Turning Everyday Routines into Developmentally Enriching Play Experiences (Hint: You’ve Already Got What You Need)
This episode of the Learn With Less® podcast is the first of a 4-part series about incorporating play, language, music, and movement, into everyday routines. These episodes feature a conversation between Ayelet Marinovich (pediatric speech-language pathologist, founder and creator of the Learn With Less® curriculum) and Miranda Zoumbaris (early childhood educator & interventionist, licensed Learn With Less® facilitator, and entrepreneur).
In this series, we’ll explore the four pillars of the Learn With Less® framework, and examine how we can incorporate more of each of those into our everyday routines to support connection and early learning. For each episode, we chose one routine and one everyday object, and explored the ways in which we could infuse developmentally enriching experiences into everyday life, and helping families see they can do this using the time, energy, and materials they already have.
Be sure to check over at our Instagram and Facebook pages (linked below) for additional content that may support your understanding and experience of these episodes. As we release each episode, we’ll link to them here in the show notes so you can access them easily.
In this episode, we discussed:
- What is PLAY (as we define it in the Learn With Less® curriculum), and how it can be woven into everyday routines
- How to take the routine of transitioning indoors and outdoors, and incorporate more playfulness into these moments
- What kinds of play routines we can create with an item like a glove
- Using play to create levity in a stressful moment – for both children and adults
- You are the expert on your child, on what routines are useful for you, and on how you play with your little one
Helpful Resources to Acknowledge For This Episode:
Daily Routines Freebie: download Miranda’s free handout about winter dressing, and get ideas for incorporating play, talk, sing, and move into your everyday routines!
Free Infant/Toddler Development Blueprint: what are the four major areas of early development… and how can you use the pillars of Learn With Less® to support that learning, using the time, energy, and materials you already have?! Download our free blueprint today.
How to Incorporate Language Into Everyday Routines, the second episode in this 4-part series!
How to Incorporate Music Into Everyday Routines, the third episode in this 4-part series!
How to Incorporate Movement Into Everyday Routines, the final episode in this 4-part series!
Listen, Learn, & Advocate: Support New Families, featuring Sydney Bassard
Maximizing Natural Language Opportunities, Without Toys, featuring Joanne Cazeau
How to Use Everyday Routines to Boost Infant & Toddler Development, featuring Stacey Landberg
Parent Coaching and Routines for Early Language Development, featuring Cari Ebert
Connect With Us:
Miranda: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
Text Transcript of this Episode
Ayelet: Hi, Miranda!
Miranda: Hi, Ayelet!
Ayelet: So, I’m really happy that we’re here together today to do some recording of these podcast episodes. This is a series that you and I are co-creating and putting together just a little bit of content for both of our audiences. And I want to just start by giving you the chance to introduce yourself to anybody who does not yet know you, because you’re the co host of these four episodes that we’re about to start releasing. So, take it away!
Miranda: I’m Miranda Zoumbaris, and I am… I am an entrepreneur! I spent 14 years in early intervention and serving families through a few different programs. And then transition to being a stay at home mom while also offering Learn With Less® classes. And that’s how Ayelet and I know each other! So yeah, now I would describe myself more as an entrepreneur than I would an early interventionist, although my instagram handle is @earlyinterventionmama, and I don’t think that’s going away anytime soon.
Ayelet: Right! Well, I love how you stated that because it is a very strange shift in identity, what both you and I have been doing over the years. We started as these helper people in the communities that we are both a part of, and then transitioned into working with families and professionals in a different way.
So today, and for the next few episodes, we’re going to be sharing a little bit about the Learn with Less® framework: play, talk, sing and move – the four pillars of the Learn With Less® framework. As well as routines, and routines-based intervention in terms of how this relates to supporting early development for families. And then giving professionals also some ideas and thoughts and resources to help support families that are looking to just utilize more of what they already have.
I know Miranda, you and I are both very committed to this idea of number one, family focused services, and really putting the power in the hands of the family and helping to show them what they already have access to and how they can utilize that. So let’s just start, I guess, by talking a little bit about what “play” is. And then we can talk a little bit about some examples of how we can weave that into everyday routine.
Miranda: Yeah, well, I would just I just want to add before we hop into play, too, I think so often, there are providers, or even parents, who look at play as one routine. And so I think just really reminding everybody that play can be woven into any routines. And if there are parents or therapists who are listening to this episode and thinking like, Okay, well, that’s great, but I really don’t want to do Routines Based work. I want to stick with my very play based therapy. I think we just keep that in mind, right? That play, yes, is a routine. But play and playfulness can be woven into any routine. And, you know, just something to kind of keep in mind.
Ayelet: Yeah, I love that. I think part of what we’re trying to do here today is just have a little bit more of a nuanced conversation about: it’s not routines based intervention versus play-based intervention, or Routines-Based Services versus play-based services. It’s not one philosophy versus another. It’s all/and and it’s not and/or.
Let’s talk a little bit about what we mean, first of all, by “play,” and I’d love to start, if it’s okay with you, with how we define it within the Learn With Less® framework of that first pillar of play, in terms of play being really all about open-ended experiences. When we think about that term… because I think it’s one of those things that’s thrown around by professionals a lot! It’s important to think about, okay, there’s no specific end-goal. This is about exploring, experimenting with a variety of objects, in a variety of different environments.
Whether that means indoors or outdoors, in the hallway, in the kitchen, whatever it is. And really just remembering that instead of that definition of play that I think a lot of us as grownups start off with, or have defined for ourselves, as: we play a game. There’s a specific set of steps involved. There’s a start, and a middle and an end. There’s a trajectory and an arc. And yet, we know that when it comes to playing with infants and toddlers, especially, that’s not what it is, right? It’s it’s more about being flexible and accepting what is happening in the environment.
Miranda: That’s right. That’s right. So it’s up to us to help to just see what happens, and let it unfold in front of us. And provide language around it, provide opportunities for movement around it. Provide music, is often something, right?
I think the thing to think about, too, is just taking a little bit to sit back and watch the children you work with or your own child – and they are really good at it! It is a muscle, I think, for so many adults – myself included – to really stretch, to embrace that open-ended exploration. To look at a toy that you are going… okay, this is a little person, I need to put it in the bed. Versus, we can just play dumb, bring it in and out, or we can play hiding it. So I think, letting our children guide us because they really are so good at that open-ended piece of it. They have less of that structure that things have to be a certain way, I think in their brain, than we do, oftentimes.
Ayelet: So I think one of the things that it’s important for us, that we wanted to set out and discuss today, was giving examples for families and professionals about how play can be woven into everyday routines. So you and I took the idea of… let’s come up with a specific object that we could think of, that would really help to define all the things that we could do within many different routines, with a single object – that’s not traditionally thought of as a toy or a play object! So do you want to go ahead and introduce what that is?
Miranda: Yeah. So we are going to be taking a look at gloves within that pillar of play, that focus of play. So when you hear gloves, I want you to if you’re listening, stretch in your mind what that might think. Here in Michigan, gloves or mittens for winter. But think about the gloves that you might wear for washing dishes in the sink! If you might happen to have access to a glove because you happen to be sitting in the doctor’s office, and they’re they’re accessible. So just kind of really start by just stretching that, and not thinking oh, like a glove that you put on to go outside because you’re cold. You know, there’s more than one way that we can kind of think about that even, in itself.
Ayelet: Yes, I cannot even say how many times we’ve been in the waiting room. Yes. How many ways can we use this thing? So, perfect. Okay, we’ve got the idea of gloves. All right, what are some of the things that we could think of to provide for ideas for families and professionals listening? Things that we could do to play with gloves or mittens within routines of everyday life?
And first of all, I think, maybe starting with defining routines, right? What are some of the routines that families are experiencing every day. So those might be those big things that we think of, and we’ve talked a lot about this, on the Learn With Less® podcast, and I’ll link to a few other episodes that will be really helpful, as well. But things like the big ones, like waking up, getting out, dressing, diaper changes, bathing, feeding, nap time. But the little ones, like in the in-between moment, right?
Miranda: Yes, those micro routines.
Ayelet: Yeah. What are some examples that you go to, usually, Miranda?
Miranda: Oh, so one thing that I’m thinking about is leaving childcare. So like, getting your child suited up to get out to the car. Or you’re trying to cook your eggs on the stove, you know, and you happen to be in the kitchen. And it’s not breakfast yet. And it’s not wakeup time. But it’s that little five minute where you’re, you’re in between. You know, so I think all those routines and to keep in mind that it’s not about schedule, it’s what is happening.
And I think to just the little connection moments can be routine, too. So for me and my daughters,, I think there are some routines that are play-based and connection where let’s say we play a chase game. It’s a little routine that kind of has a script for us.That, to me, is a routine, too.
Ayelet: Yes, the social routines.
Miranda: Yeah, the social routine. Exactly. Those are what come to mind.
Ayelet: I love it. Yeah, that’s great. So let’s give our fair listeners a few ideas for utilizing this idea of gloves of any kind, whether, again, it’s mittens, gloves for outside, soccer gloves, or dishwashing gloves, or surgical gloves. But how we could utilize anything, really, that you put on your hand. It could even be a bag, right? Yeah.
Miranda: Yeah, oven mitts!
Ayelet: That’s exactly right! How did we, how did we forget that? Yes, exactly. How can we give some ideas for how to utilize those in play? So we’re releasing this episode now, you’ve heard it, you’re listening to it. And you can also go over too @earlyinterventionmama, and @learnwithless on Instagram and Facebook to check out some of these examples in a more visual way. Because, we’ve gone ahead and we’re releasing some reels and different kinds of posts on social media so that you can really see the examples that we’re going to talk through. Miranda, why don’t you go ahead and start with the ideas that you have for playing with gloves or mittens?
Miranda: Yeah. So in terms of gloves, I just want to go off of what we talked about today, even. And I can create some more things off of that. So think about your oven mitt, any glove that you might have in the kitchen, right? So oftentimes, they’re going to be those bigger kitchen gloves that you’re pulling on for doing dishes or an oven mitt. I want you to think about using it kind of as a container to put things in. So maybe you’ve noticed that your child likes to fill and dump, and you’re looking for something to give them putting spoons and you know, whatever safe for them in the moment! But spoons, and different things from your kitchen drawer, pull out those odds and ends and put them in and out, and in and out of an oven, or put that oven mitt on and pretend to eat their toes. Right. Yum yum yum! It now becomes a puppet, almost! I think, other things that we might think of, are when you’re getting ready to go out, pretending to put them in a different spot, right? Oh, let’s put your gloves on. And maybe you put it on their head, you just set it on their head, and they’re gonna tell you, that’s not what it’s supposed to look like. So you’re being playful with them as you’re you’re getting ready to go out.
Ayelet: I love that. Yeah, that’s great. I want to also be specific here and just really call out the fact that we’re giving lots of ideas, you don’t have to do all of these things, you get to choose some of these things that really speak to you. And also leave out the ones that don’t. Because I know, for instance, people are very specific about their kitchens.
Some people love creating a little space kind of a thing within their kitchens, one cabinet that is just low and open to the child. And that’s just, they get to go in and out of it, or explore anything that’s in that one cabinet. Or maybe they don’t have access to cabinets at all. And you have a limited space in your kitchen, for instance. And maybe you have like a little basket or a bag of things that are available to your child, and there’s like a salad spinner or a dishwashing glove, for instance.
And so I just wanted to really name the fact that you don’t have to do this, this particular thing. This particular idea that we’re giving you, any of them? Obviously, there’s no should’s or have to’s. And the whole purpose of all of this is to give you tools for your own at-home routines. In your experience of early parenthood, and in your caregiving day to day life. So just wanted to clarify that. Yeah, go ahead.
Miranda: I was gonna say I think that is just one of the beautiful things about Learn With Less®. That it leans so heavily on that improvisation. Ayelet, you talked about that like as part of your background, too. And I think, like you said, for parents to know: you are the expert on what your child enjoys, and you are the expert on what routines work within your family.
And that is why, I think in terms of routine, it’s so important for professionals to rely on parents to show that to us. So we might not if we’re a professional, we’re not going to take this episode and go, Oh, gloves, great. I’m going to bring those on my home visit the next time… No, like wait for that family that maybe says oh my gosh, every time we have to put gloves on to go outside it’s terrible! And then you can think about, how do we make this a little bit more fun and engaging and playful to de-stress. So I think just relying heavily, like you’re saying Ayelet that this isn’t something that needs to be done. But parents know. And therapists can rely on parents to know what things do fit for them or will work.
Ayelet: Yeah, that’s right. And I like that distinguishing idea of you don’t need to bring it in because we said so. You might actually come in with your bag, your purse, for instance. And look at what are you bringing in? Maybe you you came in with a pair of gloves, and that child is really interested, or you use them to engage because they’re just there. So right again, yes, if you want to bring them in, great. And also, your family has shared with you that this routine in the kitchen is a particular difficult time, or transition outside is a particularly difficult time. Here’s your aha moment to integrate that idea, potentially, into your into your therapy or your intervention work.
Miranda: I love that, Ayelet. That’s such a good reminder. Yeah, you just happen to have the… I mean, absolutely. It happened to have them on you to think about that – again, right? You’re following that child’s lead! Oh, it fell out of your pocket. I’m gonna pick it up then. Okay. Yeah, that may be what we’re doing today.
Ayelet: That’s right. Yeah. Love it. So okay, you gave some great ideas in terms of filling a glove with smaller objects. I love how that can integrate also into so many different concept development conversations, too. Does this fit? Is it too big? Is it too long? Those kinds of things. And then finger play puppet, everything is fun if it becomes a puppet. If you remember any kind of finger plays, ghat’s great. And if not, I loved your example, Miranda, of ooooh, here are your toes! Toes are the best! Yeah.
You can also count the fingers obviously. There’s so many different kinds of little things in there. When we’re putting on… a couple of other ideas I had were, when we’re putting on a glove, find a missing finger! You put it on and intentionally craft an experience where you’re holding one finger down. Was there a missing finger, for instance? So you’re putting on a glove and there’s one empty. So there’s all kinds of things that you could do with with that, right? You could like jiggle the empty, yeah, jiggle, the empty one, talk about which one is gone. Which one is missing? Where’s my finger? Right?
There’s so much language here. Such a possibility for just absolute ridiculous playfulness. I was also thinking about how especially a dishwashing glove or surgical glove, for instance, those are great bath toys. Great for use with water, or any kind of water sensory bin, if that’s something that you have access to or want to, which, again, folks, is really just like a container. So maybe it’s a mixing bowl, or one of those plastic bins that you put under your bed flat, and you just fill that with water, boom, that’s a sensory bin. Brilliant! Ah.
Miranda: Super fancy!
Ayelet: And then you put a dishwashing glove in, and it’s incredible! So yeah, great things can be done with water, it can be a bath toy. Obviously, the age old, put it on your head, right? You can, all the different fingers can become a little chicken comb. And you can imitate a rooster, a chicken, sing a song about chickens, right, whatever you want to do.
Miranda: Yeah, draw on it before you head into the bath and wash the little chicken, you know, put it on your hand and use that washcloth.
Ayelet: I love it. When my oldest was a toddler. We were living in London and my mom… My mom is really, I would like to just say out loud right now: my mom is the real founder of Learn With Less®. Because she instilled in me these ideas of playfulness. So she sent us a care package once and inside of it was a yellow dishwashing glove. And she had drawn on little faces on the tips of each little finger. On the hand of the yellow dishwashing gloves, she had written the words to a nursery, like a little finger play kind of a thing that she knew when she was a kid that her mom had done. So I’ll do it for you right now. If I can remember. So I’m like squeezing each finger as I go. So Little Pea, Patty Lou, Lu-Lu Whistle, Whistle Nozzle… and… Kadobble-Wobble-Wobble! And then on the Kadobble-Wobble, I would always go in for a tickle. And it was adorable anticipation game, we’re looking at visual-spatial recognition kinds of things, right? You’re bending each finger forward.
Miranda: Separation of mobility…
Ayelet: Yeah, exactly. Or my son would love to then imitate and put it on and then have me sing the finger play. Or maybe he’d imitate the words. And then a tickle ending is the ultimate for most toddlers, or even older sometimes, right? But that’s my ultimate favorite. So maybe we’ll have to, we’ll have to do a video on Instagram of that.
Miranda: Yeah, I love that. I love that. Well, and I think I’ll just say to, for us with that surgical glove piece. So I’m a mom to a type one diabetic daughter. And so we spent days in the hospital and just trying to find what was around her to be entertaining. Then also take things that are being used and might seem kind of scary and use them in ways that take away that fear factor, so really leaning in on those things, leaning in on Play to be a tool of comfort, too.
Ayelet: Yes, thank you for sharing that one. That’s a just a great point. And so important. Let’s think of just a couple of others. And then we can sort of wrap up. So being purposefully silly. I loved your idea of the glove to go outside or the mitten going outside, putting it on a silly place like, oh, let’s put them on your feet. Come on, let’s go. And they can just be like, oh Mom, you’re so silly, right? But especially, I think in those times when – and this takes a lot of practice and awareness and wherewithal. And please, parents and caregivers, please give yourself the grace that maybe I haven’t in the past given myself. Recognize that you’re stressed. It’s okay to be stressed. And when you do have the wherewithal to provide some levity in those stressful moments, play can be such an important and easy way to do that.
For me, one of my big triggers is getting out the door and being on time, right? Because my mom was never on time and I hated that. And it was, it’s like a thing for me that I need. And I’m trying to let go of that urgency and let go of that desire and need for timeliness as well, because I then overextend that to my children. Then now I’m giving them distress like what’s the point? This is not working for anybody! But when I can create those moments of levity in my stress, and come on, let’s go, alright, we got to get your mittens on. Okay, let’s put them on your feet. Right. And then my kids are like, Wait, oh, she’s she’s being funny. Okay, trying. She’s trying to. Alright, we can forgive her for being such a wild woman, as well.
Miranda: Yes! It lends to that cooperation. And, and I think such a good point, Ayelet too that here we are sitting on a podcast talking about this, but I hope that like you said, everyone knows that every single time I go out the door is not filled with levity, you know? When I’m in it, would I love to have tha? We have opportunities to do these things. But sometimes you just don’t have it in you in that moment. And I think that’s one thing to remember, too, as professionals and people who do this and appear to look like they can do this every single time without issue? No, it is, it’s a muscle that has to be stretched. And every time we go out the door, it’s not always beautifully playful. But we have these tools to rely on when we’re able to and and a practice to get better at it. You know, even for, yeah, for anyone to just kind of flex that muscle.
Ayelet: That’s great. What a perfect place to land. So all of you great listeners, we would love to invite you to, number one, go take a look at the Instagram and Facebook posts that we’ve created around the time of this release of this episode. Also, Miranda, do you have a little something for our audience to grab?
Miranda: Yeah, if they want to head on over I will have a daily routines handout about winter dressing. That will be a freebie for everybody.
Ayelet: That’s awesome. And we will put the link in the show notes of this episode, as well. And then I also want to encourage you to download the Learn With Less® Infant and Toddler Development Blueprint, which really goes through the four pillars that we’re talking about. So today was play, the next one will be talk, then then we’ll cover sing. And then finally we’ll cover move. But that blueprint download just brings everything together, and puts it all into context. So go grab those things that can be found at learnwithless.com/blueprint. Miranda, people will be able to find your handout at earlyintervention mama.com/dailyroutinesfreebies, is that right?
Miranda: Yes.
Ayelet: Perfect. Okay. And then obviously, linking to all those in the show notes as well. So thanks so much for joining us and go ahead and catch us next time on our next episode. Miranda, thanks for joining me. This is super fun.
Miranda: Yeah, thank you. I’m just envisioning that we’re in the same place and maybe I’m leaving, putting my gloves on to head outside. Giving a friendly wave.
Ayelet: Good. I’m gonna go put something in the oven with my mitt.
Miranda: There you go.
Ayelet: All right. Thanks so much for joining us. See you next time.
