Play Practitioners

Play Practitioners Early years Educational Consultant and Professional Development
'It is in playing, and perhaps only

18/06/2026

Watch a baby for an afternoon. They reach. They drop. They stack. They test. Nobody teaches it. Play is how children work out the world.

The developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik calls young children the research and development team of our species.

So when a child looks unsure about how to play, the drive has not gone away. It has had little room to grow. Are we giving them that room?

17/06/2026

You set up the activity. You found the toy. You gave your whole afternoon. Then a small voice says ""I'm bored,"" and your heart sinks.

Here is what I have learned in over 20 years with young children. That empty moment is not a sign you did too little. It is the space your child steps into right before they start to play.

Hand over a screen too fast, and they never reach the other side, where their own ideas are waiting.

Comment SCREEN for help with this.

14/06/2026

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'
or
https://lc.playpractitioners.com/less_screen_more_spark-2882

You need twenty minutes to cook, so the screen goes on. It works, until you switch it off and the meal turns into a battle. The screen solved one problem and quietly made another. Try a swap. Set up something near the kitchen your child can do alone. Blocks. Playdough on a mat. A drawer of safe kitchen bits to stack and sort. A bowl of water and cups by the sink. Day one will be bumpy. Stay with it, and the calmer evenings come.
The full set of ideas is on the blog and in my latest video. Link below.
Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

What does your child reach for when the screen goes off?

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'One small swap for the next time you are trying to cook.The s...
14/06/2026

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'
One small swap for the next time you are trying to cook.
The screen keeps your child busy, then the meal turns into a battle once it goes off.
So set up something near the kitchen they can do alone. A box of blocks. Playdough on a mat. A bowl of water and a few cups by the sink. Day one will be bumpy. Stay with it, and the calmer evenings come. I explain why this works on the blog.

Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

What does your child reach for when you are cooking?

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'Read this on the hard evenings. Your child is not being diffi...
13/06/2026

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'
Read this on the hard evenings. Your child is not being difficult after a screen. Their brain is stuck up high, and they need you to help it down. That is all the meltdown is. The why, and what helps, is on the blog.

Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Or watch me with a cup of tea https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

13/06/2026

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'
The UK's Best Start in Life guidance changed in 2026. Under two, skip screens apart from shared moments like a family video call. Two to five, around an hour a day, and less where you can. The part I want you to hear: the kind of content matters as much as the amount. Slow pace, simple stories, time to rest between scenes. Sit and watch along where you can, your calm steadies them.

I have linked the guidance and written the whole thing up.
Read the blog or watch the full video, link below.
Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

11/06/2026

Comment Screen for your FREE guide 'Less Screen More Spark'
or click here
https://lc.playpractitioners.com/less_screen_more_spark-2882

Your child's brain is making a guess every second, then checking if it got it right. That is how they make sense of the world. A fast cartoon moves too quickly for that guessing, so the brain shifts into a high alert state and the body revs up. Calm on the outside. Racing on the inside. Once you see it, the after-screen meltdown makes sense.

The full explanation is on the blog and in my latest video.

Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

Nine minutes of a fast cartoon was enough to change how a group of four-year-olds behaved straight after.It is not them ...
10/06/2026

Nine minutes of a fast cartoon was enough to change how a group of four-year-olds behaved straight after.
It is not them being naughty.
After fast content a young brain stays in a high alert state, and they cannot settle it alone yet.
I have written the whole thing up: what is happening in there, and what helps.

Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

Which shows leave your little one calm, and which leave them wired?

10/06/2026

Nine minutes of a fast cartoon was enough to change how a group of four-year-olds behaved straight after. They did worse at tasks that called for focus and self-control. Not because of who they are, but because of what fast content does to a young brain. That meltdown after the screen goes off starts to make sense. I have written up the whole thing, what is happening and what helps.

Read the full blog, www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Listen to me at https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

Which shows leave your little one calm?

Twenty years in early years, and the same scene keeps finding me. A child pushed a little too far, a little too fast, wi...
09/06/2026

Twenty years in early years, and the same scene keeps finding me. A child pushed a little too far, a little too fast, with no way back down on their own. Hello, I am Tricia. I teach and lead in early years, here in London and in schools around the world, with a Masters in early childhood from UCL. I started Play Practitioners for one reason. So much of what looks like a child being difficult is really a child who has run out of road. The screen meltdown is one version of it. A young brain wound up by fast content, with no calm way to settle. My work is helping parents and educators read what is really going on, then make the calm choice the easy one. I am sharing a short series on screens and young brains this week.

The full blog www.playpractitioners.com/blog/screen-time-meltdowns
Watch me on https://youtu.be/mXlFYKtHMYk

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