Back in the 1960’s, the new tech gadget that fascinated young children was the See ‘n Say, a toy developed and sold by Mattel. Many adults of my generation will fondly remember playing with a See ‘n Say -- pointing the arrow, pulling the string, and hearing the...

The author copies of my new book, Creating a Beautiful Mess: Ten Essential Play Experiences for a Joyous Childhood, arrived today! As I described in a recent interview, the book "was inspired by my conversations with parents of the children in the CTD summer Leapfrog...

Digital gaming in the lives of young children is the subject of my recent interview for the Center for Talent Development newsletter: “Use technology in moderation. Use it with your child so that you're not just supervising but engaging in it, having fun and enjoying...

Suppose your daughter spends hours cleaning up her bedroom. Unlikely, I know, but bear with me. Suppose she organizes the clothes in her dresser using cardboard to divide each drawer into rectangles of varying sizes, separating her socks from her underwear, her soccer...

How often are you aware of your own shadow? I rarely notice the shadows I cast unless they happen to get in my way, such as blocking my light as I read. But on a recent visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy I was reminded of the delight and fascination young children feel as...

The search continues for picture books to include in an early childhood robotics curriculum. As I wrote in previous blog posts, it’s surprisingly difficult to find a robot picture book that demonstrates robotics concepts. Granted, I’m looking at storybooks, not...

Recently I gathered a collection of picture books about robots (thank you, Evanston Public Library) as part of my work developing robotics curricula for young children. I’m looking for some engaging read-alouds that will spark creative, critical thinking around the...

Most of my books have simple, practical titles. For example, my book about story dictation is called “Story Dictation.” My book about challenging exceptionally bright children is called (you guessed it) “Challenging Exceptionally Bright Children.” My next book, coming...