[JoanneG]

I've just returned from our weekly trip to the local Mums 'n' Toddlers group. (UK)

A substance has been removed from our toddlers - what could it be?

Something dangerous, of course - perhaps the nasty chemicals they were cleaning the toys with? The same nasty chemicals they have been advised to clean the toys with IN BETWEEN CHILDREN!

No that's not it - it's the Playdoh!

Dangerous stuff this playdoh.

Why?

Threadworms.

Big Deal! My 8-year old caught threadworms at school and she doesn't even play with playdoh! Kids and worms - it happens!

They have been told that unless they can provide brand new playdoh EVERY WEEK then it should not be out. They can't afford to buy it and no-one wants to make it every week - solution - bin it.

This is NOT a legal requirement of course it's just best practice but they're being put under an awful lot of pressure to conform.

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

I'm off to make a giant batch of playdoh in a Nigella, knead and stir to get rid of frustration, sort of way!

[Moorf Junior]

wonder how long it'll be before kids have to be sterilised and walk through decontamination tents and bleach buckets before entering a building that may contain other people ffs. And they wonder why kids pickup bugs all the time - COS WE SHIELD THEM FROM EVERYTHING!!

[dharder]

Oh dear.

What worries me the most is that the children think this is normal. We are currently at my mum's place in Germany, and the little ones go to kindergarten. It is very differnent from preschool/nursery in the UK. They have a garden, and trees in it, and one of the girls told her older brother (8) that they were all climbing the tree in the nursery garden. He was horrified and just loudly exclaimed: and they let you?!?

I think it really hit me how strange some of the rules in our London school were when my boys came home from school to excitedly tell me they were allowed to run and play 'It' in the school playground AND use the climbing frames provided for primary school children...

Sigh.

Daniela

[migratory birds]

As a physician and parent, I was saddened to be part of a discussion amongst mothers (in a social setting) who were concerned about their kids playing in sandboxes where they thought they were at increased risk of picking up pinworms. One was going to ask the grandparents to not make that sandbox in their yard afterall, others feared for their children playing outdoors at preschool. Pinworms are so easy to get rid of and contracted in so many places other than the sandbox...

[Kerry and David]

Gosh it's a surprise that we all survived when we were small, I don't remember these rules when I was growing up!
I wonder what they would say to mud pies, british bulldog, climbing trees etc etc:)

[peebles16]

This is a real bearbug of mine - we have health and safety overkill when it comes to our kids!!

[Oregonkiwi]

no-one wants to make it every week

Why not? That seems like the obvious solution to your complaint.

[Tia Maria]

Oregonkiwi wrote:

Why not? That seems like the obvious solution to your complaint.

Our NZ preschool makes its own playdoh every week, I think its more for monetary and environmental reasons than health and safety though. They encourage the kids to help make it - a kind of mini science experiment.

Cheers

Tia

[BkyMonster]

I was going to say, when I was young we made our own playdoh more often than not. :D Was kind of a fun activity. Since it was home made often, as it got filthy with lots of kids, we could put all kinds of odd things in it. Different colors all the time and even glitter in some.
But playdoh has so much salt in it, it doesn't harbor too many yukkies.

[Moorf Junior]

how do u make playdoh??

[jubjub]

Easy peasy...

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,how_to_make_playdoh,FF.html

just brighten it up with food colouring or glitter....

[katandbob]

They can't afford to buy it and no-one wants to make it every week - solution - bin it.



QUOTE]


[QUOTE=Oregonkiwi;159148]Why not? That seems like the obvious solution to your complaint.

I used to help run our local playgroup - and we used to make fresh batches every week, took it in turns (got the kids to help at home) cheap and easy to do..... they loved making goop to (cornflower & water and food colouring)

Gosh some how it seems so ridiculous doesn't it PC gone mad.

Good job Rachel lets Cole play in mud, feed animals and generally get himself exposed to the world, just like she and his dad did as kids - they are both fit & healthy.

Kat

[SharpBlade]

You should see the stuff my kids collect...old worms, live worms, dried mud, sticks , etc.. they get little containers from the recycling centre and they set up their own science lab, mixing stuff . I only ask them not to bring it into the lounge/ kitchen/ bathroom.. The other day, while they were playing "Maori" (meaning building huts, gathering food like berries and leaves, etc..), they found a dead duck..Still thinking about what to do with it !
I find NZ so refreshing, but the kids used to do that in Ireland too. My old Irish neighbour used to say "there is something wrong if a child is clean".
Laura

[Bruckner]

There's that old saying, "You need to eat a pound of dirt before you die" and our kids are prime examples of that. LOL!

Emily

[Syed]

I will keep my kids awsy from playing with toys made of plastic, chemical stuff, petroleum wastes, and so on...
Most importantly, Don't let them play with Chinese Made Toys..70% of world toys are made here, and are dangerous in some way or the other. Bye it only authenticated toys only...
Fresh Mud, Sand, waters, wood, grass are all just fine and some how important for healthy child. Let them enjoy their Childhood in natural way....
It just reminds me my interesting childhood days, at the end some one has to destroy our castles, and bridges(as part of the play.

[kzn2nz]

If it is a choice between my kid chewing on a store bought chinese toy (with lead in the paint) and dirt, I'll choose dirt every time. The things they catch from being in nature are easily remedied. Not so as far as carcinogens and heavy metals are concerned.

Besides, as mentioned, the salt in play-do should definitely kill most bacteria and parasites, and also severely limits how much a kid can eat!

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Imagine the horror if a Kiwi kid went the other way and turned up at school with no shoes on !

[migratory birds]

The playdough recipe we had when daughter was young was too oily - this makes a nice, non oily dough.

Playdough Recipe (just came our way a few weeks ago):

2 c white flour
1/2 c salt
4 tsp cream of tartar
2 c water
2 Tbsp oil

Cook till ball forms - will be lumpy - knead when cool enough - add food colouring if desired.

[Familyofmonkeys]

If it is a choice between my kid chewing on a store bought chinese toy (with lead in the paint) and dirt, I'll choose dirt every time. The things they catch from being in nature are easily remedied. Not so as far as carcinogens and heavy metals are concerned.

Besides, as mentioned, the salt in play-do should definitely kill most bacteria and parasites, and also severely limits how much a kid can eat!

I too think the world has gone to far with PC and H&S. My kids are always covered in bruises from climbing stuff, leaping around etc....I figure they won't learn not to do something silly unless they have a go (within reason of course....i'm not about to let them jump out of a window) and now they do not make a fuss when they get the slightest bump...they just get back up and carry on playing. I used to find in the UK that people used to say...how did they get that bump?....half of the time I don't know as the kids haven't made a fuss.....much to the shock of some other parents, who whisk their kids away every time their kids even trip over. Parents more upset than the kids were...Why?

But i'm also cautious about dirt too. Not everything they pick up can be easily remedied these days. Toxoplasm bacteria is your garden soil could cause blindness in a young toddler. Heavy metals and other nasty chemicals can be found in your garden....you may not have used pesticides, but they can leach a very long way! Voice of experience here.....at Uni I did my dissertation on Soil Science......dug up some 'dirt' and unknowingly affected by some 'unknown substances' in it. Could have been heavy metals or agricultural/industrial chemicals.....but ended up in nasty sun burn type rash all over 24 hours later and took nearly a year to clear...lots of horrible hospital treatment. If I had been a small child, i could have been in hospital for a long time :( Skin not ever been good since.....no way i'd wish that on my kids!

Moral of all this, is that the freedom kids get here in NZ is fab, but I will always have a cautious eye on them.....nothing is harmless in the modern world, we have messed the environment up a step to far for that. But, i'm happy for them to play with last weeks playdough.....the more bugs they are exposed to now, the better their immune systems will be when they start school.

[JoanneG]

Playdoh Recipe

2 Cups of flour - any old wheat flour will do
1 Cup of salt
2 Cups of water
4 Tablespoons of oil - any
4 Teaspoons of cream of tartar - this will preserve your playdoh but isn't essential to the recipe

Colour of your choice
A few drops of Essential Oil of your choice for a nice smell or an essence like peppermint or almond.

Mix all the ingredients together except the colour and place on a low heat. Add your colour and Stir. Keep stirring all the time. As it warms the misture will take on playdoh consistency. The kids love to do this part.

Allow to cool & play!

Store in an airtight container after play. It does not need to go in the fridge. Without the Cream of Tartar your playdoh will last around 6-8 weeks.

[Familyofmonkeys]

Playdoh Recipe

2 Cups of flour - any old wheat flour will do
1 Cup of salt
2 Cups of water
4 Tablespoons of oil - any
4 Teaspoons of cream of tartar - this will preserve your playdoh but isn't essential to the recipe

Colour of your choice
A few drops of Essential Oil of your choice for a nice smell or an essence like peppermint or almond.

Mix all the ingredients together except the colour and place on a low heat. Add your colour and Stir. Keep stirring all the time. As it warms the misture will take on playdoh consistency. The kids love to do this part.

Allow to cool & play!

Store in an airtight container after play. It does not need to go in the fridge. Without the Cream of Tartar your playdoh will last around 6-8 weeks.

Bet it would smell nice with a bit of lavender oil in it!

[Rusty]

I too think the world has gone to far with PC and H&S. My kids are always covered in bruises from climbing stuff, leaping around etc.....

I know what you mean. When my son was younger (3-4) I assumed he got them playing football, biking and games with his friends, but even my 3 yr old daughter has bruises on her shins most days - I guess it just happens to kids.
I do worry that some over-zealous social worker will notice and poke their nose in.
My daughters nursery also make their own playdoh with the kids each week.

[thezorbster]

My neighbour back in the UK was horrified one day to see my daughter holding a feather she'd picked up. She grabbed it from her and shouted 'put that down - it may have come from a bird's bottom!' I thought it was hilarious, but also very sad and explained why her twin girls wouldn't touch anything like that and were terrified of creepy crawlies whereas my daughter used to play with woodlice in the garden. While I look out for my daughter's safety, I also actively encourage her to get as filthy as possible and seeing her in a friends garden a couple of weeks ago, wading up their stream in her knickers, filthy, with wellies full of water - well, that's what being a kid is all about!

[Familyofmonkeys]

I know what you mean. When my son was younger (3-4) I assumed he got them playing football, biking and games with his friends, but even my 3 yr old daughter has bruises on her shins most days - I guess it just happens to kids.
I do worry that some over-zealous social worker will notice and poke their nose in.
My daughters nursery also make their own playdoh with the kids each week.

I did get a few strange looks from HV in UK when I explained that my kids had bitten each other and that was why they both had bite marks on their arms.....doesn't make me a terrible parent when I can't watch them every second of the day, but hate feeling like I need to explain myself to others. Plunket nurse here has much healthier attitude to childhood. She would be more worried if they sat still all day!

[jubjub]

You get some pretty frosty glances from folks here too! AJ ran off, fell over and managed to bang his forehead of the edge of a bench all in
about 10 seconds.. you can imagine the size of the bump with that one, nice big purple egg....

Music group was a bit embarrassing for a couple of weeks until it faded, quite strange how judgemental other mums can be sometimes! Keep exepcting to see CYFS onthe doorstep with the amount of bumps and bruises my boy gets.

[Carol]

quite strange how judgemental other mums can be sometimes!


I've seen the smug looks on their faces at school too - when their kids are in a "higher" reading group than whoever...... judgemental to the extreme.

SO glad we have passed all of those stages.....

[Familyofmonkeys]

It seems like alot of parents are more competitive than the kids. I feel quite sorry for the younger children in each school year, as many are not in the top sets for things....but only because they are that much younger it just takes a wee bit longer to learn stuff (at least in primary school it does).
I also worry that my kids will get compared with each other at school....not that they are that old yet, but i've seen it happen so often.

[Carey]

Gosh it's a surprise that we all survived when we were small, I don't remember these rules when I was growing up!
I wonder what they would say to mud pies, british bulldog, climbing trees etc etc:)


Apparently next activity to be targeted in our cotton wool culture is tree climbing. I'm lucky enough to work at a Forest School, where every 2 weeks the 4/5/6 yr olds go to a local wood for a morning. I was delighted to find the kids were allowed to climb trees but today I'm told new legislation means that we will have to tie ribbons around every tree at the head height of the smallest child and no-one will be allowed to climb above that height.....can't believe it.....so wrong to stop kids doing what kids do best, be active. I ranted and raved and mentioned some of the parks etc we'd seen in NZ plus the school adventure playgrounds where Kiwi kids climb like monkeys, are strong, take risks but learn to cope. How will UK kids ever learn to do that?

[Smiler]

How would the cotton wool police cope with Kowhai Park? :eek: This is only a small bit of it, but the only pic I could find. http://www.resene.co.nz/archspec/products/kowhai_park.htm

It's the best kids park I've seen :raebanana

[Familyofmonkeys]

How would the cotton wool police cope with Kowhai Park? :eek: This is only a small bit of it, but the only pic I could find. http://www.resene.co.nz/archspec/products/kowhai_park.htm

It's the best kids park I've seen :raebanana

That place looks fab....I would happily let mine run around and get into mischeif there!

In UK I had some nosey mother once tell me off when my daughter (then 3) was going on the 'big slide' without me...in case she fell off the top of the stairs :roll
How are kids going to learn if they don't get to do these things for themselves. In any case the slide was covered in that padded foam stuff....she may have got a bruise or too if she had fallen, but I doubt she would break anything. She said to me, I ought to take her to tumble tots if I wanted her to climb, because they make you keep hold of your child when they are that young.....I don't think 3 is THAT young!

[Rusty]

My kids have recently been to a coupkle of those play barn things. Sounds great, but the 3 storey slides are so sticky kids can't actually slide!
Bring on NZ.

[JoanneG]

Carey - I can't believe it - what's the point of all that investment in forest schools if they don't want the kids to actually use them!

My eldest daughter is often up trees - and I'm always being called over by other parents saying she can't get down. I usually yell over - "You got up there, you get yourself down". I've never helped her down yet but I get lots of disapproving looks from other parents for letting her climb a tree in the first place. I always tell her to keep three points of contact and make sure she doesn't stand on dead branches.

Kowhai Park looks brilliant - I showed it to my kids and they want to go - now!

All my kids can climb although some are less confident than others. Two of them have been great climbers and two of them not so great. I have let them do as much or as little as they wanted to do. My 20 month old goes up and down the big slide now, the only bit I have to check is when he tries to climb things with bars that are just too far apart for him.

We couldn't use stairgates in our house either so as soon as they started to try and get upstairs I would help them come down backwards on all-fours. It was a great success and guess what - none of them have ever fallen down the stairs - until they got older and started running down and tripping!

My kids deserve the right to a childhood ! NZ here we come!

[Carey]

How would the cotton wool police cope with Kowhai Park? :eek: This is only a small bit of it, but the only pic I could find. http://www.resene.co.nz/archspec/products/kowhai_park.htm

It's the best kids park I've seen :raebanana

Well, we went to Kowhai Park on our reccy! it's as fab as it looks and also has a huge zip wire. While we were there,a school group came and what fun they had. Including climbing HIGH!!

[dharder]

http://www.resene.co.nz/archspec/products/kowhai_park.htm

To be honest, I can't see that anyone in the UK would have any objections to this. Looks rather harmless to me. I've seen more challenging playgrounds in Walthamstow...

I do get what you mean though where the general sentiment is concerned.

However, we are currently changing back from 'very adventurous and free' to 'not quite so free and adventurous,' and the latter part is actually Auckland. I'm sure it is different in the countryside in New Zealand, but we've spent the last three months in my mother's suburb in Germany, and there was a lot more freedom to be had here than there is in the suburb in Auckland...

It still beats East London, of course.

Daniela

[Familyofmonkeys]

My eldest daughter is often up trees - and I'm always being called over by other parents saying she can't get down. I usually yell over - "You got up there, you get yourself down". I've never helped her down yet but I get lots of disapproving looks from other parents for letting her climb a tree in the first place. I always tell her to keep three points of contact and make sure she doesn't stand on dead branches.


My dad used to say the exact same thing to me and my sister. We used to climb everything...never fell down. We even learnt to climb up the inside of our enourmous holly tree when there are no prickly bits....used to sit in a branch at the top and read....and it was way taller than the house!

[dharder]

Just as an addendum:

We've just been out tramping on the Coromandel peninsula with a large group of people, and at some point, we encountered a high rock wall. The boys did their best impression of rock climbers and went over it, which triggered a conversation about kids and risktaking in today's society (note: NZ society).

Common consensus among the New Zealanders (all older, all with grown up children and now grandchildren) was that is was all going downhill, no one let their kids take risks anymore, and they are all wrapped in cotton wool these days.

I found that really funny and had to think about this thread. :)

Daniela