Description:

Most parents understand that free, unstructured playtime is great for children’s development. What they may not know is that playful interaction with parents is also a powerful way for kids to cultivate healthy emotional development and resilience. Kids often want their parents to play with them, but many parents don’t know how to play or see it only as an (often boring) way to kill time.

Playing with your kids doesn’t have to mean enrolling in countless parent-and-me classes or getting on all fours and making toy car sounds; the little daily moments together can make the most impact. In The Way of Play: Using Little Moments of Big Connection to Raise Calm and Confident Kids, world-renowned pediatric therapists and play experts Tina Payne Bryson, and Georgie Wisen-Vincent, LMFT offer simple, playful techniques that harness this caregiving magic in only a few minutes each day.

Bryson and Wisen-Vincent will be in conversation with Carly Andrews, executive director of The Alliance for Early Childhood, a nonprofit organization devoted to nurturing the healthy development of young children by equipping early childhood educators, parents, and families with resources, education, and support.