Play: Fun ways to help your child develop in the first five years

A practical and inspiring book for all parents who want to support their child's development in a fun and pressure-free way

Play is a fantastic way to promote family cohesion, enhance child development, reduce stress and encourage parents and children to enjoy their family life.

Written by a child development expert and play psychologist, this book is packed with activities and insights to help parents support their child through the critical first five years of life. It explains why babies love peekaboo and how to promote attachment through laughter; what toys to buy and what games to play at each developmental stage and why; how to use musical play to lay the foundations for learning languages and math; and ways to manage sibling rivalry, tantrums, ADHD and fussiness through games. It also offers activities to increase mobility, creativity, confidence, cognitive and social skills. Giving the confidence back to parents, this book teaches that the tools they need are already at their fingertips.

Amanda Gummer is a child development expert and play and parenting psychologist who has been helping children and families for over 20 years. Amanda is regularly in the media, and continues to take an active role in research, presenting a paper at the International Toy Research Association's World Congress in Portugal in July 2014. She ran the research consultancy FUNdamentals for 10 years before combining that with the Good Toy Guide, the online play advice website that she set up in 2012, and the Good App Guide to create Fundamentally Children.