Through play children discover themselves, their potential and the outside world. Playing stimulates their imagination and ingenuity.
Moderator:
Maria Arampatzi, Journalist
Experts:
Maya Alivisatos, Ph.D Psychologist - Child Psychologist
Marina Papapostolou, B2B Sales Advisor at Early Learning Centre & Mothercare Greece
Marina Brouskou, Early Childhood Educator - Kindergarten Teacher, Mental Health Counselor and Administrative Operations Manager at Bodin Kindergarten
Available to watch it for free from 07/12/21 until 21/12/21.
Through play children discover themselves, their potential and the outside world. Playing stimulates their imagination and ingenuity and is a crucial way to gain knowledge, practice imagination and social skills, improve mental and physical health and finally develop empathy and compassion.
- Does an expensive toy/game also mean that it’s the right one?
- Are toys in line with the developmental milestones of children?
- By what criteria should young parents choose Christmas toys?
- How do we choose toys / games according to the age of the children?
- Often the anxiety of parents for a faster development of their children leads to the choice of "difficult” or complicated toys. What effect can this have on the mentality of children?
- How important is the involvement of parents in playing with their children?
- Video games are an easy solution for parents. In the digital age it is difficult to ignore them. What is the best way to use them?
- Mimicry between parents often influences the choice of toys. Should the toy/game be customised to the wishes and interests of each child individually?
- Toys for boys, toys for girls; cars for boys, dolls for girls; can and should parents break stereotypes and in what ways without obvious guidance?
Maria Arampatzi is a graduate of the Law School of Thessaloniki and holds a Master's degree in International Journalism and Communications from Cardiff University of Wales. After finishing her studies in the field of Media and Journalism, she started her career at the TV station of Serres, first as an editor-in-chief and then as a presenter of a morning show. Shortly afterwards, she worked for ALPHA Channel, in various positions like: editor, news bulletin presenter and news show presenter. Later, she worked for ANT1 presenting the channel’s newscasts. She was also an editor and presenter of the state television show "Nistiko Arkoudi". Then, she was transferred to MEGA Channel and presented the show "Omorfos Kosmos to Proi" during the season 2009-2010 and the show "Mommy" during 2010-2012. During 2012-2018 she worked as project manager at Network Television, where she has also been a member of the Board since 2012.
Maya Alivisatos graduated from Athens College and studied psychology at Boston University in the United States. She continued her postgraduate studies at the Department of Child Development at Tufts University in the United States and specialised in child psychosocial development and behavioral problems. She received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Sheffield in the UK. She has worked in both the research and clinical field of learning disabilities at a research center and elementary school in the United States. Since 1998 she has been working in Greece as a psychologist in primary and secondary education and since 2000 she has been working as a School Psychologist at Athens College. In 2008 she co-founded “My Playce”, creating activity centers for preschool children, which she still manages to this day. Since 2011 she has been the Inter-School Coordinator of the Psychopedagogical Department of Athens College. Since 2018 she has been teaching "Loss Management - Divorce, Death" in the Postgraduate Course "Developmental and Adolescent Health Strategies" of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She is an advisor of parents, children, adolescents and adults and deals with the emotional evaluation of children and adolescents.
Marina Papapostolou holds a Certificate of knowledge and skills in the field of Information Technology and Communications. Most of her professional activity has to do with caring for and entertaining children. For the last 16 years she has been working as a corporate sales manager in Mothercare & Early Learning Center. She is the playtimes coordinator of the Early Learning Center stores, responsible for themes in creative games. She is also in charge of the sales department for the equipment of playgrounds, nurseries and kindergartens with toys of the Early Learning Center. In addition, she is in charge of the sales department of mothercare baby equipment in large hotel units and is a sales consultant to companies for the selection of Christmas toys of the Early Learning Center. Finally, she is responsible for customer service on operational issues and safety of Mothercare & Early Learning Center products.
Marina Brouskou is an early childhood educator with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. She has been working with children aged from 2 to 5,5 in the private kindergarten “Bodin” located in Kifissia for the past 4 years. She has delivered a variety of creative workshops (emotional awareness, expression through dancing, etc.) as well as sports. Her educational background is really strong, with a Master's degree in Applied Educational Psychology. In the past she has also volunteered and worked with underprivileged children of all ages in the Fiji Islands, providing one-to-one tutoring support. Along with fellow collaborators, she created a structured curriculum for the children of the village and included activities that enhanced their socioemotional skills and general knowledge. Moreover, she completed her internship at the NGO “The Home Project” in Athens, where she worked one-to-one with refugee teenagers, completing a series of educational workshops in English and developing basic life skills.
