Play
Play, the so-called ‘work of children’, is vitally important for children’s development and benefits children in the following ways:
- Connection and communication
- Competence: problem solving and mastery
- Brain development: learning, motor and language development
- Social skills: team skills, sharing and turn taking
- Relaxation and fun
As young babies, our children’s favourite activity is simply gazing at us and the world around them while chatting and falling in love with us.
Different types of play that older infants and children engage in:
- Play with objects: wooden toys, water/sand/rice in containers of various sizes
- Manipulative (fine motor) play: threading, drawing, puzzles
- Physical (gross motor) play: dancing, bike riding, obstacle course, jumping
- Dramatic / fantasy play: keep a tub of unwanted clothes and materials, make cubbies
- Games with rules: snap, ‘simon says’, hide and seek
- Symbolic play: painting, drawing, storytelling
Unstructured play, led by your child and his/her interests is ideal. There will be times though, when it’s useful to structure a child’s play, particularly when we’re helping kids to make sense of and practice stressful situations.
Screen time:
It is important to set limits on the amount and types of media our children are exposed to.
When we do allow our children to watch TV or use our hand held devices:
- Make it interactive
- Extend your child’s learning
- Be careful with content
