Playing with your kids has many benefits, from sparking their imagination to stimulating cognitive function. Encouraging play is essential for young children as it provides building blocks for life skills they can carry with them as they grow. Creative thinking and how your children process the world around them are developed through playtime and are essential to their growth and development.
Types of Play
Various types of play encourage learning and development in areas such as social, physical and emotional aspects. Different types of play present learning experiences that help children grow in these areas. Your children will try different forms of play as they grow and try new things. Structured and unstructured play can take place indoors or outdoors and are excellent opportunities for your children to learn through play.
Structured Play
Structured play is a planned play activity usually enjoyed by older children. An adult often leads it at a set time and place. Family game night (like board or card games) and outdoor sports like kickball or softball are examples of structured play. Structured play gives children guidance and discipline, whereas free play encourages them to roam free to experience things on their terms.
Unstructured Play
Unstructured or free play happens at any given time and is not planned. It is based on your child’s interests and can change anytime. Unstructured play is essential for young children because it allows them to use their imagination and find things to play with independently.
You may have to point them in the right direction at times, like setting up toys in an area, but for the most part, children experience free play by themselves.
Benefits of Play
There are innumerable benefits of play for children. Play has physical, mental, creative, social and emotional benefits. Learn how these benefits of play apply to each age group so you can better understand how to appropriately incorporate play into your child’s life.
Infants and Toddlers
Children are in the solitary play stage until they reach two years old. They practice unoccupied play early, then move on to the onlooker phase of play as they get a little older. At only a few months old, children begin to rattle toys and objects around them as they take in the sights and explore the world that is so new to them.
It may seem that these movements in children have no purpose, but they are developing a foundation for future levels of play. Toddlers will practice onlooker play as they monitor other children and how they play without interaction. Then, they will reach the parallel play stage where they will play alongside other children without sharing and still play alone.
Younger to Older Children
Around the ages of three and four, children will become interested in other kids around them. They begin to problem solve and share and communicate with each other as they play. They cooperate and grow in their development and values.
Older kids benefit from play in other aspects like thinking skills and socialization. They begin to look at the world from different perspectives and experience complex emotions and scenarios. Role play usually happens during this stage and helps children solve problems they could encounter in real-life situations. This sort of play also encourages kids to learn about rules and when breaking them is acceptable, like in the game Simon.
Special Playtime
One of the benefits of play is that it presents bonding opportunities for parents and their children. Special playtime enables parents to recognize and encourage good behaviors and build nurturing relationships through communication.
Ensure that you utilize appropriate toys and activities for your child’s age and skill level. Encourage your child to be creative with objects like building blocks and activities you can enjoy together, like arts and crafts.
Special playtime should be done consistently around a specific time every day. You should practice special playtime for at least five minutes a day. Positive time with your child is always helpful in their development, like reading together before bed, but that isn’t the same as special playtime.
Special playtime encourages your child to distinguish between right and wrong. Practice giving them compliments and positive reinforcement when they accomplish something during playtime. Giving your child the ability to lead the playtime can help them build confidence and independence. Young children don’t often get the opportunity to be in charge, so let them take the lead during your activity.
Be enthusiastic about special playtime and try not to ask questions that can distract your child from enjoying the activity. You can describe what they are doing, which will give them confidence that you are enjoying their actions and the decisions they are making while they play. Try not to criticize or provide directions during this time as they are using their imaginations and bonding with you over this particular time you are giving them.
The Value of Playtime
Play is valuable for the health and development of children in too many aspects to be ignored. In many ways, reducing playtime would harm your child’s development. Encourage your children to play as much as possible and ditch the screen time. If your child wants to play with you, take advantage of it before it’s gone and they grow up. Time goes fast and you’ll be sad you passed up such a fantastic opportunity to bond with your child.
