When you are a parent of young children, planning what you have in your home and making a commitment to natural and handmade playthings is time consuming until you get the hang of how simple it can be. With just a few small doable changes, you will ease the chaos, slow things down and discover that creating in your home with young children is both possible and enjoyable.

The Story of a man, his young son and a box truck.

The kitchen needs safe boundaries and children need to feel like they belong there.  As with all things developmental, young children need plenty of experience being around the kitchen to get the lay of the land, and they will of course copy all our behaviors as we navigate our individual relationships with food within our homes.  

Contributor Lauren Hakala shares some insight into how involve children in life in the kitchen.

Contributor Lauren Hakala shares some insight into the mud kitchen and the importance it has in outdoor play and budding kitchen skills.

The kitchen needs safe boundaries and children need to feel like they belong there.  As with all things developmental, young children need plenty of experience being around the kitchen to get the lay of the land, and they will of course copy all our behaviors as we navigate our individual relationships with food within our homes.  

A mud kitchen is a place where being out in nature fuels a child’s imagination. Wet and dry sand in combination, even dirt and mud creates opportunities for different kinds of play. The sun on a rock can make a good stove top. Water that is fresh from a stream, collected rainwater or a puddle holds the interest of a young child. If water comes from inside the house, leave it out in the sunshine a bit to enliven the water. Just having the water outside will become interesting to the young child.

Upon visiting, touring and observing, parents or guardians can ask themselves….Can you imagine yourself bringing your child here every day and can you then imagine your child here? If you have answered yes to these questions, then you can look into all the details of enrollment and see if it is a good fit for your family.

Once the decision to attend childcare has been made and you have chosen a center, you can begin thinking about the best ways to help your child, your family, and yourself through this transition.

In this episode, Lauren Hakala shares with us what she refers to as the 5 Golden Keys to Finding Quality Childcare.. Lauren is a long time educator for the young child who has had the opportunity to do this work in many different settings and brings her many years of Childcare experience.

You’ve chosen the right child care setting for your child and your family… now what? Lauren Hakala returns to share with the listener tips and tools for supporting children and parents alike as they make the transition to being in childcare.

A quality transition plan requires that the childcare center, the parents, and the teachers all work together to ensure the child will be successful. The child benefits most when the center, teachers and parents are all in agreement about how they will help the child acclimate.