Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Helping Kids with Friendships and Social ...

Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire, author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play.

Here’s some of the areas we cover:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
A Conversation about School Readiness with ...

The transition to preschool to elementary school can be such an anxious time for both parents and for the children. There’s a lot of unknowns to get them ready for and sometimes we think there’s lots we have to do to prepare them for starting. Today we discuss what you can do to help reduce anxiety for your little one with nursery practitioner, Caroline Allen. 

In this episode they discuss:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a ...

Sexual assault and harassment, sadly happens in schools on a too regular basis, whether that’s happening peer to peer or even between teacher to student. We hope our children never have to experience this. Knowing how to parent our children to take ownership of their bodies, so they know how to say no is key. We discuss how to navigate through abuse, bullying, harassment so they can get help is just as vital.  

In this episode, I speak with Meghan Joyce Tozer, author of the critically acclaimed novel Night, Forgotten and her annotated middle school diary, UnSlut: A Diary and a Memoir, which she wrote under the pen name Emily Lindin. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a Middle School Diary and Memoir
Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Introduction to Montessori Philosophy with ...

Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. In this episode, I spoke to Montessori Home Consultant, Jeanne-Marie Paynel about the benefits of this education style. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Introduction to Montessori Philosophy with Jeanne-Marie Paynel
Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Building Connections with Kids Through Play ...

When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it is vital to a child’s development. Kim Feeney is the guest on this episode, she is a licensed independent social worker and a registered play therapist supervisor. I wanted to discuss playtime with her and how to build a connection with your child. 

The topics we cover in this episode are:

Building Connections with Kids Through Play with Kim Feeney

open ended play

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Five Awesome Open-Ended Toys

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Five Awesome Open-Ended Toys

Open-ended play is incredible - it cultivates imagination, thinking differently, and encourages creativity. To promote open-ended play, we should offer toys that can be played with in multiple ways.

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Open Ended Play, Loose Parts, and Playdates

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Open Ended Play, Loose Parts, and Playdates

Play advocates often talk about the importance of open ended play, open ended play materials and having play be child led instead of adult led. There is a popular theory called Loose Parts was developed by Simon Nicholson in 1971.

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Why I Love Playdates!

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Why I Love Playdates!

The play date has been getting some negative press, with people listing all the things they don’t like about them. There are pros and cons to everything, so I decided to explain why I appreciate play dates.

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Think Outside the (Cardboard) Box

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Think Outside the (Cardboard) Box

A cardboard box (shoe boxes, amazon boxes, small boxes, etc) is the perfect thing to use to help kids think flexibly, be creative, and set the groundwork for problem solving.

16 Different Types of Play

16 Different Types of Play

Inside: Definition of 16 play types from Bob Hughes and ideas for play materials to encourage variety in the way children play.

Definition of play:

“Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.”

10 Great Toys for Open Ended Play

10 Great Toys for Open Ended Play

I recently read a great article about 4 things kids don’t need (and some things they do). This article is exactly what I’ve been trying to focus on with my family. My new year’s resolution was to rotate toys more regularly, and I wanted to make sure the toys we’re rotating through were ideal for open ended, creative play. I made a list of the toys we do have and tried to focus on ones that would meet those criteria. Here’s some of what we have:

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