Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
The Importance of Independent Play with Lenore ...

How do you encourage your kids to be more independent? When do you as a parent step back to give them the space to step up?

Lenore Skenazy joins Janine today to discuss some of these questions. They discuss: 


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Building Friendships and Social Skills with ...

Friendships are such a wonderful and special part of life. From memory making to going through the highs and lows with your peers makes life so much richer. As a child, learning social skills and how friendships fit is a huge learning curve as they go through their childhood and find their ‘people’. As a parent, how do you connect and how do you teach your kids basic social skills and about what a great friendship can be? 

Today Janine is joined by Caroline Maguire and in this episode they discuss:


Calm & Connected Podcast, Families
Janine Halloran
Practicing SEL through Play: An Interview with ...

How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible. 

In this episode we discuss:


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:


movement play

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Awesome Play Ideas for Families at Home

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Awesome Play Ideas for Families at Home



Inside: An incredible collection of play ideas for families during times when they need to stay at home. Also, why play helps at this time, and how we can view this as an opportunity to re-connect .

Usually, as families, we have busy schedules, and people are often going to sports practice or games, lessons, or after school activities. Because of the coronavirus and social distancing, things are getting canceled everywhere. This is a stressful time, and things seem to be changing day-to-day. Overall, what this means is that families are going to be spending a lot more time at home.

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Four Games I Love That Work on Social Skills

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Four Games I Love That Work on Social Skills

Playing board games is a fantastic way to work on social skills for kids. As a therapist, I play a lot of games both in individual and group therapy. As a mom, I also enjoy playing games with my kids. During this podcast episode, I talk about four games I love:

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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.

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.”

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10 Magnificent Games to Practice Social and Emotional Skills with Kids

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10 Magnificent Games to Practice Social and Emotional Skills with Kids

Inside: An overview of 10 games that can be used to work on social-emotional learning at school, in small group settings or at home.

What was your favorite game to play as a kid? For me, it was Monopoly. My sister and I played this game all the time - it would keep us entertained for hours on a cold winter day.

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The Importance of Outdoor and Inclusive Play: An Interview with Missy Benson from Playworld

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The Importance of Outdoor and Inclusive Play: An Interview with Missy Benson from Playworld

Inside: An interview with Missy Benson from Playworld, talking about the importance of outdoor play and inclusive play, and the new PlayForm 7 in the Boston area.

“Oh. my. Goodness!!!” my daughter shrieked with excitement. My son’s eyes widened and he took off running toward the playful chaos of the playground.

Q's Race to the Top

Q's Race to the Top

This is one of my new favorite social skills games! Why? Because not only do I enjoy playing, children really enjoy playing. I found this game at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to play with my clients to see how they reacted. And it was a resounding positive response.

Simple & Fun Activities with Balloons

Simple & Fun Activities with Balloons

We started going to a new dentist a few weeks ago and one of the prizes at the end was a HUGE balloon. They’ve lasted a while. My kids love balloons and ask to play with them frequently. Here are some simple ideas for playing with balloons.

Creative Play Ideas with Paper Cups

Creative Play Ideas with Paper Cups

When we traveled this summer, I kept our toy bag quite limited. I challenged myself to work with everyday items to use as toys for the kids when we were there. I even made a Pinterest Board with easy activities to do while traveling. Once we got settled, I took inventory of what was ready in the condo and went shopping for other basic items. One of the first projects we made were coffee filter sun catchers, very easy because we had coffee filters in the condo.

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