How to have the best relationship with your child – A day of play with Jack & Dr Margot Sunderland

The best relationship with your child

Last week Jack, my youngest, 3, and I had a fabulous day out in London. We went to an event to celebrate the launch of Dr Margot Sunderland’s new DVD series. There are 3 DVD’s all about the relationship with our children. Dr Margot is a leading child psychologist (for more information on psychologists read this Betterhelp post) and has written many books including ‘The Science of parenting’ a million+ selling book. She is also the Director of Education and Training at The Centre for Child Mental Health. Pretty well qualified in the subject area of children and their mental well being I would say.

relationship with your child

A room of play

We arrived at perfect North London location and walked into a huge room full to the brim of all types of play. Jack was already excited after a train journey….okay so he doesn’t look excited but I promise he was and that is a lolly pop in his mouth! There was sand pits,relationship with your child water play, slushy snow messy play,huge drums, a sensory tent, musical instruments, giant telephones, puppets, pots and pans, hoolahoops and lots of balls. Jack didn’t know where to start..hang on find the messiest play thing going and go for it with that! Whilst I had a nice coffee and met my fellow mummy bloggers:-)

We spent half an hour or so working our way through all the different toys and zones in the room. Jack really loved it. There were lots of other ‘blogger children’, is that a new phrase I can patent, for Jack to play with and there was a lovely girl called Emily who helped out looking after the children whilst we listened to Dr Margot speak.

 

relationship with your child relationship with your child

Dr Margot proceeded to talk to us all about  attachment play

Did you know :-

  • Attachment play is getting down to your child eye level & really engaging with them.
  • It can involve any type of toy or prop, from pots and pans to reading a magazine together or playing catch.
  • It can be used from birth until much older, I was surprised to see it still being ultra effective at 9 or 10.
  • For the older children you just need a more complex engaging game.
  • Attachment play is a great anti-anxiety solution.
  • It generates dopamine and energises your child/ren.
  • Attachment play improves your childs self esteem.

relationship with your childI got a lot from the presentation in terms of play for all of my children. When your children are little you are more inclined to get down on the floor and do real attachment play but as they grow up it maybe stops, well it has with me. I have 3 boys, 3, 6 and 8 and there is still a huge requirement for attachment play for all 3 children. We were shown a game to play with balls on a giant drum. For a small child of maybe 2 you are rolling the ball across from parent to child, a bit older involved throwing and bouncing on the drum, or bouncing and then catching in a hat. The aim is to make it more and more challenging and fun for the child. Jack loved this one.

relationship with your childWe watched lots of clips from the DVD’s and I got lots of ideas for fun games with the boys. We did a few games that Jack hated, puppets. Now I am not a fan of puppets and certainly not me sticking my hand up a puppets bum and talking as the puppet. But to show enthusiasm I tried it, I went for a non threatening flamingo who wanted to share a banana with Jack. He ran away screaming and started to cry. That attachment play idea didn’t really work for Jack.

Lunch

We had some delicious lunch and had a great chat to my wonderful fellow mummy bloggers. We left shortly after lunch armed with a goodie bag including all 3 of the DVD’s and 2 of Dr Margot’s books. Jack loved the frog book so much that he took it into school the next day to tell everyone where he had been (we look a sneaky half day off pre-school;-)). This was super fun event for both Jack and I and I highly recommend the DVD’s and the books from Dr Margot Sunderland.

Here is some more information about the 3 DVD’s available. Click on the pictures for speedy link over to Amazon where they are £14.99 each.

Best Relationship with Your Child: The First Five Years

This film, entirely backed by brain science, is designed to support your relationship with your baby, toddler and ‘under fives’ child in amazing ways. It covers key ways of communicating with your baby and child: what to say and how to be, to ensure the finest attunement and best possible connection for both language development and long term emotional health. Using footage of many actual parents with their infants, there is delightful demonstration of a wealth of relational games for you to play with your infant. There are sections on parent –baby and parent- child attachment play and physical play, vital for IQ and EQ and designed to develop social skills for life.

Best Relationship with Your Child: Creative Quality Time (for babies and children up to the age eight)


With all the pressures of modern day parenting, quality time with your baby or child has never been more precious. Many parents want something deeper and more significant than the usual going to the park, the playgroup or watching TV together. This film will offer that. It’s packed with ideas for together times to strengthen your relationship in enduring ways, offering the richest shared experiences. The creative activities for quality time are designed to transport you together into the world of sensation, imagination, wonder, delight and shared laughter. Using the latest brain science research, and featuring footage of the loveliest parent-child connections, this film aims not only to enrich your relationship now, but to create memories for life.

DVD 3 Best Relationship with Your Child: Age five to twelve


In middle childhood many parents feel disheartened and de-skilled about maintaining regular quality time with their child. The increased independence, the allure of technology, hobbies, and time spent with peers can be so strong. So this film is designed to empower and inspire parents and professionals to engage their five to twelve year olds in attachment play and relational games that deepen bonding and strengthen their relationships in amazing ways. Through a wealth of delightful footage, parents and professionals will gain a fabulous resource of practical ideas to make the time spent with their five to twelve year olds, fun, engaging and deeply rewarding.

The books that Dr Margot writes are about some really challanging and difficult areas in childhood..take a look at her range on Amazon..there are story books to help with Anxiety, chasing a dream, bullying, compulsive behaviour..really all sorts.
A Pea Called Mildred: A Story to Help Children Pursue Their Hopes and Dreams (Helping Children with Feelings)
Helping Children with Low Self-Esteem: A Guidebook (Helping Children with Feelings)
Teenie Weenie in a Too Big World: A Story for Fearful Children (Helping Children with Feelings)

I was not paid for this post but was invited to the event free of charge.

 

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Lynn Beattie

Aka Mrs MummyPenny

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One Response

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