3 to um six-year old age range and
8:01 then corpor play comes in from 4 to 6
8:03 and again it's independent on dependent
8:05 on each child's um transitions through
8:07 those stages but really if we're
8:09 expecting children to play nicely
8:11 together it's really not happening in
8:13 that early learning space until they're
8:16 four maybe five and so our role in that
8:18 is to make sure that there's resources
8:19 and opportunities for children to be
8:22 involved in solitary play which is
8:23 they're playing on their own or parallel
8:25 play where they're playing next to
8:27 somebody but they're not actually
8:31 playing together um uh and then um then
8:33 they start to work together and have a
8:37 common goal in cooperative play so until
8:38 they're on a common goal they're going
8:41 to fight over the choice you you might
8:44 see that with with h boys or girls um
8:46 working on blocks that that's cor replay
8:48 when they work together get to make the
8:50 big building and then of course someone
8:52 crashes it over that's right that's the
8:54 child in solitary Play Just knocks it
8:58 down does that um uh coincide with the
9:00 friendships as as well then absolutely
9:02 so friendships really don't start
9:04 forming till they're a little bit older
9:06 yeah because they well yeah they kind of
9:09 have colleagues I suppose yeah or their
9:11 little mate that they hang out with all
9:12 the time because they've got a common
9:15 interest maybe yeah but the cooperative
9:18 play and and you know play with purpose
9:20 um is is really not something that they
9:22 can do until they're older um back when
9:23 I was teaching we used to call
9:25 cooperative play games with rules and
9:26 that's where you could actually sit back
9:28 and and say to the children okay we're
9:30 going to play D duck
9:34 goose um an oldie but a goodie um and
9:36 you know expecting a 2-year-old to
9:38 follow the rules of duck duck goose is
9:40 UN it's not developmentally appropriate
9:42 um so you wouldn't introduce that but
9:43 you would expose those younger children
9:46 to that game because they're seeing it
9:48 and they're learning from it so then
9:49 eventually when they're ready to do
9:52 games with rules they understand the
9:54 concept what what you saying that there
9:57 which is the developmental approach
9:59 which parents can use which is like um
10:01 looking at the 2-year-old and saying
10:03 well I can't put the child in the
10:04 swimming pool by themselves because of
10:06 course it's safety
10:09 concerns they're not ready for it and as
10:13 parents there there are a lot of uh I
10:16 guess you go out into the playgrounds uh
10:19 this at the local park yeah and they
10:22 they're built for 10 year olds 12 year
10:25 olds 8y olds um not necessarily for the
10:29 three-year-old so how do he go about
10:30 when you're a parent and you're you're
10:34 not uh a young academic teacher yeah um
10:37 how do you go knowing or trying to work
10:39 out what's appropriate for my child or
10:42 what's too advanced how do you what does
10:44 a parent do when they go yeah I think um
10:46 that's a really good point I think the
10:49 the community playgrounds are a a
10:52 different Beast because they are built
10:56 for all ages everyone yeah um and if we
10:58 talk about risky play you know you don't
11:00 want to set your two-year-old free in a
11:02 community playground that's got a huge
11:04 big climbing net in it because that's
11:06 not safe for that child but in an early
11:08 learning service our playgrounds are
11:11 designed with the strin standards for
11:14 Early Childhood Services so exposing
11:16 children and to risk at our services is
11:20 um easier for us to do than for families
11:23 in the community space yeah um I think
11:26 fear holds a lot of families back from
11:28 letting their children
11:30 explore um because we don't want to hurt
11:33 our children but if we don't allow them
11:38 to test the waters and to practice
11:39 climbing and
11:42 falling uh then we're stunting their
11:44 learning so yeah it's hard to find line
11:49 is it yeah it is Asher has really a
11:50 little bit more now but particularly
11:52 when he's younger no fear because he
11:55 didn't understand the consequence so you
11:57 know that term helicopter pairing or all
11:59 that kind you know I've kind of felt was
12:02 that because I just couldn't afford to
12:04 allow him to in know in a we're talking
12:06 about a community playground really
12:08 experienced that fall cuz he was really
12:10 going to hurt himself absolutely so you
12:12 feel like you kind of where you see
12:13 other children of similar age where the
12:15 parents are sitting back on their phones
12:17 don't really engaging in there you think
12:18 you know I'm more worried about other
12:20 people's children as well as my own I'm
12:22 like that I'm like a hawk I'm looking at
12:24 every but I think it's the um assessing
12:27 the risk right as a parent is the first
12:29 thing and understanding what it is that
12:31 comfortable to let your child experience
12:33 in that environment but also the way we
12:36 question children can even if you are
12:38 feeling like you're a helicopter parent
12:39 because you're there as the safety net
12:42 to catch if he falls if you question
12:44 your child around the decisions he's
12:46 making when he's climbing that empowers
12:49 him to think about am I safe and what am
12:51 I going to do next so instead of saying
12:52 don't go too high you'll
12:56 fall you'll you might say something like
12:57 um have you thought about how high you
13:01 might like to go okay right or if
13:03 they're paused at a point you might say
13:05 I wonder where your next foot's going to
13:07 go like you know what I mean so you can
13:09 you can help them think
13:11 through that even though boys are pretty
13:12 fast and they're probably at the top of
13:14 the climbing net by now but you can
13:16 encourage them to think safety and to
13:19 take risk but still feel like you're
13:21 there to support them if you need to
13:24 yeah how are you with that
13:27 Anthony I I you know I actually suffer
13:29 from anxiety and one of the anxiety
13:31 I have and the guys with my my poor
13:35 children um is I I think every time a
13:36 child's going to play something they got
13:38 to break their leg they're going to do
13:41 so I uh Mickey my wife worked out that
13:43 when we go to a playground leave Anthony
13:45 at home I have to I have to walk away
13:47 and the children are great now because
13:49 they're not but I but the worst thing
13:51 about me was I would extend that to
13:53 other children at the play and sometimes
13:55 I'd say to the parent oh look maybe you
13:59 shouldn't be and I just had to go I it
14:02 understand I have I have a fear of water
14:06 um and uh it's a really unrealistic fear
14:10 I can't even walk out on a WF right and
14:13 I'm getting better now y I have anxiety
14:17 as well um but my fear of swimming pools
14:20 and drowning and the beach um has
14:22 impacted my child's development because
14:25 I have have been over dramatic and my
14:27 son my youngest son's 15 and he went to
14:28 the beach a couple weekends ago with his m
14:30 m
14:32 and I can't let him go without reading
14:34 him all of the rules that are in my head
14:36 for what you do when you go to the beach
14:37 and he just sits there and he looks at
14:39 me and he's like Mom I know and I'm like
14:42 I have to say it yeah because I have to
14:44 make sure that you're safe so there are
14:46 there's there's risk and there's Hazard
14:50 y right so when we have to assess the
14:52 risk and the hazard obviously if you're
14:55 going to climb up a a large climbing net
14:57 there's a risk
15:00 there so you going to manage that risk
15:03 right it's negotiable we can work out
15:05 how to get out of it if we need to the
15:08 hazard if the net was ripped you
15:10 wouldn't let your child take that risk
15:12 right so Hazard and risk are two things
15:14 in an early learning environment that we
15:16 manage all the time yeah but I think
15:18 what you've said there Jenny and what I
15:21 recognized in myself okay this is how
15:24 how it's over the top for me I can't go
15:27 to a shopping center the es
15:29 escalators um I look at children on the
15:31 escalators not not with the parent
15:33 holding their hand yeah and I have to
15:36 put my head down and close my eyes
15:38 because I'm thinking all the things that
15:40 can go wrong and I recognize that in
15:44 myself um and sometimes I do say can
15:48 you I can't help it U but I recognize
15:50 that that it's just I'm a bit over the
15:52 top about all that so and you guys have
15:54 seen of it do you I do that with Asher
15:55 or or every now and then you'll just
16:02 scares the
16:06 child climbing out of the big red
16:09 car so yeah oh yeah on the big red car
16:11 on stage I think Lo's going to drive
16:22 yeah I just and everybody sees um still
16:24 talking about risk but we we have a
16:26 multiple array of different sized struct
16:28 built structures in our playgrounds and
16:30 we have move equipment as well and it's
16:34 interesting because um parents uh
16:36 understanding of risk or danger is so
16:39 different to between parents themselves
16:42 so we might have Sandstone edging in our
16:44 garden bed right now that provides a
16:47 natural safe risk of climbing on
16:49 undulating surfaces and negotiating
16:51 different heights and you know your your
16:53 step treads and all those kind of things
16:57 yes if you fall you might split your lip
16:59 Okay um
17:01 some parents will say I don't want to
17:02 enroll in your service because I don't
17:05 like the Sandstone edging okay others if
17:07 you don't put the Sandstone edging in
17:08 will'll say where is where is your
17:09 natural environment where are the
17:10 children going to take risk and that's
17:12 why it's important for parents to choose
17:14 a service that that resonates with their
17:17 beliefs um you know some of our
17:19 structures are quite high in our early
17:20 learning environments for the three to
17:22 five year olds obviously within
17:24 Australian standards um and some parents
17:26 won't like that height and that's okay
17:28 that's their choice um but we provide
17:30 the Environ we make sure that we've got
17:31 high supervision points on you know the
17:33 end of the slippery dip if it's a high
17:35 slippery dip so so and the two-year-olds
17:36 wouldn't go up on that they're not
17:37 allowed to go so it's a separate
17:39 playground so the by Design we've
17:40 created a
17:44 risk risky safe risky environment yeah
17:49 and what about um when uh do you guys at
17:52 at the Young academics do you have uh
17:54 where you bring in uh where you might
17:59 plant um you know a veggie patch or uh
18:03 or uh have a pet for a week or what sort
18:06 of things do do you yeah so I love
18:09 vegetable patches I'm a gardener um I
18:12 love gardening love vegetables um
18:14 unfortunately you have to have Educators
18:16 who have that passion to make it
18:18 successful so we have garden beds in all
18:21 of our services y um the Educators who
18:23 are passionate like me about growing
18:25 vegetables and plants we have amazing
18:27 and we'll do um you know use the
18:28 vegetables out of the garden in the
18:30 cooking in the kitchen and and what do
18:33 the children do and I know firsthand how
18:35 much they love being part of it but so
18:37 what do they do what we if you you say
18:39 we're going to have a veggie patch what
18:40 do they learn what do they do yeah so we
18:41 would talk to them about what kind of
18:43 vegetables we'd like to eat or what kind
18:46 of you know um herbs we'd like to put in
18:48 our salads and we might do some research
18:49 around that or do some research around
18:51 how to plant them what's the best time
18:54 to water them in the day and um I'm not
18:56 big on irrigation systems in the
18:58 childcare services I'm really big on
18:59 children having watering cans and having
19:01 access to watering the plants um not
19:02 just the vegetables but also our
19:04 Greenery that we've got um you know your
19:05 Lily pillies and all of those kind of
19:09 plants um and then it's it's you might
19:12 have a vegetable monitor so you're the
19:14 person this week that's in charge of
19:15 making sure the vegetables get watered
19:17 so it gives them a sense of ownership
19:21 over the the keeping the plants alive um
19:22 and then obviously we
19:25 would take the veggies and then cut them
19:27 up and eat them do they see the Do The
19:30 Children See go from you know seed right
19:32 up to the and they understand do you
19:34 remember the mung bean do you remember
19:38 doing That's a classic intruction to to
19:40 how a seed works yeah yeah and that you
19:42 could do those at home too absolutely
19:43 yeah there's so many things that you can
19:46 do with children around um plants um and
19:49 to animals we have a couple of services
19:49 that have
19:54 chickens um again I love chickens I'm
19:55 actually chickenless at the moment I've
19:57 normally got chickens at my house but um
19:59 it's so valuable it teaches children so
20:01 many things not just about eggs and
20:03 animals and food chains and things like
20:07 that but caring for the animals you know
20:09 feeding the animals my one of my
20:11 chickens was called Fat
20:13 Steve was my children were very young
20:15 when we had them and um fat Steve was
20:18 part of the family um you know he'd come
20:20 out of his Coupe and we built a huge big
20:24 chicken Co yes but it was pretty big um
20:26 and you know my son would get home from
20:27 school of an afternoon and what he'd go
20:29 out and let the chickens out and carry
20:30 Fat Steve around and fat Steve was his
20:33 chicken you know so brilant that's I
20:35 don't want to ask what happened to Fat
20:37 Steve yeah we w't talk about that
20:39 actually let me tell you it's a funny
20:42 story We went on holidays and my the
20:44 neighbors girls looked after the
20:47 chickens for us and they had a greyhound
20:51 oh no and that Steve dug under the fence
20:54 and ended up in the Greyhound's mouth
20:58 luckily um the neighbor got it out but
21:00 um I got home from holidays and the
21:01 little girl next door was jumping on a
21:03 trampoline up and down and she's Jenny
21:06 Jenny Fat Steve I had a heart
21:08 attack and I'm like wait I can see fat
21:10 Steve what is she talking about um and
21:12 she said that he nearly she was meant
21:13 that he nearly had a heart attack
21:15 because he ended up in the dog's mouth
21:17 it was so cute but um yeah that that it
21:19 did die two days
21:23 later from stress yeah but anyway well
21:25 that's a poor old fat Steve had some
21:28 risky play didn't he no it was a
21:32 hazardous play that one through the it's
21:34 good for parents to be able to model at
21:36 home what is happening yeah at preschool
21:38 as well right but messy play is a whole
21:40 other it is a whole other things it's
21:41 messy especially when you're bringing
21:43 sand home in your shoes and you children
21:44 empty the shoe in the backseat of the
21:47 car yeah there's so so many benefits of
21:49 messy Play It's if we think of the time
21:51 when we were kids you know I remember
21:53 being in my backyard and our neighbor
21:56 has uh a mury tree and we used to just
21:58 get the pots from the kitchen and pull
22:01 all the mbes and make mury pies and like
22:04 we were just like covered in mury stains
22:06 right um obviously you can't do that
22:08 every day in um Early Learning but messy
22:11 play is um the sensory experience from
22:13 the messy play um and the sensory
22:15 receptors in your hands and your eyes
22:17 and your nose and all of those things
22:19 they actually
22:21 um obviously impact on your brain growth
22:23 and your development right so children
22:25 learn through
22:27 sensory contact so if you think of a
22:29 baby chewing on
22:30 a chew toy they're not chewing on it
22:31 because they want to chew on it they're
22:33 chewing on it because they're exploring
22:34 what what is this yeah and they're
22:36 learning from that they're receiving
22:39 information from that contact and so if
22:41 you're exposing children to a range of
22:43 different messy play so mud play which
22:46 is a favorite of children not from
22:48 parents and I respectfully understand
22:51 that um and you know you've got um
22:53 different slimes that we use with the
22:55 children which you know are not going to
22:57 stay in the bucket when you're having
23:00 slime play it actually really um
23:02 encourages children's um cognitive
23:03 development messy play start from quite
23:06 a young age babies okay it's interesting
23:08 when I work with um developers of
23:10 childcare services when we're doing new
23:11 builds and they never put a craft sink
23:14 in the nursery room and I said to them
23:15 why do you not put a craft ink in the
23:16 nursery room and it goes babies don't
23:20 paint I'm like hell yeah they do um so
23:21 they do if you when they
23:25 eat it that's sensory that's a whole lot
23:29 of information texture feel
23:32 smell everything um so it's it's messy
23:34 and parents can prepare for messy play
23:34 especially if they're sending their
23:37 children to care send them in old
23:39 clothes send them in the beautiful dress
23:42 that grandma gave them that's practical
23:44 and pack extra clothes and be prepared
23:46 for them to get dirty because if your
23:47 child's coming home dirty they've
23:49 actually had a really great day yeah
23:51 I've only just learned to do cold wash
23:53 because it doesn't set the stains yay
23:56 well done a warm wash what does it do
23:58 warm wash which are you just is normal
24:00 setting on the machine where it sets the
24:02 stains in does that really whereas if
24:05 you do a cold wash gee I would have
24:06 thought the opposite I thought so would
24:09 I I did it for quite a while well done
24:12 lucky we we've noticed such a dramatic
24:14 uh lift in the girls creativity since
24:16 going to their their Center up in up in
24:19 Brisbane but it's it's so nice but it it
24:21 it is messy like they love painting the
24:22 other day they literally filled it
24:24 entire bowl with paint from the bottle
24:26 but you see how much they get out of it
24:29 yeah how creative they are from the
24:32 play at preschool that they bring home
24:34 so it is so good for them it is so good
24:37 for them and um getting them involved in
24:40 in all aspects of play asking them what
24:42 do you want to play with today goop is
24:43 their favorite thing I don't know if
24:45 you've ever made goop before but goop is
24:46 their favorite thing to play because
24:50 it's like um corn flour with water and
24:52 you get it to a certain texture and it
24:55 stays like solid piece okay but if you
24:58 then break off the corner of it it melts
25:02 so you're changing a solid to a liquid
25:04 and then it going back to a solid all
25:06 just because you've you know so get my
25:08 head around so much learning that goes
25:11 on with sensory play right and it's not
25:14 it's not a a it's not an outcome driven
25:17 activity so by that I mean you're not
25:19 like a puzzle is an outcome driven
25:20 activity you you complete the puzzle
25:24 your activity is finished messy play is
25:26 open-ended and will last for as long as
25:28 the child wants to stay engaged with
25:32 that that messy play are you a a clay
25:35 person or a Play-Doh person um they they
25:37 have both have
25:41 a um depends what I'm making now um it
25:43 they both have a place because Clay is a
25:46 different texture it is yeah um it's
25:47 harder to work with than Playdoh so
25:49 again for a fine motor skill experience
25:51 it's strengthening more strengthening
25:53 for you the muscles in your fingers it's
25:55 more preparation for the teacher more
25:57 preparation for the teacher yeah um one
26:00 I one that I don't like is plasticine y
26:02 i find plasticine is too hard for
26:04 children to successfully play with they
26:06 give up too quickly in my experience
26:10 yeah because it's really hard um yeah so
26:12 we have we have a general rule at Young
26:14 academics you have to have Playdoh in
26:16 every classroom every day oh great you
26:18 have to have it like non-negotiable we
26:21 call it um Captain feathers sword Paul
26:24 Paddock um he is very uh ordered in his
26:28 life and he and I hope he doesn't mind
26:29 me saying this he's here today I'm sure
26:33 he will um he's he wouldn't let his son
26:35 mix the Play-Doh colors my sister was
26:38 the same my sister was the same the
26:39 first thing they
26:43 do I'm like cuz my nephews came to my
26:44 house right cuz my children grew up with
26:46 their nephews are very close and my
26:48 nephews at my house and they're like
26:49 they call me Anie peny they're like Anie
26:51 peny are we allowed to mix the colors
26:54 and I'm like of course that's the whole
26:56 point no my sister would never let them
26:58 mix it after the podcast let's go talk
27:02 to C I let that go as well all play no
27:05 well yes but no I've let it go because
27:07 there was no point do you make your own
27:10 Play-Doh no we don't hard to get the SC
27:12 all Playdoh Brown in the end is get
27:14 mixed together it's that greeny brown
27:16 color and then you leave the lid off and
27:18 it dries out fls everywhere and causes a
27:19 massive mess around the lro and I'm fine
27:22 with that but but but it is there's so
27:25 much learning if you do combine children
27:27 are what learning all about you know but
27:29 yeah so very much on the on the captain
27:31 feather sword yes but I did I did let it
27:34 go I didn't stop my child's learning
27:38 yeah with um with the girls are four
27:40 that you know with the messy play and
27:42 and at home but at also at the centers
27:44 and I don't know this but is there an
27:48 age which you can I love the mess I love
27:50 the tiny tiny Bits of Paper that they've
27:52 cut up into a million pieces but is
27:55 there a point that you can encourage
27:58 that but then also encourage the cleanup
28:01 oh 100% is that an important lesson do
28:04 you do that in the centers too so yes so
28:06 absolutely children need should be
28:07 taught from a very early age to
28:08 contribute to to cleaning up so where
28:12 you have pack up songs for example um so
28:13 when it's time to transition to another
28:15 part of the program it's right we sing a
28:17 transition song um or a pack up song
28:19 Sorry and all the children have to
28:22 participate in in the cleanup um we
28:24 reset learning environments as well so
28:26 that if we're going to go outside when
28:28 we come back inside it's nice nice and
28:30 ordered and clean and we can we can get
28:31 back to work again without having to be
28:33 in a mess all day Childcare Services get
28:35 messy don't get me wrong you are walking
28:37 at any given day and there'll be toys
28:40 all over the floor resources blocks Lego
28:41 but once we finished with that session
28:45 we reset we pack away but definitely um
28:47 and of course asking for for them to
28:49 help is all has to be age appropriate so
28:51 for for the little I like I know can
28:52 visualize a little pieces of paper that
28:55 you're talking about absolutely get the
28:56 dust pan and broom and you help them
28:59 sweep it up they can help you it up yeah
29:01 but then recycle that don't put it in
29:03 the bin put it into a little tuab and
29:05 then they can use that
29:08 forever as a teacher you you put out
29:09 different environments you change those
29:11 environments every week or every day
29:15 whatever you you know as as parents um
29:19 it might be a good tip to remember um
29:21 that you can sit you know while the
29:24 child asleep and they wake up the next
29:26 day they walk down and if you change
29:29 something in the house uh it can really
29:32 stimulate uh all sorts of language and
29:35 uh different play absolutely yeah often
29:38 we have a toy box in our home and has
29:40 all of the children's toys in it um it's
29:42 a good idea to take some of those toys
29:45 away and then limit the choice because
29:47 if it's overwhelming for a child to look
29:50 into this big big tub of toys and go I
29:51 don't know what I want to play with
29:52 today if you limit it and then you
29:55 reintroduce the toys so it's like it it
29:56 reinig durat more thinking and more
29:58 learning or a new creative idea
30:00 yeah yeah someone explained to me once
30:02 because I mean Ash's got a lot of toys
30:04 you think we' think we'd have four kids
30:07 all the same age but um someone said to
30:08 me once you take them away store them in
30:10 the garage or something and then pretend
30:12 that's the shop and then you take your
30:14 child down to the shop and you go choose
30:17 another toy and you take one so do that
30:20 process because yeah we need to do we
30:22 need to declutter to the other thing as
30:26 well is um like children being outside
30:29 and being creative like my boys um were
30:31 always outside boys like they would
30:32 never be in the house playing they were
30:35 always outside um and
30:38 just knowing that they've got access to
30:39 use materials around the house I
30:41 remember I came home from work one day
30:43 in my um eight or nine it must have been
30:46 eight or nine at the time um was in the
30:47 backyard with a hammer and nail and he
30:50 was building a bird house a bird Hotel
30:52 I'm sorry it wasn't a house it was a
30:54 hotel he corrected me it had several
30:57 levels on it now his confidence in being
31:00 able to make that bird house with nails
31:02 and a hammer was because he'd been
31:04 exposed to risky
31:08 play um and today I can come home from
31:09 work and he's in the garage building a
31:13 skate ramp right W that's brilliant um
31:15 so exposure and giving children
31:17 opportunities to follow their ideas and
31:20 be creative and not saying no don't use
31:23 the nail and don't use the hammer um you
31:25 know when I was started teaching we had
31:28 um the uh workshops the do you remember
31:31 the big old workbenches with the Vice on
31:33 them yeah um and we use real Hammers and
31:36 real nails but we don't do that anymore
31:38 because it's considered to be too
31:41 dangerous but I guess under supervision
31:42 at home with your parent then that's
31:45 something you can do absolutely yeah and
31:46 I've got photos of um when my children
31:48 were little building guinea pig huts and
31:50 chicken coops and things like that and
31:53 vegetable gardens vegetable gardens um
31:55 and so they know how to use those tools
31:57 because they've been experienced I do
31:58 remember coming home day my son was
32:00 using the
32:03 um um what do you call it
32:04 it
32:08 Chainsaw the dropsa uh I can't remember
32:10 what no the grinder it was the grinder
32:11 and I said to him okay that one's
32:13 probably just a little bit dangerous
32:15 like don't use that until we get home
32:19 from work you know what about the uh the
32:22 challenge at the preschool or at home
32:26 with the digital play how do you is
32:30 there a place for children to be on an
32:33 iPad or learn about the world or so we
32:36 do we do use um technology for learning
32:39 yeah um but it's not an open um slather
32:41 of opportunity to to for children to
32:43 have access to the iPad um we might use
32:45 it for research purposes that will help
32:47 guide our program with the children um
32:50 and in the home environment uh it's
32:53 really important to have limits um and
32:56 time frames um and I know it's easy I've
32:58 done it many times I mean my children
32:59 used to be sitting in front of the TV
33:00 watching The Wiggles when I was cooking
33:03 dinner cuz you sometimes you need that
33:05 right that's reality um but if you
33:07 establish rules with children about when
33:08 they're allowed to have access to the
33:10 iPad in the home um what they're allowed
33:12 to watch on the iPad and when it's time
33:14 to give it up it's
33:16 non-negotiable because I know a lot of
33:17 parents struggle with oh they're going
33:19 to have a tantrum so I'm just going to
33:20 let them keep it so as long as the
33:22 children know it's a non-negotiable when
33:23 your time's up your time's up you might
33:26 have set on that iPod a timer that gives
33:28 you a a 5 minute a 3 minute a one minute
33:30 warning that it's time to hand it back
33:33 because children are never going to uh
33:35 not want to be on it longer than yeah
33:37 that's right there's a direct link
33:40 between that now and then how much
33:42 longer it takes them to then get back
33:45 into play I think whereas if you there
33:48 is just isn't that the play just starts
33:50 and it's from the moment they wake up as
33:53 opposed to that's right and it's not
33:54 it's not a decision that they can have
33:55 to go and watch that it's not going to
33:58 enter their mind um you know
34:01 the most creative child is the boor
34:03 child Sor it's the Bor you know your
34:05 children come up to you and say I'm so
34:06 bored I'm so bored it's like great
34:08 you've got so many choices in your life
34:09 why don't you go outside and find
34:11 something to do yeah right because
34:13 they're wanting they want wanting
34:16 instant gratification or instant
34:19 activity or you know so I used to say
34:20 that to my children all the time you're
34:21 Bor amazing go outside find something to
34:25 do yeah that's a um it's a real Ro uh
34:27 it's an answer a lot of children give
34:29 their parents uh you know cuz they're
34:32 used to the high stimulation right
34:33 children need to be by themselves they
34:36 need to have quiet time to think yeah
34:38 yeah yeah well done yeah I mean I love
34:40 nothing more than hearing Asher with his
34:42 own little stories in his playroom you
34:43 know playing and probably talking to a
34:52 Steve so that's his own individual play
34:54 his own imagination but then um the
34:57 benefits in of in your environment the
35:01 group play yeah that huge benefits right
35:03 with children at a certain age after
35:04 parallel play where they get to a
35:05 certain age that they're in groups and
35:07 they're playing together yeah absolutely
35:10 and we set up our environments to um
35:13 both reduce opportunity for conflict so
35:16 we might have um two prams in the home
35:18 Corner section because we know that the
35:19 children in that age group aren't able
35:22 to share yet so we provide to but then
35:25 we support the children to negotiate
35:28 when they want to have a turn in the two
35:30 us um and so that's where we start to
35:32 introduce the skills that they need for
35:35 group play and um cooperative play um
35:36 and then the other thing that we do as
35:40 well is we challenge them so um one of
35:42 my staff gave us a great example the
35:44 other day of we might have Playdoh on
35:46 the table and we might have two Play-Doh
35:49 rollers and we might have four
35:52 chairs okay so that's a
35:54 deliberate intention instead of putting
35:55 four right but if it was the
35:57 two-year-old classroom I would put four
36:00 M yep because I'm not expecting them to
36:04 be patient and wait for a turn right so
36:07 everything is done with intent to either
36:08 provide opportunities or
36:12 challenge it's very hard for a a adult
36:15 to share sometimes let alone a child so
36:16 sometimes we we expect children to do
36:19 things that we're not doing ourselves
36:21 like you know what what sort of uh you
36:23 know that that's Dad's whatever it is
36:24 that you can't touch it that you expect
36:27 I'll share that with so there's a lot
36:29 the same with expecting children to all
36:30 sit down for group time at the same time
36:32 that you've got children who are not
36:35 able to not interested in the topic I
36:36 didn't want to sit down and listen to
36:38 some people talk sometimes why should we
36:40 make children do that so children should
36:42 have Choice as much as possible there
36:44 are things they have to do um you know
36:46 you have to have your lunch or you know
36:47 that kind of stuff but where they've got
36:49 choice they should have Choice do you
36:52 provide meals at yeah we do yeah all
36:54 meals five meals a
36:58 day by cooked by a chef yeah yeah that's
37:01 fantastic yeah yeah and um the children
37:04 do they this is going to sound crazy but
37:07 do they know what they're eating um they
37:09 know what they like yeah so we we have
37:12 our um menus been designed by a
37:15 dietician yeah um and I love it it's
37:17 it's so unique we have what we call
37:20 switch out menus so we have um obviously
37:22 a range of cultural um cultures across
37:24 all of our services across Sydney so the
37:26 menu has been designed that you can
37:29 switch out if you're not um serving pork
37:30 or beef or whatever you can switch it
37:32 out to a a menu that's still providing
37:34 the same nutritional outcome for the
37:37 children in that week right um and so we
37:39 can also use that to tailor it to the S
37:40 of the likes of the children in the
37:43 service yeah um a lot of our kitchens as
37:44 well the children can see the Chef
37:47 cooking oh that's great yeah we talk to
37:49 them about the meals that we've gotten
37:50 um whether they like it whether they
37:53 don't like it um we yeah so they I don't
37:54 know if they all know exactly what every
37:56 single piece of meat is in in their menu
37:57 but they know what they like and they
37:59 tell us what they don't like oh that's
38:00 really good and we change the menu
38:03 accordingly yeah yeah that's awesome how
38:04 do they learn about like what they're
38:06 eaing all that sort of thing of where it
38:08 comes from does does that happen yeah it
38:10 does we have um as I said chefs across
38:13 our services um and we have they often
38:15 get involved in the education program
38:17 with the children so Jordan from our
38:20 West m center um runs a program a a
38:22 cooking program with the children um she
38:25 also attends our param Center as well um
38:26 and so she spends time talking to the
38:28 children about the food um doing cooking
38:30 experiences with them um and also
38:32 talking about the nutritional value of
38:34 the food that the children are eating
38:37 wellow is she on U
38:39 eats it's you know it's interesting when
38:41 you first walk into a service the first
38:43 thing that you smell is what the chefs
38:45 are cooking for lunch right you feel
38:47 that and that gives you an instant sense
38:50 of wow like my children are having an
38:52 amazing meal in this service today and
38:55 it having the chefs on site it actually
38:57 then um makes the children hungrier
38:58 because they're smelling the food being
39:01 cooked and do the children ever work
39:03 together with the chef to make food that
39:05 they actually will eat eat yes yes we do
39:06 yeah so they might make cakes or they
39:09 might make the salad um yeah so they and
39:11 did they learn about you know the
39:12 hygiene and all that sort stuff
39:14 absolutely wash your hands now you
39:15 touched your hair go wash your hands
39:18 again yeah Y definely and and do you if
39:20 a a child says they're not hungry do you
39:22 keep trying encouraging to eat or you
39:23 just allow them to eat whatever they're
39:25 willing to eat we yeah that's right so
39:27 we give them Choice our meals aren't all like
39:28 like
39:31 um mixed in walk kind of scenario we try
39:33 to keep the food a little bit separate
39:35 they don't it mixed yeah they don't like
39:37 it mixed and and then that way if if I'm
39:40 serving a mixed bowl of stir fry and you
39:41 don't like the noodles then you're not
39:43 going to eat any much but if I serve the
39:44 noodles and then I serve the meat and
39:46 then I serve the vegetables and you can
39:48 selfs serve your food and you can choose
39:51 which pie of that you eat that's more
39:54 successful we also will um if the
39:55 child's still not hungry we'll keep them
39:58 a serve that they can have later yeah
40:01 okay uh the etiquette of eating uh
40:03 manners and all that sort of stuff how
40:07 are you how do you set uh how a child or
40:10 how the table is uh works and what
40:13 expectations do you have of children um
40:15 with the with the eating and so my my
40:18 biggest thing is really around the
40:22 social aspect of meal times for me I get
40:23 frustrated if I hear Educators say to
40:26 Children stop talking and eat your lunch
40:29 because I'm like no eating is a social
40:31 in Social space like we should be
40:33 encouraging these conversations doesn't
40:35 matter if it takes an extra 20 minutes
40:37 to have lunch Educators should be
40:38 sitting with the children and
40:40 encouraging conversations in terms of
40:42 the etiquette you know using a spoon we
40:44 just encourage children we provide them
40:46 with the tools if they choose to use
40:47 them they do if they use their fingers
40:49 they use their fingers right no that's
40:52 good yeah yeah at home of course you can
40:55 you can cooking experience with your
40:57 children is is something that that is a
41:00 great bonding experience that's messy
41:02 play as well there also a lot of
41:05 mathematics and Mathematics language
41:07 it's it's and and at the end you get
41:09 something a reward which is to eat that
41:12 food that you help Mom or Dad cook yeah
41:14 it's great because you can get Asha has
41:17 the the child siiz utensils the whisks
41:19 and the things so if we're making
41:21 pancakes he's got his own bowl of flour
41:24 water you know so part of it and we have
41:26 um plumbed in mud kitchens in our sand
41:29 pits okay so the children absolutely
41:31 love them because they're out there
41:39 pizzas at home I'm sort of changing the
41:41 top back to play again at home with play
41:42 if we were talking about I'm going back
41:45 to Messi play because I F I'm I'm I like
41:47 Asher doing it I mean we've got a table
41:49 out there where he paints on and after
41:51 he' paint the first few times i' wipe it
41:53 down and be spark and clean again and
41:55 now it's just a total mess until the
41:56 other day he said dad why is there so
41:58 much paint on this table oh that's funny
42:01 yeah right I M I'll clean it but um is
42:02 it is it good to have an envir like an
42:04 area like where that's that's where your
42:06 messy play area is that's where abely
42:08 yeah and if you're prepared to leave
42:11 that area messy um in between play
42:13 sessions and it not be perfectly spot
42:14 clean then that's the best way to do it
42:17 glitter is the worst thing to clean up
42:21 oh oh so oh I remember once I was um
42:24 making paint um liquid water paint um
42:28 edol die and um it's like one little
42:31 piece of powder feels like a whole
42:33 bucket of Blue Water right I dropped the
42:35 whole thing on the floor in the
42:37 preschool room it took me hours and
42:38 hours to clean like right this is now
42:39 the Craft
42:42 Space let's move the craft area to here
42:44 because this is now going to be a
42:45 permanent mess that we're just going to
42:48 have to deal with and not all uh not all
42:51 paints waterbased either I discovered uh
42:53 right which is
42:56 good I mean I think it's great for for
42:58 parents to be able to of course
43:00 Implement all these levels of implement
43:02 all these levels of play at home and
43:03 it's not always
43:05 possible you're making dinners you're
43:07 doing all kinds of things and so that's
43:09 where the beauty of like your Learning
43:11 Centers um in all preschools come into
43:14 play where you do that's right take some
43:16 of that load absolutely and there's
43:17 nothing wrong with that like and and
43:19 that's what's one great thing about
43:21 coming to Early Learning is that you can
43:23 have your child experience AR range of
43:25 things that you can't deliver at home um
43:27 and you know not every body's got the
43:30 space to do craft at their house you
43:31 know you might live in a unit and you
43:32 don't have the space for that and so
43:34 that's why having it available at the
43:36 service is important do you have um a
43:41 policy on uh pretend gun play things
43:43 like that um we don't have a policy on
43:47 it um it's if pretend Gunplay comes in
43:49 it's it's discouraged but it's not a
43:52 it's not a big red no um but it's not
43:54 also something that we encourage yeah
43:56 because guns are guns are real guns it
43:58 is reality and hiding the fact that
44:01 they're in society from children is not
44:03 useful because then when they get
44:06 exposed to them but what um Can
44:10 preschool children bring in a toy gun no
44:13 no they can't no but if they were um
44:15 they had sticks and scks yes then we
44:17 would discourage that and say hey how
44:19 about we how about we turn that into I
44:21 don't know something a kite or something
44:22 put a bit of string on and turn into a
44:24 kite yeah yeah that that's an
44:26 interesting point that yeah they are
44:28 part of the world and and through play
44:31 children learn about their world um we
44:33 don't we don't buy um cowboy and Indian
44:37 costumes or anything like that so yeah
44:39 yeah yeah I remember when I was teaching
44:43 we had a policy no guns no and the kids
44:45 still did it they did they got natural
44:47 part of and then you'd ask them they say
44:50 no not that's right but you go bang bang
44:53 bang you know yeah and and you just just
44:55 have to have real conversations yeah
44:56 conversations and the bigger deal you
44:59 make out of it then the bigger deal the
45:01 children will make out of it yeah right
45:03 yeah it's the the superhero thing is a
45:05 big thing too isn't it I mean that's
45:07 we're in the superhero Zone yeah and
45:09 that's a lot of superhero play happens
45:12 at and and superheroes invariably fight
45:14 yeah but they're always against the
45:16 baddies so that's kind of it's always
45:20 framed that way but if if uh superhero
45:21 is fighting another superhero and it
45:24 actually they start does that happen or
45:25 not well it hasn't got to that point
45:27 with Ash he doesn't talk about it in
45:29 that sense they run they they chase the
45:33 bad or they chase the Badd away not
45:35 actually fight the the bad yeah agree
45:37 with that bad guy the bad guy the bad
45:39 guy um yeah I agree with that I think
45:41 it's usually that and actually that's
45:43 when you'll see two people come together
45:46 in yeah to to play with a purpose right
45:49 they're going after the the bad but uh
45:50 in my experience they're not hitting
45:54 each other or no no yeah when um Power
45:57 Rangers when the Power Rangers were out
45:59 um my preschool was like um world
46:01 championship wrestling it
46:05 was we had to so yeah that's all I was
46:08 watching on telling you know yeah very
46:12 true well it's good I mean look I think
46:14 there are a lot of learnings as parents
46:18 with regards to risky play to know that
46:19 there there are boundaries around it but
46:21 it is important to allow some of that
46:23 risk because that's how development
46:26 happens and and like your your son who's
46:28 now you know in the garage hammering
46:30 things and Building Things and that's
46:31 really important so there there are ways
46:33 but as parents we do need to manage that
46:35 as best as we can and thankfully have uh
46:38 centers like yours who kind of help us
46:41 as parents manage it all and the messy
46:42 play and all the stuff that we can't
46:44 always do we want to do as parents but
46:45 you just don't physically have the time
46:47 to do and like you're saying all the
46:50 space so it's it's great Jenny talking
46:52 to you yeah man about all these levels
46:54 of play and and and and really good for
46:55 us as parents to think about other ways
46:58 we can do things so thank coming thanks
47:04 time well that time again our favorite
47:06 blue wiggle Anthony field is here with
47:08 us now Anthony you're ready to tackle
47:11 another parenting question um I'll do my
47:14 best Simon I don't know mate I hope so
47:16 well here it comes now this one was
47:18 submitted by a voice note which anyone
47:21 can do by jumping on The Wiggles decom
47:23 podcast and hitting record so let's take a
47:24 a
47:27 listen hi Anthony it's Gemma here from
47:29 Melbourne I have two daughters Maddie
47:31 who is 2 and a half and Claire who is 5
47:33 months old I was wondering if you had
47:36 any tips for overcoming the concept of
47:38 one more whether it's one more book at
47:40 bedtime one more song before you go to
47:43 sleep one more minute at the park seems
47:45 like a bit of a procrastination tool
47:47 that the kids use to not do something
47:49 they don't want to but if you've got any
47:51 tools to help overcome them asking for
47:54 one more I would be most appreciative
47:56 thank you so much big Wiggles fan love
47:59 love your stuff bye oh good on you J
48:01 that that's that's a a really good
48:03 question because that happens all the
48:07 time um if they're in the swimming pool
48:10 just one more um if they're you know
48:13 watching a show just one more you know
48:15 episode or one more that goes on that
48:18 doesn't end at um preschool that goes
48:21 for the rest Just One More Story at at
48:25 night time have you guys experienced oh
48:27 yeah that's constant everything a negotiation
48:28 negotiation
48:30 everything's you're trying to set up
48:33 early to go okay we've got two books and
48:34 then it's bedtime you're trying to set
48:37 it all up and still I want one more I
48:39 want more one more and the and you know
48:41 you don't want that meltdown to happen
48:43 do you so you no a lot of times you give
48:45 in but you need to stay firm it's such a
48:48 tricky tricky tricky thing to deal with
48:50 yeah I it's um it's it's something that
48:54 um parents uh have got to really uh set
48:57 a boundary and stick to it and your
49:00 words got to be right okay um One More
49:01 Story okay we'll do one more story and
49:04 that's it that has to be it and then
49:06 it's time for bedtime or you know we'll
49:10 do one more um one more song um but
49:12 we'll make it a real special song and
49:16 we'll end with a lovely uh Slow Soft
49:18 ending all about you going to bed
49:21 something like that or um you might like
49:23 to throw a reward in at the end of it
49:25 I'm not talking you know a food reward
49:32 yeah like you you get to um uh choose
49:34 the the the story you know it's the last
49:36 story but you can choose which one it is
49:39 and that's it and you can close the book
49:41 um things things like that that um that
49:44 have a have a finality to it you know um
49:47 uh okay um one more Splash around in the
49:50 pool and then you can come up and you
49:52 can choose which towel you want to use
49:54 or you know things that might work or
49:57 may not work but you've got to try
49:59 yeah giving giving Children Choice it's
50:01 something that uh Jen mure has spoken
50:03 about as well when you know you're going
50:07 to deal potentially with that meltdown
50:10 is if you you stay firm they say for one
50:12 more you said no we've had one more and
50:14 then they get upset then you have then
50:16 you acknowledge you go okay I understand
50:17 you're upset because you wanted one more
50:19 we we can't do that now because it's
50:20 time for bed but we can do one more
50:22 tomorrow or we can you choose the book
50:24 you want to do tomorrow so
50:26 acknowledge yeah acknowledge their
50:28 feeling big emotion about it and
50:30 hopefully then you can move through it
50:32 while you're still staying firm that
50:34 you've you you've cut off and it's it's
50:37 the end now if if it if you're at a um
50:40 it one more can be also be um you I've
50:42 got I bought my little boy a toy at the
50:45 um at the supermarket a little a car and
50:48 I remember Anto once going one more one
50:50 more one more and I said andto we can we
50:52 can't we've only got one we've only got
50:54 space for one but he had a meltdown and
50:56 and I still had to stick to that or you
50:58 know one more time on the big red car
51:02 ride at the at the supermarket that's
51:03 when it's going to happen but you've got
51:05 to stick to you yeah I mean I don't know
51:07 if this is right what we do or not but
51:11 we Sorry mate you're
51:13 right like I don't know if this is right
51:15 what we do or not but with those rides
51:18 for example with with one more always
51:20 set it up early I say okay we're going
51:22 to have you know two goes or whatever it
51:24 is but when I say to you it's time to
51:26 finish what are you going to say to to
51:30 me and Asher will go I'll finish I'll go
51:32 okay so when it's that time I'm going to
51:34 say to you Asha we're finishing now it's
51:36 time to go and what are you going to say
51:39 Daddy I'll go and does he do it a lot of
51:42 the time now so I just set it up early I
51:44 explained how many times how many books
51:46 how many things and that that's going to
51:48 be the end of it and he gives me the
51:50 response about what he's pre- response
51:53 to it and it seems to work now I don't
51:55 know any other experts going to say
51:57 about that really good that's that's
51:59 that's thinking head to the transition
52:02 of the the right ending and going back
52:04 to um you know walking around the
52:07 supermarket without without the ride and
52:10 um you you've really you've given him uh
52:12 an answer you've given him the response
52:14 and he he feels empowered because you're
52:16 you're saying but like you need to you
52:19 know I think it's a real good uh uh you
52:22 negotiation I think yeah have you had
52:24 that that happen Lo have you got sort of
52:27 a one more one more everything
52:30 you got two to start with two more um no
52:31 Jasper Still Still does it with with
52:34 everything um but I was just thinking
52:36 particularly with bedtime and with with
52:38 what Jen said but we we tried for a bit
52:41 of letting the girls put the book they
52:43 wanted to read the one more book next to
52:45 the bed y that we can read in the
52:48 morning or we can read so then it's
52:50 there that which I think then helps them
52:52 go okay well that's the one we we will
52:55 read but then also I think what's could
52:58 work is you know way um then changing
53:01 the thought
53:04 to about sleep and getting ready and how
53:06 nice it will be to get tucked up in your
53:07 bed and a big sleep will help you feel
53:09 really good in the morning then we all
53:11 wake up and I'm just down the hall you
53:14 know kind of changing their focus on on
53:17 something else might help too yeah with
53:19 rather than yeah you know know I know
53:20 you want more book let's put it here but
53:22 then let's now let's talk about sleep if
53:25 that helps too which we' we've tried but
53:27 yeah I think that that does help isn't
53:29 it it's trying to flip it and change the
53:31 focus onto something else which then
53:33 takes away from the the one more book
53:34 and focusing on something positive
53:36 they're going to do tomorrow or the next
53:38 thing that they're going to do or and
53:40 you know give choice or Alternatives I
53:42 think that's also routine if you know
53:44 okay one more book okay but you know the
53:46 meditation happens after that which
53:49 which is you know okay we're going to
53:50 have a fun meditation now close your
53:53 eyes and let's start dreaming about
53:55 whatever you know like well you know you
53:57 don't have to say the word medit but but
53:58 but you know things like that where
54:01 where it is a transition to sleep then
54:04 yes so you you You' you've thought ahead
54:06 um same thing is what s with with with
54:09 Asher on the ride it's if they know this
54:11 is the routine yeah accept because one
54:14 more book doesn't mean it's the end of
54:15 the excitement or you know not
54:17 excitement but what what's happening you
54:18 know you're making it um there's a
54:20 really good thing happening next which
54:22 is when we close our eyes and I'm
54:24 involved because I can talk to you about
54:25 suggesting where you're going in your
54:29 dream all that sort of you know yeah and
54:30 leaving the park which is what Jim has
54:32 mentioned as well that's brilliant
54:34 that's a tricky one is that one more
54:36 swing yeah well I always I do the on the
54:39 if it's on the swing okay 10 more swings
54:41 let's count down from 10 to get every
54:43 you hear all these parents counting from
54:46 five 10 and it's still the results the
54:48 same at the end that they they're still
54:50 having that negotiation with their child
54:52 to leave but I I think it is that it's
54:55 it's making them focus on the next thing
54:58 y about okay let's ride your bike if
54:59 it's a bike along the path because we
55:01 got to go down that way around that
55:03 corner there to get back to the car or
55:06 or or so set up a new little adventure
55:08 for them to help sort of change that
55:10 Focus for them yeah yeah so you've had
55:12 fun on the swing but guess what there's
55:14 more fun coming we're going to walk um
55:17 this way you know there's um let's look
55:19 for kangaroos or you know something like
55:23 that you know making if you can and so
55:26 how old Jasper's nine yep so still got a
55:28 lot of this to work through hav
55:31 we and it happens yeah it doesn't stop
55:33 no it doesn't stop okay JMA well I'm
55:36 sure we've cause you a lot of anxiety
55:38 now but I hope we've helped oh Antonio
55:41 is 17 and he's one more game see now
55:44 comes the games of course always one
55:46 more well I hope uh that's giving you
55:49 some little uh advice there Jer and
55:51 managing it and uh getting through it as
55:54 best you can good luck and again as a
55:56 parent just know that every parent go
55:58 through this it's it's a challenge for
56:01 all the parents all over the world so um
56:03 all the best with it well that's all for
56:05 Wiggle talk this week we'll be back in
56:07 your ears next week if you have any
56:08 questions for Anthony head to the Wiggles
56:10 Wiggles
56:12 docomo and record your voice message or
56:21 docomo it thanks for listening to Wiggle
56:26 talk a podcast for parents bye bye why
