News

Two generations: parents and youngsters. One is tech-obsessed, with a short attention span, who find it difficult to talk about their emotions. The other is their children.  Full article

Mobile phones should be banned from the dinner table and bedtimes as part of a healthy approach to devices, the UK’s four chief medical officers have said.  Full article

From muddy hands and dirty faces….to higher grades and happy places
Why schools need to champion outdoor play (and learning) for the sake of the planet, and health of our children and because its’s plain common sense.

PowerPoint presentation from Cath Prisk from the Muddy Hands report can be found here

The nurse laughed when she opened our son’s file. It was a Sunday evening, our three-year- old was sitting in the triage room, and she was examining a cut on his head. It turned out, her records showed, that this had become an annual family event: he had been to the children’s ward every January for the past three years. “I think perhaps we just have to find a way to get you through this month,” she said to my wife.  Full article (subscription may be required) 

There is little evidence screen use for children is harmful in itself, guidance from leading paediatricians says.

Parents should worry less as long as they have gone through a checklist on the effect of screen time on their child, it says.

While the guidance avoids setting screen time limits, it recommends not using them in the hour before bedtime.  Full article

A new campaign has been launched in a bid to promote more “gender-equal play” in nurseries and childcare.

The Care Inspectorate – the body which inspects registered childcare providers – said the initiative has been brought in because “childhood and play is becoming more gendered and polarised between girls and boys”.

Children’s Minister Maree Todd welcomed the new resource, saying: “Evidence shows that gender stereotyping from a very early age has an impact on the decisions that girls and boys make about their future subject and career choices.

“This guide explains the importance of challenging gender stereotyping and provides ideas and examples for early years professionals of existing good practice.”  Full article

Major new Scottish Government scheme delivers healthy food, outdoor play & living wage in childcare.

Every child attending a funded early learning and childcare (ELC) session will receive a healthy meal, Minister for Children and Young People Maree Todd has announced. 

“The earliest years of a child’s life are crucial to their development and high quality early learning and childcare plays a vital role in helping children realise their full potential and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

“This is a unique opportunity to transform the way we deliver early learning and childcare, which is why we are using the National Standard to ensure no child in ELC goes hungry or misses out on the benefits of outdoor learning, exercise and play. 
Maree Todd, Minister for Children and Young People

You can read full article here

Children’s experience of childhood and play is becoming more gendered and polarised between girls and boys, with products such as toys, books, online resources and clothes increasingly being produced and marketed along gender lines.  In the early years, children begin to learn about gender roles and expectations, and will pick up messages from their surrounding environment about what is perceived as ‘normal’ for boys and girls. They are influenced by their environment and the adults around them. They learn from everything they see, hear and do. This shapes how they see themselves and others as they grow up and supports them to follow their own wishes and expressions of identity.  You can download the document here

14th December marks 20 years of Play Scotland, the national organisation for play.

Read our milestones in our special edition newsletter:

Play Scotland 20th Anniversary Newsletter 2018