Towards Toddlerhood

A bowl of fruit and vegetables made with bread white

Author: Abigail Hackett

  • A bowl of fruit and vegetables made with bread white

    A bowl of fruit and vegetables made with bread white

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    Abigail Hackett

    Christina MacRae At the end of the day, Ruth and Abi invited us to respond to the activities, conversations and presentations using the materials on the table.  It took me a long time to turn this task over and explore the food stuff on the table and other materials on offer.  I often find it…

  • Time, containment, buckets

    Time, containment, buckets

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    Abigail Hackett

    Abi Hackett and Ruth Levene In our planning for our ‘feeding’ workshop, we saw three themes running through the question ‘what is toddler through feeding?’ Time, as we have noted through this project, is bound up with notions of progress and the linearly developing child. Within this, feeding can often be viewed as a ‘civilising’…

  • Not getting anywhere: movement, time and progression

    Not getting anywhere: movement, time and progression

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    Abigail Hackett

    Anna Macdonald I was invited into the Toddlerhood project as one of a group of artists helping to explore ‘what would an artful (rather than a developmental) childhood’ look like? I am a dance artist/scholar and I am interested in movement, time and progression.  As someone who specialises in movement that doesn’t get anywhere (dance),…

  • From Stanley Hall to the Red Book

    From Stanley Hall to the Red Book

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    Abigail Hackett

    Christina Macrae In the run up to our first workshop, focussed on movement, I took an opportunity explore some of the legacies that lie behind the motor developmental stages that the Red Book outlines.  In the past I have been struck by the outline drawings of babies and toddlers that I associate with books, leaflets…

  • Unpicking development

    Unpicking development

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    Abigail Hackett

    Abi Hackett What do we mean when we talk about child development? We can think about a process of growth. An ideal trajectory. Milestones are often important parts of this imaginary; they connect time spans to behaviours. This accumulation of behaviours is assumed to be hierarchical and additive. However, viewing toddlers predominantly as ‘developing’ risks…

  • Wobbling and Falling

    Wobbling and Falling

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    Abigail Hackett

    Kitty Winter The game: a supported wobble We stand close together in a circle, shoulders almost touching, hands raised and open, ready to catch. In the centre, one person stands with their eyes closed. They tip their weight front and back, side to side, playing with being off balance but knowing that if they tip…

  • What is ‘toddler’ through movement?

    What is ‘toddler’ through movement?

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    Abigail Hackett

    On 10th June, we gathered at Horse and Bamboo theatre in Waterfoot for our first Towards Toddlerhood workshop. The project is a collaboration between researchers from three different universities, artists in residence, early years settings, and key arts / cultural organisations who are also generously hosting our workshop gatherings over the two years of the…