A LIFE FILLED WITH PLAY CAN SUPPORT ALL KIDS WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES

By Carol Blumenstein and The KidsRead2Kids Team

WHEN WE WERE GROWING UP, OUR DAYS WERE FILLED WITH PLAY. FROM BARBIE DOLLS AND LEGOS TO FACTORY VISITS AND FARM STAYS, OUR MOTHER BROUGHT LEARNING TO LIFE. EVERY DAY WAS AN ADVENTURE. IT DIDN’T MATTER IF WE WERE BUILDING A TENT IN OUR LIVING ROOM OR ROAD-TRIPPING COUNTRYWIDE—PLAY GAVE US THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD.

Play shaped our childhood, but it also shaped who we are today. Though we didn’t know it then, our mother had been teaching us lessons we would keep with us forever. When we played with stuffed animals, dolls, and homemade puppets, we learned to tell stories and communicate our emotions. When we built from scratch with LEGO bricks, we experimented with our imaginations and learned spatial awareness. When we went on adventures, we learned to see the world from all perspectives. We thought about the lives of farmers and factory workers, dancers and chefs, fishermen, and historical figures. When we received our diagnoses—a mix of anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia—interactive learning became an essential component of our scholastic lives. For kids with learning differences, kinesthetic The Nutcracker Club members playing with and tactile learn- their Bear-noculars during one-on-one ing can open their mentoring eyes to endless possibilities. For some kids, multi-sensory engagement is what they need to get the learning to click not only in school but in the real world too. Many schools don’t recognize the benefits or legitimacy of learning through play—learning by doing. Regardless of whether your school does or not, here are some fun ways to incorporate play into your child’s learning at home.

If you have a sandbox or access to a community sandbox, you can make your own plaster fossils to hide in the sand. When your child finds them all, encourage them to try to put them back together, like an archeologist. Hide a treasure chest in your local park and challenge your child to find it with a compass and map. Or try geocaching or orienteering. You’ll learn similar lessons—navigation and cartography—but there will be a set program for you to follow. You can also contact your local museum and ask if they have their own scavenger hunt. If not, feel free to make your own. Many museums publish exhibit maps online, so you can design in advance and hunt with your child on a day off. From critical thinking and problem solving to memory and vocabulary, you can learn a lot when you’re learning through play!

We here at KidsRead2Kids want to share everything we’ve learned with you. We have dedicated ourselves to helping kids learn and grow through play. Our KidsRead2Kids Book Club, which pairs high school mentors with young elementary-aged children, incorporates all four learning modalities with hands-on play components to encourage a love of reading. Each unit teaches important skills, from managing emotions, conquering fears, and addressing stereotypes to encouraging creative storytelling and embracing who we are.

This past December, we put on our first ever KidsRead2Kids Bear Hunt in Birmingham, Michigan. In partnership with 11 local businesses and the Bloomfield Hills School District, we gave families a free, COVID-safe community learning experience we hope they’ll never forget. We taught kids how to make their very own Bear-noculars, which they used to follow our Bear Hunt map and collect clues. When they finished, they could solve our special cipher to receive their reward.

On our website and YouTube channel, we offer free video tutorials for parents to learn how to read interactively to their children. We also have our own interactive readings made by kids for kids and a few follow-up activity lessons to reinforce learning. Encouraging children to engage in the story and ask questions helps them improve their active listening and critical thinking skills. They might enjoy the book more too.

Our free digital magazine features in-depth, up-close interviews with industry learning and play experts and highlights amazing kids around the world who have overcome personal challenges. We also have a parent-to-parent column where we share tips and advice. We believe every child has something amazing to show the world; we just need to help them find their strengths and remind them they are not defined by their struggles.

Remember to go play!

KidsRead2Kids COVID-Safe Bear Hunt in Birmingham, Michigan Reuben reading Head to Toe by Eric Carle

The KidsRead2Kids Magazine Homepage

Carol Blumenstein is a mother of five children with learning disabilities and a board member of KidsRead2Kids. She holds an MBA and a BS in Economics concentrating in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School of Business and a BS in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. She was a Management Consultant at Bain & Company and a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-blumenstein-1715a6140/

KidsRead2Kids is a Parents’ Choice award-winning nonprofit dedicated to bringing joy back to the struggling reader. It was founded in 2016 by dyslexic and ADHD siblings, based off their own experiences. KidsRead2Kids provides free online resources for remote learning for teachers, parents, and kids worldwide. To encourage a love of reading, KidsRead2Kids offers free video-audiobooks of abridged classic novels and simple decodable chapter books read by high school students and filmed chapter by chapter for self-paced listening. We provide multifaceted resources to help children find a love of reading, regardless of how they learn. We believe children are capable of anything, and we hope to help them see a world with endless possibilities. By sharing our story, we aim to show all children they are not alone in their struggles. Website: https://kidsread2kids.com/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_2owXBwcM8y0-xmXIsCELQ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidsread2kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidsread2kids/