“Mandy, this is red…. Red, meet Mandy, your biggest fan.”

I like to allow children to completely explore a concept before they begin to create within the confines of it. When applied to learning about color, that theory notifies parents to make simple introductions.

Offering your child a pre-packaged kit of watercolors will certainly supply her with the tools for hours of fun and creativity. But I think there is a better, more organic way to introduce your 30 to 36 month-old to color learning.

Some say that play is the work of children.

I agree. Sort of….

The developmental tasks accomplished through playing are what truly matter.

Equally important: What kind of co-worker are you Mommy? The hovering, scampering, secretarial type?  The strict foreman who keeps the trains running on time?  Or are you more of an over-qualified, underpaid, personal assistant to a diva?

Blocks are so important to building a child’s skills through play, that I’ve used them to assess whether or not a child was developing on track. Yes, that important.

From the small wooden cubes that babies instinctively like to stack to the brick-sized cardboard ones that are perfect for team projects, blocks are… well… um, a building block of your child’s development across multiple domains.

As our readership grows, we want to make sure the timeless posts from our archives get their fair share of attention.

While MommyGarten is on vacation this week, please enjoy these excerpts from popular blog posts.