News

Children are most exposed to dangerous fumes on school run and in playground, according to Unicef UK report.  Full article

Turns out, families are spending more time together than before. But not together-together. Alone-together.  Full article 

Children have a natural love of climbing trees, kicking leaves in the woods and jumping in puddles.

But the proliferation of smart devices such as mobile phones and Ipads, as well as parental worries over safety, have drastically reduced the time children spend playing in parks, forests and fields.  Full article

A report by the Association of Play Industries (API) reveals that children have never moved so little and points to substantial evidence that screens are a key reason. In fact, by the age of eight, the average child will have spent one full year sitting in front of a screen.  Full article

Are we neglecting childhood? The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than changes in business, technological developments and the push to solve global challenges from poverty to climate change. It’s about the way the next generation grows up.  Full article

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