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Bibs, Whistles, and Burnout: How to Restore Play in Children’s Sport 26 September, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Remember when you were a child and you used play at the park with your friends? One kid would bring the bibs, another would carefully measure out the size of the goals, someone else would volunteer as […]

Why Play Has No Age Limit: Rethinking Learning Beyond Early Childhood 19 September, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Is there a time when play should no longer belong in learning? In education we imagine a dividing line. On one side, toddlers pretending to be pirates, sketching dragons, and building elaborate constructions. On the other side,

Play and the Brain: Why Fun is Fundamental for Cognitive Development 12 September, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Neuroscience, behavioural science, and developmental psychology all indicate that the brain thrives when learning is active, creates a meaningful experience and incites joy. Play-based learning drives these processes, strengthening pathways for development in language, cognition, reasoning, motor

Understanding Growth Mindset: A Guide for Teachers, Educators and Parents 18 June, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Welcome to the first post in my six-part blog series on understanding and developing a growth mindset. Whether you’re completely new to the concept or already applying it with your students or children, this series is designed to

Play-Based Pedagogy: Unlocking Children’s Potential 5 September, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Play, the concept that brings enjoyment, connection, and curiosity to people of any age. It can happen alone, with friends, and even with strangers. It takes place in fantasy, yet it mirrors and reimagines the world around us. For all of us, play

Reclaiming Play: Why Joy and Imagination Belong at the Heart of Learning 29 August, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  A child sits with legs tucked beneath them, scattered around are blocks, stuffed animals, cups, and other random objects. To the untrained eye, it’s an untidy sprawl of colours and textures. Yet, within the clutter, something

From Clickbait to Clarity: Teaching Kids to Think Critically About Media 23 August, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  “Did you hear they found a new planet in our solar system where it rains diamonds?” The teens eyes are wide, their voice bursting with certainty. They read it online just this morning, it was a colourful

Rewriting the Curriculum: How to Teach Thinking in Every Lesson 15 August, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  When I taught at university, I had a class for final-year students on pedagogy. I often told the students that the goal of education shouldn’t be to help children simply solve questions, but to help them question the question

Educating Minds to Question: Understanding and Teaching Critical Thinking 8 August, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  Picture a child in your classroom or at your dinner table. Her name is Nia. She is bright, thoughtful, and endlessly curious. Lately, her questions have started to make you pause. “Why do I have to learn this way

Beyond the Posters: How Schools, Education and Sports Organisations Can Build Environments for Growth Mindset 1 August, 2025 Author Dr Will Zoppellini  In every classroom, learning space, and sports field, there’s an invisible current flowing beneath the surface. The beliefs, routines, and unspoken rules that shape how children think, feel, and grow. We usually refer